An earlier government assessment for a former military site near Piddington, Oxfordshire, referred to accommodation for 3,510 people, nearly three times the capacity in the government’s current 1,256-person asylum housing proposal.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
A newly scrutinized government planning document shows that an asylum accommodation project near the small Oxfordshire village of Piddington was at one stage assessed for as many as 3,510 people, although the Home Office says the figure is outdated and its current proposal remains capped at 1,256.
The higher number appears in a Government Property Agency unexploded-ordnance risk assessment dated March 31, which describes the “proposed scheme” as providing “accommodation for 3,510 service users” at the former Bicester Garrison Site A. Local residents discovered the figure among more than 1,000 pages of supporting material released with the development application.
The government’s formal Crown Development application, submitted Sept. 2, seeks permission for a 10-year temporary asylum accommodation center capable of housing up to 1,256 people. The proposal includes converting an existing building, demolishing other structures, installing modular accommodation and creating health, welfare, security, recreation, parking and wastewater facilities. Government and local planning records both list 1,256 as the present maximum.
The Home Office has said the 3,510 figure came from an earlier estimate and does not represent its present plan. Its August factsheet says no final decision has yet been made to use the former Ministry of Defence site and that the project remains subject to planning, due diligence and other approvals.
The disclosure nevertheless intensified opposition in Piddington, a village of roughly 350 residents. Even the current 1,256-person proposal would place a population several times larger than the village at the neighboring former military facility.
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf criticized the proposal, arguing that residents had not received adequate assurances about its scale and impact.
“Villagers’ lives will be ruined overnight. Ministers continue to conceal the true scale of what is coming, and the numbers keep rising before a single migrant has even arrived.
“When I visited Piddington, a mother told me she feels forced to take self-defence classes with her daughter, fathers told me they are worried sick about how best to protect their families, all while Burnham gives invading men a police escort.
“The Labour Government is carrying on the Tories’ shameful legacy of failing to protect British citizens and keep our communities safe.
“Under a Reform UK Government, Operation Fortress will stop small boats from reaching our shores, Operation Justice will ensure those here illegally are detained and deported, and communities like Piddington will be protected.”
The Home Office has presented former military properties as an alternative to the use of hotels for asylum accommodation. Cherwell District Council said it learned of the Bicester proposal only shortly before the government publicly announced it in June and had not been consulted beforehand. The site is one of several former military properties being considered as the government attempts to reduce its reliance on hotel accommodation.
Government guidance says the proposed Bicester population would consist of asylum seekers considered suitable for former military accommodation, with policies governing vulnerable applicants and people with serious medical or mental health concerns.
Reform UK has argued for a different asylum policy, including arrangements with third countries under which some claims would be processed offshore. The broader British asylum system has faced renewed political scrutiny after a person described as an experienced Home Office asylum decision-maker claimed that only about one in 100 applications encountered in their work was genuinely founded. That allegation represents the whistleblower’s assessment rather than an official government finding.
Opposition in Piddington has become increasingly unconventional. Residents voted in favor of holding a referendum on whether the village should symbolically seek to leave the United Kingdom in protest over the asylum center proposal.
Piddington Parish Council leader Tim McNally has even raised the prospect of appealing to the United States to become its 51st state if such a referendum succeeded. McNally said residents had attempted to contact President Donald Trump through “backchannel connections,” citing Trump’s border policies while arguing that communities should have greater control over who enters the country.
“We should not have to worry about what are we allowing into our country. He’s doing that as his primary statement, we should be doing the same because of the impact it’s now making. We can see it, statistics are out there, the crime element is out there. But they’re trying to hide it, they don’t want us to see the data. But it’s all out there for Europe, Europe is publishing this data in black and white. Why are we not allowed to have the same?” McNally told The Sun.
For now, the disputed 3,510 figure does not appear in the government’s active planning application. The official proposal remains accommodation for no more than 1,256 people, and the Home Office maintains that the larger number was an “outdated” estimate.
The discovery has nonetheless given opponents a new line of inquiry: why a government risk assessment prepared only months before the formal application contemplated accommodation for 3,510 people, and what circumstances led officials to reduce the project to its current proposed capacity.
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