Residents of Barnham in Suffolk have voted to hold a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK, following the example of Piddington in Oxfordshire, over government plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby former RAF base.
At a village meeting on Saturday, residents backed the idea of staging the non-binding vote, with only six or seven people voting against it. Around 80 people attended the meeting where the proposal was discussed. The government plans to use RAF Barnham to accommodate up to 913 people.
Village Meeting Decision
Supporters in Barnham say they want to draw attention to their concerns about the plans and what they describe as a lack of consultation. The decision followed weeks of discussion in the village. Some parish councillors were reportedly concerned that a referendum could be seen as a publicity stunt and distract from the objections they had already raised.
John Bauer, chairman of Barnham Parish Council and a supporter of the referendum, said: “At the village meeting this afternoon the residents of Barnham voted decisively in favour of holding a referendum as a means to demonstrate the strength of feeling in the village at the government’s failure to consult anyone about a matter which will change the nature of the village.”
Background and Next Steps
The Home Office had previously considered accommodating up to 1,250 people at RAF Barnham, but its latest plans put the figure at up to 913. Some residents remain opposed to the plans despite the lower figure. No date has been set for the referendum, and a working group is due to meet on Monday to discuss the next steps.
Barnham residents also visited Piddington last month to learn about its referendum, where 285 people backed the symbolic move to leave the UK and 26 voted against it, with one spoiled ballot. The vote did not change Piddington’s status or stop the proposal to house asylum seekers near the village.
Government Response
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he understood residents’ “strength of feeling”, but argued that ending the use of asylum hotels meant making difficult decisions. He said: “The only thing to do is to get the numbers down, the number of crossings down. And they are significantly down. They are now at a seven-year low. We also made a commitment to people to end the use of hotels to house refugees and asylum seekers, and that commitment needs to be honoured, and I think the vast majority of people say ‘yeah, that really does need to proceed’.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said reconsidering the plan for the former MoD site near Piddington would place more pressure on other areas. She said: “The alternative would be to ask communities who have already seen their local community quadruple in size to take more of the load - and I think that’s deeply unfair.”
