Residents of Barnham in Suffolk have voted in favour of holding a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK, following similar action in Piddington, Oxfordshire, over Home Office plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby RAF base.
At a meeting on Saturday, open to residents only, a straw poll was held on whether the community backed a referendum. Only six or seven of the 80 people in attendance in the village hall voted against it.
Community Backs Referendum
The village, which has a population of 611, is now set to follow in the footsteps of Piddington, which voted to leave the UK last month over similar plans. Despite having no legal standing, the Piddington vote hit national headlines and was raised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Campaigners opposed to the Home Office's proposal to house 930 migrants at RAF Barnham have held months of protests outside the base. The Home Office originally earmarked the site for 1,250 asylum seekers, but this week it emerged the department had withdrawn its application and lodged a new one for 930 people.
Campaign Strategy
Much of the fight put up by the village and West Suffolk Council has centred on planning and environmental objections, with hopes that protections for rare birds such as the stone curlew, which nests around the site, could be enough to thwart the scheme.
Some fear a referendum would be dismissed as a publicity stunt and undermine that work. But others, including parish council chairman John Bauer, argue the traditional approach can dovetail with bolder action.
That thinking led a Barnham delegation on a fact-finding trip to Piddington last month, where leaders and locals urged them to follow suit. There they were also encouraged to launch Project Trump, a strategy drawn up by the Oxfordshire villagers to use local links such as Thomas Paine, who was born in nearby Thetford, and Dad's Army, which was filmed in the area, to catch the US president's eye.
Mr Bauer said: "The villagers of Barnham will decide on Saturday what action they wish to take to continue to oppose the imposition of the asylum seeker accommodation on the village. A Piddington-style referendum is one of those options."
He added: "I believe that a symbolic declaration of the desire to secede from the UK would show the strength of sentiment within the village and send a powerful message to Westminster. A Barnham referendum would show that Piddington's was not an isolated event, but potentially the start of a powerful movement."
Next Steps
Earlier this month, the Eastern Daily Press revealed the base currently has just 320 beds, and that public money was being spent on surveys and renovation work before the plans had been given the go-ahead.
No final decision has been made, but the Home Office has previously said it hopes to move the first asylum seekers in before Christmas. A date has not been set for Barnham's referendum, but a working group will meet on Monday to set out the timeline for the vote.
The Home Office said: "We recognise the strength of feeling in local communities and are listening carefully to the concerns being raised."
