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MDP Wethersfield: High Court date set for migrant air base review

Mousumi Bakshi/BBC Protesters in Wethersfield, Essex holding large bannersMousumi Bakshi/BBC
Some residents have protested over the plans at MDP Wethersfield

The High Court has scheduled a hearing for October to review the use of a former RAF station as migrant accommodation.

Braintree District Council in Essex will challenge the Home Office's plans to house up to 1,700 male asylum seekers at MDP Wethersfield.

The council said that, as of the end of August, 94 asylum seekers were on site.

The judicial review will also hear opposition to similar plans for RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

PA Media MDP Wethersfield from abovePA Media
Braintree District Council said there were 94 asylum seekers already living at MDP Wethersfield

The council's Conservative leader Graham Butland said: "Wethersfield airfield is not a suitable site for these plans and the Home Office has failed to follow due process."

The government is trying to stop using hotels for housing asylum seekers - which it says costs £6m per day across the UK- and instead use barges, such as the one moored off Dorset, and former military sites.

PA Media RAF ScamptonPA Media
Up to 2,000 asylum seekers could be housed at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire

The council has already lost a High Court injunction attempt to stop the plans and was also defeated in a subsequent challenge in the Court of Appeal.

However, Mrs Justice Thornton ruled in July that a judicial review could go ahead, and said the Home Office's interpretation of emergency Class Q planning legislation should be considered.

The two-day hearing at the High Court in London is scheduled from 31 October.

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