RAF Scampton: Home Office to hold online meeting over asylum camp plans

A new meeting for residents concerned about the conversion of a former RAF station into an asylum centre will be held, the Home Office has said.

The meeting, to be held online on 27 September, will be open to people working and living in the area.

Four previous events have been held to discuss the proposals to house up to 2,000 asylum seekers at the site.

However, one campaigner opposed to the plans said the new meeting would merely be a "box ticking" exercise.

The Home Office said the meeting would be open to up to 1,000 residents and workers in Scampton, Lincoln, Welton, Dunholme, Aisthorpe, Brattleby, Cammeringham and North Carlton.

The previous meetings were limited to people living in the former service family accommodation or nearby villages.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Attendees will need to sign up for the event via Eventbrite and will need to provide their home address or work address for verification.

"You will then be sent a link to join the virtual event."

Sarah Carter, a local resident and leader of the Save Our Scampton campaign group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the meeting was a "superficial box-ticking exercise".

Mrs Carter also expressed concerns about the online nature of the event, which she said could exclude older people or those unfamiliar with social media.

"It's not fair that they've done it solely online this time. If they don't use social media, the elderly aren't going to see it," she said.

"People tend to think that because it's a former RAF base it's filled with young families, but it's not."

The new meeting comes after council staff visited the base on Thursday to inspect the state of work so far carried out.

West Lindsey District Council said it had wanted to verify if the government was complying with the temporary stop notice it issued last week over concerns heritage assets were not being protected.

The notice required the Home Office to stop work near the listed buildings, intrusive surveys and putting up fencing.

Sally Grindrod-Smith, the council's planning director, gave no details of what staff saw on site and said they had not been permitted to take images.

"There is no evidence to suggest the council's position has changed at this time with regards to the Temporary Stop Notice and we await the Home Office's response.

"We are not withdrawing it at this time."

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