MDP Wethersfield asylum seekers moved to hotels amid safety fears

Lewis Adams - BBC News, Essex
·2 min read
MDP Wethersfield housing
MDP Wethersfield, about 10 miles north of Braintree in rural north Essex, is owned by the Ministry of Defence [PA Media]

Asylum seekers have been moved out of a former RAF airfield after concerns were raised about unexploded ordnance and radiological contamination.

Seventy migrants were taken to hotels after safety risks at MDP Wethersfield, Essex, were laid bare in a report.

It came as the government used special planning powers to house the asylum seekers for a further three years.

The Home Office said moving the migrants was routine to comply with the new planning conditions.

The Special Development Order (SDO) was granted to the authority this month, allowing it to avoid the usual route for obtaining planning permission from a council.

But the SDO raised concerns about the site's history as a former Royal Air Force (RAF) and US Air Force base.

MDP Wethersfield housing
The Home Office wants to accommodate up to 1,700 male adults at MDP Wethersfield [Richard Smith/BBC]

It detailed that a radiological walkover survey to determine any contamination must be completed before the site can host its capacity of 1,700 asylum seekers.

The planning report also said checks for unexploded ordnance and to ensure there were satisfactory arrangements for drinking water had to be carried out.

No more than 580 people were allowed to live at the site until the SDO conditions were met, with 70 migrants moved into hotels to facilitate this rule.

'Unacceptable'

The Conservative leader of Braintree District Council, Graham Butland, said the authority had written to the Home Office "urgently requesting" all documents and plans under the SDO.

"[This is] to support our duty in safeguarding the interests of the local community and those living or working on site," he said.

The Home Office said the use of asylum hotels was "unacceptable" and that it was looking to ensure MDP Wethersfield was safe for us.

"Planning permission has been granted to extend the use of Wethersfield for three years under a Special Development Order and we are working to ensure we abide by the conditions," a spokesman said.

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