MoD Bicester asylum housing plans challenged at High Court

The Home Office first made an Urgent Crown Development application regarding the site in July.

The special procedure is used to fast-track applications deemed to be of “national importance”, and involves an expedited consultation process on behalf of the Secretary of State.

It later agreed to hold a short public consultation on the proposals, which local MP Calum Miller hailed at the time as a “win for democracy”.

But campaigners said in “rushing” the plans through, the government had “failed to consider the potential environmental effects of the development”.

“We are not asking for special treatment,” a spokesperson for the group said.

“We are asking the government to demonstrate that it has followed the law and properly assessed the environmental consequences of a development of this scale and in this environmentally-sensitive location.

“There are legitimate questions about its potential environmental impact, and those questions deserve clear, evidence-based answers, not a rushed job.”

Wrong Plan Wrong Site’s legal submission comes a month after the village of Piddington symbolically voted to leave the UK over the MoD Bicester proposals.

The Home Office declined to comment on the legal challenge, but previously said it was “closing every asylum hotel, saving taxpayers over £1bn on asylum support since the election”.

It added: “We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites which are designed to be self-contained to reduce impact on the local community.”