Overview
- About 500 people gathered peacefully outside RAF Barnham on Sunday to oppose plans to use the site for asylum accommodation, with a large police presence mainly managing traffic.
- The Home Office has identified RAF Barnham as one of three former military sites that could provide roughly 3,750 bed spaces across the programme if planning permission is granted.
- West Suffolk Council, Suffolk County Council and Barnham Parish Council have formally objected and called urgent meetings to press ministers for clearer consultation and impact assessments.
- Local residents and business owners say the village has fewer than 600 people, no shop or pub and limited transport, and they warn housing more than 1,000 people would strain services and change daily life.
- No planning approvals have been granted and ministers say no final decision will be taken until assessments are complete, leaving the scheme open to further protests, legal challenges and the possibility of central government planning routes.