Overview
- The protest that drew about 200 people on Sunday, June 28, blocked the A134 for roughly 20 minutes, was managed by Suffolk Constabulary and resulted in no arrests.
- Planning applications are being submitted to convert RAF Barnham as part of a three‑site proposal that could house up to 3,750 people across Barnham, MOD Bicester and RAF Linton‑on‑Ouse, but no permissions have been granted.
- Home Office ministers and border security and asylum minister Alex Norris say the policy will close asylum hotels, return them to communities and move people into former MoD sites to cut costs and centralise the system.
- Local councillors, MPs and charities say consultation has been thin, express concern about strain on local services and the mental and physical welfare of asylum seekers, and signal likely legal and planning challenges.
- The plan follows a post‑pandemic surge in hotel use that peaked in 2023 and a recent round of hotel closures, and the next steps depend on council planning decisions and whether the government uses any special powers.