Planning row in Scots town leads to claims of racism and misinformation

Councillors will decide later whether to agree to controversial plans to convert a former care home in a small Angus town into a 35-bedroom home of multiple occupancy.

Some local people have raised fears that the developers will use the property in Forfar to house migrants, and more than 600 representations on the matter have been made to Angus Council.

But about 160 have been redacted by the council because they say the claims are "variously untrue, inaccurate, or likely to provoke unrest, hatred or harm".

Meanwhile, a social media and leafleting campaign against the proposals has been promoted by The Homeland Party - a group which advocates deporting "illegal, unintegrated and unwelcome migrants".

The developers have denied that they plan to use the building to house migrants, instead suggesting it may be used to accommodate homeless people, veterans, or victims of domestic abuse.

One local anti-racism campaigner said the row had led to "division, discrimination and hate" and that racism was building in the town.

Angus Council warned about "inaccurate or malicious speculation that has no basis in truth and potential to harm our communities".

It follows a series of anti-asylum seeker protests in towns and cities across the UK last year, including Aberdeen and Falkirk.

Veriton Group made the application to Angus Council on 13 October last year in relation to Lochbank Manor, a former care home which closed in 2024.

Shortly afterwards local man David Gardner, a former community councillor, created a Facebook group called Forfar Concerned Residents - Lochbank.

He is also a member of The Homeland Party - a group described as fascist by anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate. The party says mass immigration has "imported cultures and criminal networks that prey on women and children".

Gardner has also promoted the campaign on TikTok, where he has suggested that a rise in the number of immigrants in the area would lead to an increase in crime.

There is no publicly available data to prove or disprove this claim.

In his first post on the Facebook page, he wrote: "We need to come together and stand firm to ensure that, if this is the thing we are all thinking it is, it doesn't come to our town."

It continued: "We have seen the problems faced by communities the length and breadth of the nation with these 'hotels', and we will not be just another unfortunate, quickly swept under the rug headline."

The group now has about 1,800 members.

The Homeland Party told BBC Scotland News it was a "genuine grassroots campaign" and said allegations that Gardner was spreading misinformation were false.

Earlier this year the party shared the campaign on their website, stating that Gardner had "uncovered" the application and "raised the alarm locally" to prevent the property "housing hundreds of migrants".

In December Veriton Group published a letter making clear that their HMO application "does not relate to the housing of asylum seekers or immigrants at Lochbank Manor".

It said it was working with housing associations in England and Scotland supporting veterans, survivors of domestic abuse and people experiencing homelessness.

It added: "Nothing is finalised and no group has been selected or considered a front-runner at this early stage of the application process."

If the company opts to use the property to house homeless people, some of them could be migrants who have successfully claimed asylum.

But research by BBC Verify has found that the number of people in that category in the region is very small.

The latest available data published by the Scottish government shows there were 320 homeless applications to Angus Council between April and September 2025.

However, no more than five of them were from people granted refugee status or leave to remain.

In the 12 months to the end of September 2025 there were a total of 660 homelessness applications in Angus, with 10 of them from people granted refugee status or leave to remain, and none under the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme.

Ahead of the meeting to discuss the HMO application, an Angus Council spokesperson said: "Contrary to some speculation, there is no indication that it will be a home for people seeking asylum.

"As a council, we will always respond to inaccurate or malicious speculation that has no basis in truth and where it has the potential to harm our communities, the people who live within them and those who come to live in Angus."

A local anti-racisim group, set up following demonstrations against asylum seeker hotels last year, said the campaign had spread fear and hate in the town.

One member of Forfar Against Racism, who asked not to be identified, said: "Forfar has always been a vibrant and welcoming community until November last year.

"Now we can see and hear the racism building in the town. It has become the norm and it is frightening.

"The town fell under a dark cloud of division, discrimination and hate against asylum seekers and the LGBTQIA community.

"It has created an atmosphere of fear and division within our community."

The Homeland Party said they supported the right of local residents to campaign, to object, and to speak openly about the impact of immigration policy on their communities.

A spokesperson said: "This is a genuine grassroots local campaign against a major proposal in Forfar.

"Dave is one man out of more than 650 people who have formally objected, with many more local residents sharing the same concerns.

"To present this as though it were simply the conduct of one individual is misleading."

Gardner said: "People being aware of the risks, based on what has been happening in similar towns from Dumfries to Elgin, is not misinformation. It is common sense.

"This is not racial profiling. It is pattern recognition based on repeated policy failure, repeated community concerns, and repeated consequences that ordinary people are then expected to live with."

He added: "People are entitled to be angry that those who enter illegally can still be housed and supported at public expense, even where many claims do not succeed at the first decision.

"That is not offensive language. It is a statement about a failed system and its cost to the public."