RAF Barnham asylum plan could be stalled by birds

Plans to house asylum seekers at a military base would be illegal due to the site being home to a rare, protected bird, a councillor has said.

RAF Barnham, just south of the Norfolk/Suffolk border, has become the focus of weeks of anger since the Home Office earmarked it as one of three sites to house a total of 3,750 asylum seekers.

The plans may face their biggest hurdle yet in the form of the stone-curlew, which nests in the countryside around the site.

The stone-curlew's habitats are protected by law and Cliff Waterman, Labour leader of West Suffolk Council, said it meant the site could not be used for asylum seeker accommodation.

The Home Office said any proposals would be subject to all relevant legal, environmental and regulatory requirements.

The military base lies within the Breckland Special Protection Area, an internationally designated wildlife zone which stretches across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Barnham Cross Common, which borders the base, also carries its own protections as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The areas have earned the protections largely because they are habitats for stone-curlews and other rare birds.

The stone-curlew is an elusive bird, sensitive to human disturbance, and it relies on the area's mixture of bare, stony ground and short-grazed grass to forage.

The birds have repeatedly disrupted planning applications in and around the Brecks in the past.

Waterman has written to the government to argue binding ecological constraints, designed to protect the bird, rule out the development at Barnham.

In a letter to Alex Norris, the minister for border security and asylum, Waterman said: "The exceptionally high legal threshold imposed by the Habitats Regulations... leads us to conclude that development here will not be possible.

"Extensive efforts and investigations to try and overcome these regulations have all failed previously.

"It also means the government cannot give itself permission without meeting the requirements of the Habitats Regulations."

It is understood permission can be granted only if it can be shown beyond reasonable scientific doubt that a scheme will not harm the site.

The protections have long tied the hands of local housebuilders, restricting development across large parts of West Suffolk, too, and that has led Waterman to argue that the Home Office should not be exempt from rules that apply to everyone else.

Up to 1,250 asylum seekers could be moved to the Ministry of Defence site, a recent council meeting heard.

The Home Office confirmed it had received the letter from the council leader.

The government has pledged to stop placing asylum seekers in hotels – a form of costly accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "We have already seen results. The population of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen by 35% in the last year and by 63% from the peak under the previous government.

"Overall asylum costs have already fallen by nearly £1bn since this government was elected."

Two people were arrested in connection with recent public protests which saw an MP pursued through the streets after a council meeting.

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