Plan for asylum seekers in new-build homes on hold

Plans to house 83 asylum seekers on a new-build estate in a village in rural Shropshire have been put on hold, the area's MP has said.

More than 100 people from in and around Stoke Heath attended a residents meeting on Thursday.

At Thursday's meeting, Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP for the Wrekin, said the government scheme, which was organised by the Home Office and carried out by public services company Serco on its behalf, had been put on hold while the suitability of the location was reviewed.

Residents expressed concerns about infrastructure and also told the BBC of their frustrations that no representatives from the Home Office or Serco attended the meeting.

One family that had already moved into a new-build property at the site has since been relocated from the small community of a few hundred people and which is about five miles from the nearest town, Market Drayton.

Earlier in the week, Serco said it had acquired the homes while working under the direction of the Home Office.

Pritchard first highlighted the proposals in the House of Commons in June.

One resident, Emma, said many felt in the dark about the scheme which they were not consulted on.

"I don't feel like the true infrastructure has been assessed property, there is zero for anybody without a car around here," she said.

"I just don't think the thought process has fully been there.

"It's not fair on them [asylum seekers] putting them somewhere so rural either, it's not fair on anyone."

Dave Evans also had concerns about infrastructure.

"The area is a rural area, it's difficult for local people to buy affordable homes, which is what the homes were built for," he said.

"No bus stop, no public transport within 30 minutes of a walk, the nearest town is an hour away, to get to a doctors to get to a shop, it's just not workable.

"Even for local residents, it's not right, but even from the asylum seekers side it's not right also, it's just an inappropriate area to be putting people who don't have much going for them."

He told the BBC that he believed the area would "become a ghetto" because there would be nowhere for asylum seekers to go for entertainment.

Mark Gilbert, of Stoke on Tern Parish Council, brought up the lack of a bus route and the need for a car for anyone who lives in the area.

"Not only that, they're brand new houses that were originally designed and built for local people, or for people to come and buy, rent, in the local area," he told the BBC.

"When people are brought into the area that you don't know anything about their culture, where they've come from, or anything about them, and it's done in such a way that causes people to become nervous, so the lack of communication has been a problem."

News asylum seekers would be housed on the new estate attracted protesters from across the country, and measures were taken on Thursday to ensure only those from the area could attend the meeting, by showing ID at the door.

In a statement, the Home Office said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had introduced "robust processes to ensure new-build sites like Stoke Heath can never be considered again".

The development had been identified before the new guidance was brought in, it added.

Ministers have ruled out new-build properties, homes that could be perceived as luxurious, and locations close to sensitive sites like schools and nurseries for asylum accommodation sites.

The Home Office said such sites would no longer be included in its pipeline and that it was developing a long-term strategy, including looking at using disused buildings and former military sites instead.

Previously Shropshire Council and West Mercia's police and crime commissioner, John Campion, had said they did not believe the area was a suitable location.

The authority said outline planning permission was granted for 25 homes at the site in 2015, and were approved as open market housing.

Three of the homes were required to be affordable housing, with two as affordable rented homes and one low-cost ownership home.

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