The Home Office is attempting to raise the capacity of Campsfield House to 400 beds to support an ongoing push to expand the national detention estate by 40%. However, Thames Water warned that building secure accommodation 20 metres from a pumping station poses risks of sewage flooding, insect swarms, noise, and vibration. Oxfordshire County Council has joined the opposition by demanding the complete and permanent closure of the site. A public inquiry scheduled for 14 December will formally examine these environmental and human dignity concerns.
Key points
Expanding the national detention estate by 40% remains a central strategy for increasing…: Expanding the national detention estate by 40% remains a central strategy for increasing the removal of undocumented individuals.
Previous operations at Campsfield House ended in 2018 following severe incidents involvin…: Previous operations at Campsfield House ended in 2018 following severe incidents involving riots, suicides, and detainee escapes.
Formal representations regarding the environmental and welfare objections will be reviewe…: Formal representations regarding the environmental and welfare objections will be reviewed at a public inquiry opening on 14 December.
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A Home Office plan to build asylum seeker detention facilities next to a sewage pump is facing objections after water company officials warned that detainees should expect to experience insect swarms and strong smells.
Proposed secure accommodation blocks at Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire will be 20 metres from a sewage pumping station, according to a written submission from Thames Water.
A senior development manager at the company wrote that it could give rise to “amenity effects, including odour, noise, vibration, lighting associated with maintenance activities, insects and flies” for any inhabitants. In a previous submission, the company wrote that any development may lead to sewage flooding.
The warnings, which come as the government hopes to expand the immigration detention estate by 40%, have been seized upon by campaigners against the expansion.
Ally Swadling, the lead legal education officer at the charity Right to Remain, said: “Thames Water’s concerns about sewage infrastructure at Campsfield show how little regard is being given to even the most basic standards of sanitation and human dignity.
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