Second village to hold independence referendum over migrant camp plan

A second village is to hold a referendum on leaving the UK in protest at plans to create an asylum seekers’ camp nearby. Residents of Barnham in Suffolk backed the idea of a symbolic ballot at a meeting on Saturday, with 70 in favour of holding a vote and seven against. Like residents who declared a republic in Piddington , Oxfordshire, villagers in Barnham strongly oppose government plans to house migrants at a former military base. A day before the vote, the Home Office announced the numbers housed at RAF Barnham would be reduced from 1,250 asylum seekers to 930. However, it failed to stop the vote in favour of the symbolic poll in the village of 600. John Bauer, the chairman of Barnham parish council, said: “Residents voted decisively in favour of holding a referendum as a means to demonstrate the strength of feeling in the village at the Government’s failure to consult anyone about a matter which will change the nature of the village. “This democratic action stands in dramatic contrast to the high-handed approach the Government is taking.” Piddington residents voted last month by 285 to 26 to “secede from the UK and pursue self-determination” over plans to house as many as 1,256 asylum seekers at MoD Bicester, about half a mile from the village. RAF Barnham, which is about two miles south of Thetford, lies within the Breckland Special Protection Area, an internationally designated wildlife zone. It hosts more than 200 breeding pairs of endangered stone curlews . Habitat regulations dictate that no development should take place within about a mile of their nesting sites. West Suffolk district council, which is opposing the plan on ecological grounds , claims that it would be unlawful and unsuitable to construct an asylum camp on the site. Barnham, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book, is home to one of three former military sites that the Home Office has chosen for asylum camps. RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire is earmarked for redevelopment, while the Government is seeking to extend the use of two existing sites – Crowborough in East Sussex until 2030 and Wethersfield in Essex beyond 2027. Mr Bauer previously told The Telegraph: “It’s a powerful opportunity to show the strength of sentiment within the village and get it out there. It is something that the Government would find difficult to ignore. “It could be fairly toxic for them politically, particularly if there are more villages that join other than Piddington. “I don’t mind what methods we use to stop the plan but I don’t think we should put all our eggs in the stone-curlew basket. It is a very powerful argument, but we should not rely solely on that.” Stone-curlew numbers have declined in the past 200 years as their preferred nesting sites have gradually disappeared or deteriorated. In 1985 the number of breeding pairs had fallen to fewer than 150 nationwide, with about a third based in eastern England. That year the RSPB began efforts to boost numbers by conserving, restoring and creating nesting habitats in Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. In 2025, Tim Cowan, an RSPB conservation officer, said there were 226 breeding pairs in the programme, which he described as “remarkable”. The Home Office said the former RAF Barnham development had been designed to minimise environmental harm. A Home Office spokesman said it was “working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country”. He said: “This includes closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation, including former military sites. These are designed to be self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV, to reduce the impact on local communities. “We are continuing to work through the relevant environmental assessments and planning processes.”