Oxfordshire Village Votes 285-26 to Symbolically Leave UK Over Asylum Centre Plan

An Oxfordshire village has voted overwhelmingly to symbolically declare independence from the United Kingdom in protest at government plans for a nearby asylum accommodation centre several times larger than the village itself.

Residents of Piddington held the unofficial referendum over proposals to house around 1,200 to 1,256 asylum seekers at the former MoD Bicester site.

Of 312 ballots cast, 285 voted to leave the UK, 26 voted to remain and one ballot was spoiled.

Piddington has a population of roughly 350.

The vote has no legal force and the village remains part of the United Kingdom.

But residents organised the referendum to demonstrate the scale of local opposition to the government’s plans.

Asylum site could dwarf neighbouring village

The proposed accommodation centre would use a former military site near Bicester as part of government efforts to reduce reliance on hotels for housing asylum seekers.

If it reaches the proposed capacity, the number of people accommodated there would be more than three times Piddington’s population.

The Home Office says the site remains subject to feasibility work and the necessary approvals.

The people accommodated at the centre would not become residents of Piddington itself, but the difference in scale has become central to local concerns about the proposal.

Council says it was not consulted

Cherwell District Council says it was not consulted before the Home Office announced the plan.

The council has subsequently raised questions about policing, community safety, infrastructure and pressure on local services.

Those concerns do not establish that people accommodated at the site would pose a danger to the surrounding community.

They do raise a separate question about how national infrastructure decisions affecting relatively small communities should be made.

The government needs accommodation for people within the asylum system and says using larger dedicated sites can reduce dependence on expensive hotels.

Local authorities and residents must then deal with the practical consequences of where those facilities are located.

In Piddington, that tension has produced an unusual response.

The village cannot legally leave Britain because it objects to an asylum centre.

But 285 votes to 26 leaves little ambiguity about what the people who participated in its referendum think of the proposal.

The declaration of independence is symbolic.

The dispute over consultation is not.

Sources

• Associated Press – Piddington holds symbolic independence referendum over asylum centre
• Cherwell District Council – council response to proposed asylum accommodation near Bicester