THE chances of winning an injunction to block plans for an asylum seeker processing centre near York should become clear today, according to campaigners against the scheme.

The Linton-on-Ouse Action Group says Hambleton District Council expects to receive a crucial opinion from a QC instructed to explore bringing forward a legal claim against the Home Office and for a judicial review of the plans for the former RAF Linton on Ouse base.

Council deputy leader Peter Wilkinson said money wouldn’t be a reason for not pursuing legal action. “An injunction is very expensive… but we have the finances and we are committed to doing this," he said.

He said that once the legal opinion had been received, the council would schedule a debate to decide on future action.

“We will review [the advice] – the cabinet meeting will be public and you will be welcome to attend," he said.

"We do broadcast that… there will be no decisions made in secret; it will be a public debate amongst cabinet members in terms of the next steps based on that legal opinion.”

He said Hambleton was clear that the Home Office had not followed its own democratic processes, including a complete absence of consultation and a failure to apply for planning permission. "Despite the disused RAF station sitting on Crown land, an application is nevertheless required for a change of use to an asylum centre," he said.

"While a British citizen must apply for planning permission for erecting a conservatory at their home, and neighbours are permitted to submit objections on the basis of any impact on their ability to continue enjoying their own homes, the Home Office is increasingly bypassing the system in order to push through its asylum policy, usually to vociferous local opposition.

“Hambleton is the planning authority; we normally would expect a planning application for change of use to come through, and we could prevent things through the planning process. "Unfortunately, the Home Office are exploring something called a ‘Class Q’, which is a development permitted during an emergency – and we could get into a debate about what an emergency was – which means that they could grant themselves permission for an initial 12 months in terms of change of use from an RAF base into an asylum centre, and after that they could... regularise that... and I don’t think the planning process would be able to prevent that.”

Meanwhile, Thirsk & Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake has tabled a debate in the House of Commons today, at which he plans to ask the Government to abandon the plans.

He said that, regardless of the outcome of the legal advice and the local authority decision, the campaign to close the asylum centre at Linton-on-Ouse would continue unabated.

“As I’ve said several times, to cabinet ministers and the prime minister, it is absolutely unfair; it is unacceptable, unsustainable, that a single community are the sacrificial lambs for a national policy… Is this a breach of the Home Office's authority? It may well be.

“I was on a call with Hambleton District Council, and the Home Office said ‘We’re doing this under emergency powers’. And I said, ‘Well, what emergency?’ And they quoted COVID and channel crossings. We’re probably on the good side of COVID now… the prime minister agrees with that as well; he wants us to go back to normal. So that’s a load of nonsense, clearly. And the channel crossings are… not a recent phenomenon, that’s been going on for some time. Are they misusing their powers on the basis of that explanation? I think they are.”