Residents vent fury at East Sussex asylum seeker site public meeting

More than 300 people packed into Bexhill College on Wednesday (April 26) night for a meeting called by Bexhill Town Council to address the situation and allow local people to give their views.

Some were unable to get in and were turned away due to strict number levels because of fire regulations.

Opening the meeting Bexhill Mayor and chairman Cllr Paul Plim urged people to be civil and courteous and said: “We are in exactly the same situation as you are. We have not been told anything. We haven’t necessarily got the answers to questions, but we will pass them on to the Home Office. The people of Bexhill must be heard.”

Passions ran high during the meeting at times but Cllr Plim kept things in good order and put a stop to any heckling.

After one resident called for a show of hands, it was clear the overwhelming majority of those in the room were opposed to the plans. Many of those attending were residents of the Northeye estate, right next to the centre.

As people gave their views, it was clear that there was anger over MP Huw Merriman’s response to the situation. ‘Why isn’t he here tonight?’ many asked.

When Cllr Plim told them the MP has been invited there were loud jeers. One resident asked: “Why doesn’t he meet us face to face and listen to our concerns?”

Other concerns raised at the meeting were the extra pressure that could be put on local NHS and dental services and whether Southern Water were capable of dealing with the sanitation.

What also emerged was that even those in favour of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers were not in favour of the Northeye plan, branding it as inhumane.

Molly Tucker, of the Refugee Buddy Project, who lives in Bexhill, said: “We have hundreds of volunteers giving their time. They are trying to establish a culture of welcome. We also don’t want Northeye. It’s a human rights violation. We don’t want the site on humanitarian grounds.”

Resident Sue Williams said: “I think people fleeing war and persecution should be welcome in the same way as we have welcome Ukrainian refugees, but a camp is not the answer. It will traumatise a lot of people.

Mike Reynolds said: “Looking at the Bexhill demographic, I estimate their to be around 1,900 young males in the town. If you introduce that number of asylum seekers you are almost doubling the proportion of young males. It is outrageous.”

Janet Fisher said: “We moved here for the safe environment. I have seen elderly people in Little Common in floods of tears because they are so worried.”

People who live on the Northeye estate said they were worried. One said: “The valuation on my house has fallen by more than half.”

Another said: “Take the country of origin out of it – if you put 1,200 young men together anywhere it is not a recipe for success.”

There was a suggestion that local people formed a committee and came up with an action plan to oppose the move. Malcolm Wells, of Little Common suggested that people could form a fund to buy the site then turn it into an eco-friendly, low level, solar regeneration site. Another suggested taking the matter to judicial review, but warned the town would need to raise a lot of money to pay for barristers.

One resident said: “The Government has said that this will not go through the Rother Council planning process. Why is that?” Another said: “Northeye is privately owned. There are other sites, like Manston, which is virtually derelict, that are owned by the Government.”

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