Northeye: Final decision on East Sussex immigration detention site 'delayed', says MP

Huw Merriman, MP for the Bexhill and Battle constituency, said a final decision on whether the proposals would go ahead for Northeye, in Bexhill, had been due to made by the Home Office in January.

However, he said it is now looking unlikely that the necessary surveys and assessments will be completed by the end of this month.

The Home Office announced in March last year that it was seeking to bring forward proposals to open an accommodation centre on the site of the former prison.

Last summer, it confirmed if the plan were to go ahead, it would be used for ‘detained’ purposes only, meaning that asylum seekers residing there would not be free to come and go.

Northeye is one of several sites chosen by the Home Office for accommodation centres for asylum seekers to be built.

Since the plans for Northeye were first unveiled at the end of last March, several protests have been held in Bexhill, organised by the No to Northeye group.

Last September, a petition signed by more than 2,000 people opposing Government plans to turn Northeye into a centre for asylum seekers, was handed to Rother District Council by the No to Northeye group, calling on the authority to oppose the plans by the Home Office.

Mr Merriman said he has decided to go ahead with a public meeting ahead of the final Home Office decision.

He said: “When the Home Office announced their intention to bring forward proposals to open an asylum seeker accommodation centre at the Northeye site, I pledged to share all available information I received about the plan with constituents, and to hold a public meeting when details of the proposal had been confirmed.

“Although we are still waiting to hear if the Home Office will go ahead with their proposal, I recognise that there may still be demand for a public meeting and so have decided to go ahead and hold a public meeting this month.”

The meeting will be held at St Augustine’s Church, St Augustine’s Close, Bexhill, TN39 3AZ on Friday, January 26. Doors will open at 5.30pm for a prompt 6pm start. Attendance will be based on a first come, first seated basis.