Campsfield House: New building application withdrawn
It was pulled weeks after it was submitted to Cherwell District Council
A plan for building work at an Oxfordshire immigration centre which the government said it wants to reopen in the summer was withdrawn.
Campsfield House in Kidlington was closed in 2018 but could be used to hold up to 400 detainees and employ more than 400 staff once it is fully operational.
Cherwell District Council received a planning application for an extension onto a changing room in January but it was pulled by a contractor last month.
There is strong opposition to the project locally, with some Cherwell councillors, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford academics, the city's MPs and Oxford City Council’s council leader all against the facility reopening.
The proposed extension would have been the first project to get planning permission to add buildings to the site since 2014.
The Ministry of Justice was told in the autumn that it could demolish other buildings on the site.
Last summer, the government ran a procurement process to appoint contractors to run healthcare services worth £36.2m for detainees at Campsfield House and Haslar in Hampshire. The government plans to reopen that too.
A total of 19 comments were submitted to Cherwell District Council before the application was withdrawn on 19 February. Of those, 18 were opposed to the application and one person was in favour.
Most of the opposition came from people who object to Campsfield House reopening.
But Kidlington Parish Council said it objected because it said there was “inadequate” detail provided for it to make an informed decision.
The Home Office held online recruitment events for Campsfield House, along with other immigration removal centres (IRCs) in England and Scotland, in July 2023.
The Government Recruitment Service promised “exciting and challenging” jobs.
Cherwell and Oxfordshire county councillor Ian Middleton tabled motions at the respective authorities in 2022 calling for the “truly horrific” reopening of Campsfield House to be stopped.
Cherwell Council voted down Cllr Middleton’s motion but it was accepted by the county council.
There are six IRCs in England. They are Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire; Colnbrook and Harmondsworth in West Drayton, near Heathrow Airport in West London; Brook House and Tinsley House in Lowfield Heath, near Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, and Derwentside in County Durham.
Dungavel House in Strathaven is Scotland's only IRC.
A plan to convert the current Odeon cinema in Oxford’s George Street into a hotel and community hub is set to receive more money - though that amount has not been disclosed.
Oxford City Council, which owns 38-40 George Street, revealed its plans for the reported £37m scheme, including an apartment hotel (or aparthotel), last year.
The cinema is set to close when its lease runs out with the authority in September.
The council wants to submit a planning application for the scheme in May or June, with it hoping that planning permission is granted in December.
Construction would then take place between 2025 and 2027.
Tom Hayes, a former deputy leader of the city council, has resigned from the authority.
He is standing for the Labour Party in Bournemouth East against Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood at the next general election.
He served as the council's deputy leader from 2020 to 2022 and was the cabinet member responsible for green transport and Zero Carbon Oxford from 2018 to 2022. He was one of two councillors representing the St Clement’s ward.
Council leader Susan Brown said Mr Hayes had been “hard-working” and “a passionate advocate of a green agenda”.
He said he was proud of his work on the authority.
“As a backbench councillor, I have just concluded some important casework in the ward and now feel able to resign with immediate effect,” he added.