Braintree District Council has lost a High Court bid to prevent asylum seekers being housed at a former RAF airbase.
Giving a ruling in London on Friday, Mr Justice Waksman concluded that the court did not have the legal power to grant the council’s application for an injunction, and thus ruled in favour of the government.
The court case was lodged after Braintree District Council raised objections to Wethersfield Airfield being used to house asylum seekers.
Wethersfield is just one of the disused military sites that has been identified by the Home Office as alternatives to keeping asylum seekers in hotels.
The other is RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire – the former home of the Dambusters RAF squadron. Northeye prison in Bexhill, East Sussex, is also set to be used.
The government announced the policy after it came under sustained pressure to end the use of hotels owing to the cost to the taxpayer – estimated at about £6m per day.
However, the policy has met with objections from number of local MPs and the local coucil.
Braintree District Council had said it strongly believed the “isolated” location was not suitable due to “low capacity in local services”.
Local MP James Cleverly – who is also the foreign secretary – previously spoke out against the plans.
