Member of Parliament for Aldershot, Leo Docherty MP, has held an urgent meeting with Home Secretary, the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, to repeat his strong opposition to a plan by Home Office officials to place around 300 asylum seekers in over 100 new flats in the heart of Farnborough.
Commenting later, Leo said:
Many people will have seen coverage of this issue in the news recently, and this evening I met in person with the Home Secretary to again express my strong opposition - and that of many of my constituents - to Pinehurst Hill Side in Farnborough being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
Since first becoming aware of the Home Office's intention, I made several very strong representations to the Home Secretary making the case to scrap it and think again. I now hope to work with the Home Office, the Immigration Minister, and the Leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, Cllr Gareth Lyon, to ensure this plan does not go ahead. I will keep constituents updated in the coming days.
You can read Leo's initial statement in response to the plan here.
UPDATE: I am running a survey asking for residents' views on this plan, the results of which I will share with Home Office Ministers - you can access the survey here: www.leodocherty.org.uk/survey-asylum-accommodation-farnborough