Stop plans to use MoD sites for asylum seekers without full local consultation
Calling on the new Prime Minster and his Government to immediately withdraw plans to use MoD sites for asylum seeker accommodation without full, open and transparent consultation with the local communities and local representatives whose lives will be impacted most.
SIGN THIS PETITIONPiddington's Campaign for Fairness, Consultation and Local Democracy
Piddington is a small Oxfordshire village of around 350 people facing a Government proposal to accommodate up to 1,250 male asylum seekers on former MOD land beside our community.
The UK Government has announced plans to convert the former MOD Site A, Bicester into a large asylum accommodation centre. Whatever individual views may be on asylum policy, the people of Piddington share one fundamental belief: a decision of this scale should never have been made without first consulting the community expected to live with its consequences.
Our campaign is not founded on hostility towards those seeking refuge. It is founded on the principle that democracy works best when people are listened to before decisions are made—not after.
For generations, Piddington has been a close-knit rural community. Residents chose to live here because of its character, heritage and environment. The proposed development has the potential to change the area significantly, yet local people, the Parish Council and other local representatives were informed only after the proposal had already been announced.
We believe that this represents a failure of good government.
Our Campaign Calls For:
Meaningful consultation before irreversible decisions are taken.
Full transparency over the evidence used to select the site.
Independent assessment of impacts on healthcare, policing, education, transport and other local services.
Recognition of local voices as partners in decision-making rather than observers.
A genuine review of alternative options and their relative impacts.
Why This Matters
If this can happen in Piddington, it can happen anywhere.
The issue extends beyond one village or one policy. It concerns how government engages with communities across the United Kingdom. Local people deserve respect, openness and the opportunity to influence decisions that directly affect their lives.
National policy should not come at the expense of local democracy.
Our Message
We are asking the Government to pause, engage and listen.
Listen to the residents.
Listen to local councils.
Listen to local businesses.
Listen to those who will experience the consequences every day.
Strong communities are built through partnership, not imposition.
Our Vision
We want Piddington to become an example of constructive democracy—where government works with communities rather than to them.
This campaign is about protecting the principle that people deserve a voice in decisions affecting their homes, their families and their future.
This is not simply the story of a proposed development.
It is the story of a village determined to defend the principles of consultation, accountability and democratic participation.
Piddington – The Village That Roared
Not because it refused to be part of the conversation.
Because it was never invited into it.