Key facts
- Angela Rayner approved full planning permission for the Ministry of Defence site near Piddington, it emerged on Thursday.
- The site is planned to accommodate more than 1,200 detained asylum seekers.
- Parish council chair Tim McNally said villagers would take "many actions" and ministers should expect a legal challenge.
- A legal challenge would need to be lodged within six weeks, McNally told BBC Radio 4.
- The Home Office said a final decision to proceed had yet to be taken.
Angela Rayner, the housing and communities secretary, has approved full planning permission to convert a vacant Ministry of Defence site near the Oxfordshire village of Piddington into accommodation for more than 1,200 detained asylum seekers, it emerged on Thursday. The Home Office welcomed the decision, saying it wants to end the use of asylum hotels.
Tim McNally, the chair of the local parish council, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that villagers would take "many actions" and that ministers should "absolutely" be braced for a legal challenge, which would need to be lodged within six weeks. Asked how the village would respond, he said: "There's going to be many actions, you will see. We will disclose that as we move forward."
McNally said campaigners could also apply the Hillsborough law, which parliament is considering. He said: "Today is a day of reflection, and we'll work out where we plan to go from this point. But I will say, the Hillsborough law is there for a reason, and we're going to apply it."
Luke Pollard, the defence minister, told LBC that the government would continue to engage with the community. He said: "It's pretty obvious that there's a strong sense of feeling from the community around Bicester, especially in Piddington." He added that "there's still a few more stages to go here, so it's not yet fully locked in and delivered."
A Home Office spokesperson said a final decision to proceed had yet to be taken. The spokesperson said the government was working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation, with over £1bn saved in costs since the election, including closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation such as former military sites.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, said on social media that the plans were a "betrayal of the women of Piddington" and "emblematic of Labour and Angela Rayner's disregard for the law and women and girls' safety". She said the more than 1,000 male migrants Labour was about to place in Oxfordshire were in Britain illegally and should be deported as soon as possible.