April 17, 2023 1.00 pm This story is over 11 months old

Residents say ‘Save Our Scampton’ in defiant Lincoln rally

Opposition to the Home Office’s RAF Scampton plans continues
The Save Our Scampton message was issued loud and clear in Lincoln. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
By Local Democracy Reporter

‘Save Our Scampton’ is the simple message from determined Lincoln protesters.

Tensions have been high since the Home Office unveiled plans to house up to 2,000 asylum seekers at the site of RAF Scampton.

Residents and authorities alike have voiced concerns over the plans, which are likely to scupper a £300 million vision of investment and opportunity at RAF Scampton, in the form of a heritage, tourism and enterprise project.

Residents marched down Steep Hill and handed out leaflets to passers-by. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Frustrations have so far been ignored, despite threats of legal action aimed at the Home Office and Home Secretary Suella Braverman – who remain largely tight-lipped on the matter.

Save Our Scampton, a group of local residents in the area, made their voices heard in the form of a rally in Lincoln on Saturday, April 15.

The message was a clear one: Save Our Scampton. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Banners calling out the government’s messaging, as well as asking for the heritage of RAF Scampton to be preserved, were held aloft in the uphill section of Lincoln on Saturday.

Event organiser Sarah Carter, who lives on the RAF Scampton base, said she was touched by the level of support received at the demonstration.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

“I came away from it with a real buzz”, she told The Lincolnite. “We had lots of people come up to us to say they’d signed the petition and supported our campaign.”

Hamish Falconer, Labour’s Parliamentary Prospective Candidate for Lincoln and the person who set up the 66,000 signature-strong petition calling for plans to be halted, was in attendance alongside other local residents.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The Home Office is currently facing legal action after West Lindsey District Council accused the government department of bypassing residents and local authorities to fast track these plans.

The protesters have a simple message for the Home Office.

“The government need to come here and actually speak to the residents. They need to realise the impact their plans are going to have in this area,” Sarah said.

“They are trying to alter the law just to fit their own agenda, and they have no consideration for what their actions are going to do to this community. I don’t think they realise what they are doing to the public here.”

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

A protest and counter-protest are being planned in Lincoln on Saturday, April 22, believed to involve spin-off sections of the far-right group Patriotic Alternative (seen at a Skegness protest recently), but Sarah says her campaign group do not support the messaging expected at these events.

“We do not endorse this weekend’s protests”, she said. “It is absolutely not the message we would like to send.”

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