Residents in a Shropshire village are opposing plans to house 83 asylum seekers in newly built properties on an estate some locals have labelled “Migrant Street.”
Villagers say they had been led to believe the development would provide affordable homes, but have now been told that 21 of the properties have been set aside for asylum seekers.
One migrant family has already moved onto the estate, though they said they wanted to leave, describing the site as too “remote” and claiming they had experienced hostility from some local people.
People living in Stoke Heath say they expect additional asylum seekers to arrive in the village over the coming days and weeks.
Emma O’Sullivan, a mother of three, said the community had been “caught off guard” by the announcement made last week.
She said: “We were told the new development would be social housing, and that was fine, but no one moved in for a year.
“Now we’re being told the homes will be used for asylum seekers and that they are not part of the social housing provision at all.
“We feel as though we have been misled.”
One migrant family has already moved into one of the properties – but said they wished to leave the development because it was too ‘remote
Muhammad Nadeem, his wife Shamaila, pictured from behind because they were too frightened to be identified, in the garden of their home
The kitchen inside Mr and Mrs Nadeem’s newbuild home in Stoke Heath, Shropshire
The 30-year-old added: ‘I’ve got three teenage girls and we’re really worried. It’s not who they are, it’s how many there are.’
Another local said: ‘It’s bang out of order and people now call it “Migrant Street”, which will be pretty accurate.
‘It doesn’t feel fair that these people will be living in shiny new homes free of charge, which hard-working local folk could never afford.’
News that the site is being used to house asylum seekers comes as the Government pushes ahead with plans to phase out migrant hotels by 2029 and relocate people into ‘properties and ex-military sites’.
It is using private company Serco to buy small properties, such as houses and flats, to be used as alternative accommodation.
Serco has said up to 83 asylum seekers will be housed on the development – in what was a field at the end of a street of 1960s homes called Dutton Close.
The new houses were built a year ago and stood empty until the first asylum seekers were moved in a fortnight ago.
Muhammad Nadeem, his wife Shamaila, were moved to the site from Stockport, 60 miles away with their four children.
The family fled their native Pakistan two years ago after fearing for their safety and wanting to make a better life for themselves in the UK.
Jackie Jefferies, who lives in Dutton Close, complained that her daughter cannot afford a house in the village
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A view of the original houses along Dutton Close in Stoke Heath, Shropshire
Mr Nadeem obtained a work visa and found work as an Uber driver in Stockport, but when the visa ran out they applied for asylum and were initially moved from their home to a hotel while their application was processed.
They are now living in a barely furnished four-bedroom house on the development in Stoke Heath, but have been targeted by thugs and want to leave.
Mr Nadeem, 40, said: ‘The trouble started the day after we moved in.
‘My wife and our kids were outside the house when three people came towards us. We quickly went inside and I locked the door.
‘Hours later two people came to the house. One was wearing a mask and they knocked on my door.
‘I answered it and they were filming me on a phone. I told them to go away.
‘They walked away and they started shouting what sounded like abuse.’
The family told private security firm Serco about the incidents and now security guards patrol the neighbourhood, and they have been given an alarm.
Mr Nadeem said the village is four miles from the nearest supermarket and a return taxi trip to buy provisions would cost £20.
‘What do I do?’, he said. ‘The Home Office gives us £295 a week for six members. Most of our money goes on taxis.
‘This is no good. It’s too rural. I have diabetes and back pain. My GP is four miles away.
‘We left Pakistan because of threats to our family and now we have it here.’
But Jackie Jefferies, 62, has lived in the village for more than three decades. She said: ‘My daughter has come back home and she can’t get any housing here but if you’re an asylum seeker then you can move right in.
‘We don’t want to hurt anyone or be a mob, we just want our points to be heard.’
Another local, who gave her name as Rachel, said: ‘People are concerned because no one has been told what’s going to happen, which creates a vacuum of fear.’
The area’s Tory MP Mark Pritchard raised the situation in parliament earlier this month.
He has said: ‘Stoke Heath is an isolated rural location with very few public services.
‘This is the wrong location and at the wrong scale. I will fight these ill-conceived plans all the way.’
Shropshire Council has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to ‘raise our strong concerns about this location and are awaiting a response before considering any further action’.
Police and Crime Commissioner of West Mercia John-Paul Campion called the plan ‘wholly inappropriate’.
In an open letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Campion pointed out that the nearest bus stop was a 30-minute walk away.
The Government insists the move is part of a wider strategy to cut costs and reduce hotel use.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We are working to fairly disperse asylum seekers across the country, consulting closely with local authorities to further reduce our reliance on hotels and deliver better value for money for taxpayers, while giving control back to communities.
‘The Home Office is developing a long-term, sustainable strategy for asylum accommodation.’
Serco said it works under the Home Office, which decides where people are placed and ‘determines how many people are to be accommodated in each local authority area’.
