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Date submitted

17 July 2026

Submitted by

Interested party

I would like to attend a hearing in the event that one is scheduled. The environment Kidlington is a rapidly growing town, at the Western End of the government's much publicised growth arc (Oxford to Cambridge) of innovative technology business.It already has several hundred new houses plans and in addition to the existing Tech parks there is another planning application for Oxford TP2 which if (as likely) is granted will mean Campsfield is an out of place building - its planned expansion would only make this situation worse. A centre of global excellence, with scientists from all over the world, would be confronted with an IRC, full of international seekers of asylum, who may themselves be scientists, doctors, but have found themselves in an IRC taken there by our immigration officers apparently ready for deportation (although the evidence from Home Office own data is that over half of those taken to IRCs prove through the Immigration courts that this was a wrong decision and are 'released' back into their communities - see below). The centre - if the expansion goes ahead - will inevitably add to the pressure on infrastructure, from water, the drainage, to electricity, roads and traffic, emergency services and the police. A new pump will do little to alleviate this. The several thousand who are likely to pass through the centre during a year will have visits from families, from legal advisors, from religious leaders in their communities - all of this will put pressure on the Kidlington infrastructure which is already overstretched and will be more so with the planned housing and football stadium. And the expansion will totally cover the existing green space adjacent to the existing building, when that green space should be used for recreation for the 156 already incarcerated. Enough green belt (for this is still green belt) has been used for the Tech parks (and turned into 'gray' belt) without cramming more building on the land The' urgent need' for expansion Your expansion plan is predicated on a desperate, immediate, and proven need for more Immigration Detention places. I contest this. Home Office Data shows plenty of bed spaces empty across the centres. I understand the argument that there are currently people in prisons who should be in IRCs - BUT there are plenty of people currently in the IRC system who the home office have known they would deport at their sentence end from the very moment of conviction and sentencing. The urgent need here is for people to work from that sentencing day to arrange the deportation. Not subject these exprisoners to long periods in IRCs. This is unnecessary cruel and expensive for the taxpayer. Additionally, we know from the government's own data that over 50% of people in IRCs don't meet the criteria for incarceration and the Home Office has to let them go back to their homes in the UK. I would argue the urgent need here is for better decision making early on in the process not for an expansion of detainee places. In fact there is plenty of evidence from here and abroad, backed by the UN, to say people who remain in the community under 'alternative to detention' schemes, with good legal and welfare support, cost us less, are less traumatised, and in the end if they feel they have been given a fair hearing, will voluntarily leave the UK. The evidence provided suggests that there is no urgent need for expansion of detention places. Objection to the building itself My first objection is that there is so much redaction that it is very hard to see what it would be like. But from what we have been allowed to see - It is very cramped in the site, very little outside space; it is totally separated from the existing building, despite sharing health facilities and reception, and this risks the buildings having different cultures and regimes; existing guidance post Shaw Review demands no vulnerable people should be kept in IRCs so the need for a special building for vulnerable residents is highly questionable; having shared rooms and toilets in the room (which was in the 2014 plans so likely to be included here) will increase the pressure cooker culture - with different religions, communities, being expected to 'get along' in these already traumatic circumstances. Expansion is not necessary; there is no special case; it will create damage to the environment; the building is not adequate for those facing the trauma of imminent deportation I'd like to end by quoting from the IMB annual report on IRCs, published in June this year: "Campsfield House IRC reopened in December 2025, following its closure in 2018, despite IMB concerns about the expansion of the immigration detention estate – most people are released from detention, and less costly and harmful alternatives exist"..https://cdn.websitebuilder.service.justice.gov.uk/uploads/sites/13/2026/06/IMB-2025-National-Annual-Report.pdf