Peter Harris, the Leader of Essex County Council and a Reform UK councillor, visited the Wethersfield Airfield Asylum Accommodation, a former RAF base turned asylum centre, where he found luxury sports facilities including a gym, football pitch, and snack bar for its 800 residents. The facility also provides mobile phones with free calls, three meals a day with halal meat options, and minibuses to transport residents into nearby towns. Harris was critical of the £15.3 billion estimated cost to taxpayers over ten years for asylum accommodation contracts, including this site. Despite the comforts provided, many residents posted complaints in suggestion boxes about the lack of amenities such as a swimming pool.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For the 800 guests enjoying the luxury sports facilities, this place is unbeatable.
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place → enjoy → facilities
As I saw for myself this week on a visit to the camp in Wethersfield, deep in the Essex countryside, residents want for practically nothing.
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residents → see → nothing
There's a fully equipped gymnasium, a fitness room, a full-sized football pitch and a substantial indoor sports hall with all the equipment for five-a-side soccer, basketball and cricket – all free.
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all → be → soccer
For those who want to kick back and take it easy, there are recreation rooms with televisions and pool tables, and a snack bar.
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who → want → televisions
Mobile phones are provided for all, with generous allowances for free calls.
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phones → provide → calls
The main restaurant, serving two dining halls, provides three meals a day with a wide choice of meals, including vegetarian options.
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restaurant → serve → options
The only restriction is that all meat is halal – non-Muslims don't get a choice about that.
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Muslims → get → that
Similarly, though the prayer rooms are described as a multi-faith area, most of the religious material is Islamic, with plenty of Korans and no Bibles.
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most → describe → Korans
Prayer mats cover almost all the available floor space.
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mats → cover → space
A squadron of free minibuses, 17 of them, are laid on three times a day, seven days a week – even on Christmas Day – to take the 800 camp residents into the nearby towns of Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester.
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squadron → lay → Braintree
Peter Harris, a Reform UK councillor at Essex County Council, looked around the asylum centre 'holiday camp' in Wethersfield
So-called 'dispersal sites', mostly former military properties, are regarded as cheaper than the short-term solution of placing illegal migrants in hotels
Migrants arriving in Braintree by mini bus from RAF Wethersfield migrants camp last month
And how much does it cost to stay here?
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it → look → much
Not only is everything free, but there's a tenner a week extra in every pocket... or, to be absolutely accurate, an allowance of £9.95 per person, to cover any incidental costs, loaded onto a prepaid debit card.
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everything → be → card
And although it's free for the hundreds of 'happy campers', the bill for Britain is eye-watering.
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bill → water → Britain
According to a National Audit Office report last year, asylum accommodation contracts are estimated to cost the taxpayer £15.3billion over the next ten years.
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contracts → accord → years
So-called 'dispersal sites', mostly former military properties, are regarded as cheaper than the short-term solution of placing illegal migrants in hotels.
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sites → call → hotels
But the impact on surrounding communities is immense and the sheer unfairness of the financial burden is shocking.
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unfairness → surround → burden
Not that all the illegal migrants here seem to appreciate it.
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migrants → seem → it
The most frequent request posted in the suggestion boxes is not for educational resources, or even pleas for news of loved ones supposedly left behind in war zones and terror states.
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request → post → zones
What irks them most, apparently, is the lack of a swimming pool.
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lack → irk → pool
I've taken a look at the site from the outside but last week provided my first opportunity to go through the gates.
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I → take → gates
I confess I was surprised at the Home Office's willingness to grant access to me and the council's deputy leader, Russell Quirk.
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I → confes → me
We arrived at 9.30am and were greeted by a site manager employed by Clearwater, the firm that administers Wethersfield.
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that → arrive → Wethersfield
It was made very clear that we were not allowed to take photographs, despite my request.
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we → make → request
The accommodation is equipped with a gym
It also has an onsite healthcare centre
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It → equip → centre
During the next three hours, we also did not speak with any of the residents, other than a nod and a hello in passing.
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we → speak → passing
According to the Home Office, 445 contingency bed spaces 'can be brought into use to help manage short-term pressures across the wider asylum accommodation estate'.
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spaces → accord → estate
Yet during our tour I counted fewer than 150 residents.
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I → count → residents
Some others, we were told, were in their rooms.
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we → tell → rooms
But most were on day trips out of the camp, something that happens every day, with up to 300 men travelling into each nearby town.
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men → happen → town
The last of the minibuses was leaving as we arrived.
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we → leave → minibuses
We were repeatedly told that Wethersfield is not a prison.
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Wethersfield → tell → ?
But this free access to the community is done, as far as I can see, with next to no consideration for the townsfolk and their safety.
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I → do → townsfolk
I've spoken to many Essex people who tell me that, if they need to go into Colchester, Chelmsford or Braintree, they will get there as early as possible, to complete their shopping before the influx of men from Wethersfield from about 10am.
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they → speak → am
Of the men I did see during my visit, the majority seemed to be on their phones.
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majority → see → phones
But the gym was full, with most training with weights.
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most → train → weights
One man, we were told, was a mixed martial arts athlete and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender, an expert in kickboxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu.
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we → tell → kickboxing
We had a single security guard with us but they took little notice of us.
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they → have → us
While we were walking around the site, a police officer came cycling up to introduce himself as the designated officer for Wethersfield.
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officer → walk → Wethersfield
He spends approximately three or four hours a day there, Monday to Friday, with the remainder of his duty time covering the surrounding village.
We were also told another officer based at Braintree Police Station is available to deal with crimes recorded in connection with the site.
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officer → spend → site
The bobby on the bike was personable, enthusiastic and obviously hard-working.
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bobby → work → bike
…and 56 more, not listed.
