Challenging Change: Mark Ault's Fight for the Three Fields Ward and the Future of Wethersfield Airfield

Imagine turning a safe conservative ward into a thriving independent one, and challenging looming governmental plans – that's what our guest, Mark Ault, the new district councillor for the Three Fields Ward, has done. Mark shares his compelling journey to local council politics and his fierce commitment to the campaign to stop Wethersfield Airfield Prison. This episode provides a rich exploration of the struggles rural communities face against significant government developments and the power of local politics.

Our conversation also addresses the public's mounting distrust in local councils, such as the Braintree District Council and Essex County Council, particularly in their handling of the prison and asylum seeker crises. We examine the challenges of building productive relationships across political divides and the uphill battle of securing support from council leaders. As we steer towards the situation at Wethersfield Airfield, we scrutinise the lack of a comprehensive plan, the unprepared facilities, and the unresolved safety issues surrounding the asylum seekers housed there.

Engaging community involvement and maintaining local character is a core focus in our discussion. With Mark, we consider a balanced approach that satisfies our humanitarian obligations while mindful of local implications. Future plans for the airfield, including constructing a museum or visitor centre to respect its historical significance, are also explored. Making contact with Mark and Michael (a fellow independent councillor) is made easy for listeners needing help with local matters. Join us as we navigate the issues impacting local government and uncover ways we, as a community, can contribute to the solution.

Chapters

• 0:06 Local Government Issues and Community Concerns
• 10:14 Lack of Trust in Local Councils
• 23:07 Concerns Surrounding Asylum Seeker Facility
• 34:00 Community Engagement and Airfield Future Plans

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Field Association on Air. We are a group of residents who are passionate about tackling all aspects of local and national government decisions that affect local communities. In each episode, various members of the Field Association will be exploring a range of subject matters, discussing all the angles of each issue and interviewing those who can add an expert or helpful point of view. So grab yourself a tea or coffee and listen in as we look to navigate through these current challenges.

Speaker 2: 0:39

My name is Nick Chapman from the Residence Association, the Fields Association. I'm really pleased today to have Mark Olt with me, who's the new district councillor for the Free Fields Ward. So welcome Mark.

Speaker 3: 0:52

Thank you, nick, really grateful for you asking me along this afternoon.

Speaker 2: 0:56

Thank you very much for attending. What inspired you, mark, to become councillor for Free Fields Ward and what are you hoping to achieve?

Speaker 3: 1:04

Well, I think, go back three years ago. I moved here well, six years ago actually, but three years ago there was noise around the air base was being closed and exited by the Ministry of Defence and there was potential for a development to be placed on that site of one of the largest prisons in the world. Actually, outside of Europe there's only one prison of that size and that would have been in America, which was a foul prison in America actually. So there was a lot of noise and I thought about the whole process of that going on for many, many years up to ten years in development and how that could impact on the local residents. And if you're going to sit there and moan about something, very little is going to get done, and I hear a lot of people talking about this, but not a lot of action was going on, and so I wrote a small piece on Facebook and then I then wrote to the Prince Charles and a few other people at, you know, high level. I got a response from Prince Charles, which was you know what you'd expect sort of response, but at least he did. None of the politicians responded. So therefore, I thought that we need to start taking action, so I contacted a few people and we started the SWAP campaign, which was to stop Weathersfield Airfield Prison. And I just realised by, you know, having those regular meetings with local residents from all communities around here from Bardfield, weathersfield, finchamfield, panfield, shelford that we had galvanised that thought that this development was not right for that area.

Speaker 3: 2:38

Obviously, it's developed over the last two years into a really serious campaign group who have done an awful lot of work, and I wanted to carry that on, and Michael and I were inspired with the desire to make a meaningful difference to the community we live in and our aim was to provide a voice for local concerns. We want, you know, we want to see improved services. We are officially registered as needing levelling up. Although we are one of the richest counties in in the Essex, we are out in the middle of nowhere and there are lots of things that we don't have, such as a regular bus service and you know other other things that towns would necessarily enjoy. Yes, so I think what we wanted to make sure is that this area has the full potential that it needs, and so we're going to work hard to be that voice for the local people.

Speaker 2: 3:30

What really impressed me with yourself and Michael is that you went the extra sort of, you did the extra move into, you know, going for these seats, these two district council seats which have been really safe conservative seats up to now, and you turned both seats into green and independent and won the ward. How do you think you managed to do that? How did you turn it around from a safe conservative area into your sales being appointed?

Speaker 3: 3:59

Yes, I think it's. It was a remarkable shift and I think a lot of people do sort of vote with their national politics, their national views on politics as well, so I'm sure there was some element of that in this. Obviously, the conservatives have got a bad rap at the moment and we came in with an independent view and I think those political shifts can have various factors.

Speaker 3: 4:23

It might be that I don't know the entire area, but that demographic changes and also there's been lots of various impacts on on local issues in the area that the parties that have been here before have done little, nothing about it. And I think there was from my door to door knocking, which was an awful lot of door knocking, thank the doors.

Speaker 3: 4:44

You could see the dissatisfaction with the previous representatives, you know, and I didn't get involved with them so I can't comment directly, but there are a bit. There have been ongoing issues in all of the various villages around here for the last three or four years that could have been solved. Actually, you know, braintree district council has been conservative for years and yet those, those things have been left again. You know, all focus seems to have been placed on Braintree and some of the bigger towns. Nothing's been focused on developing or supporting rural communities. We made a very big effort to knock in that door and listen to what people said, you know, and we can't promise that we can resolve everything, but what we can do is listen to what people say and try our very best you know it's been a hard two years trying to stop the government department putting large developments on the on the airfield site in Weversfield.

Speaker 2: 5:34

It feels like we've been a bit railroaded on the asylum centre. I know we're trying to. You know that's trying to be stopped but but could also be railroaded on the mega prisons in the future because that's not gone away. But what actually gives you the belief that you can actually do anything about this as a local councillor?

Speaker 3: 5:52

Yeah, I think at minor micro position, has been very clear on this from the beginning. This site is not scale suitable for any large-scale development and there's various factors on that and we've I think we've put every single case and we've had every single expert possible that you know some people at Oxford University, educated professors, have been involved in all of this to prove that that site is in the wrong place. It's not accessible for people occupying there to local towns easily, the local infrastructure, there's huge concerns over the local road network, the sewage treatment, the electrical supply and it's about the potential impacts of pollution on the local water sources and the environment of public health and that's largely due to that airfield being used for an airbase for 70 years and there's potential contamination up there of some seriously harmful chemicals and agents. So that seems to have been ignored actually by the current tenants and the owners of that land, which was the MOD and the Home Office, and we've been pushing from day one to say that this is the wrong place, wrong plan.

Speaker 3: 7:04

Nothing of any large-scale development should happen on that site and it should be left in posterity for the things that you know that has been used for in previous years and there should be a museum and a visitor center placed on that site and everything else should be left undisturbed.

Speaker 3: 7:18

There's some buildings up there that have already been made into heritage buildings and some that haven't, which should be like the chapel, and so, you know, I think we will continue this fight to preserve whatever we can on that airfield, and at some point they've got to listen, you know they can't start digging up, and once they do get planning permission, if they do and they start digging that land up, you know we will enforce the fact that they have got to show us, you know, what's under that land, and I, you know we've already had some high-level tests done on that land and some reports done, you know, pages and pages long, detailing the seriousness of what could be contaminating that land, such as forever chemicals, the PFAS, which was used in foam, and also agent orange and fuel and all sorts of other stuff. So I just think we've got to, you know, persevere with what are the biggest concerns to public health and our concerns, to be honest.

Speaker 2: 8:24

I mean I'll start with Braintree District Council, you know, and sort of any bodies that can help, but do you think they're pushing for the home office to carry out, you know, a valid assessment that can alleviate the fears that this is all being taken care of, or are they not pushing for this?

Speaker 3: 8:42

It's very difficult when things aren't being listened to. I think what we've got to do is continue doing what we've done, and that's lobbying different government entities. We've got to continue. Michael and I are going to continue engaging with the public to ensure that our voices are heard and that they know we're doing our very best with them, and we'll persist you know we are very persistent until we get the results that we feel are best for everyone in the local area. No, you know they're not listening. I raised questions last week in Braintree District Council and got a very standard, bland, really not an answer to the question. It's unacceptable and indeed unacceptable enough that we're putting a challenge to that and a complaint into the council to say that you know they're not answering questions when they've been asked.

Speaker 2: 9:27

So are you saying that you've actually already submitted a complaint on the fact that they're just not answering the? You know these questions that really do need an answer.

Speaker 3: 9:38

Yes, and I raised the question in the last council meeting, last this month's council meeting, which was which was effectively ignored and a bland response given back which just reiterated the fact that they'll do nothing until the judicial review goes through. So, effectively, everything that's going on up there is just being allowed to get on with, and you know that, whilst they know that that could have serious implications and ramifications for people living locally, they're just ignoring it and leaving it under the banner of nothing can be done until they've had the judicial review.

Speaker 2: 10:14

You know, there's obviously a big, a big push from the government to get solutions to both the prison population crisis and the asylum seeker crisis and they're looking for councils to help them with that. Then there's obviously local residents and professional bodies, as you mentioned, that are trying to ensure that we don't destroy, you know, an area of the country by by rushing something through. That doesn't work. If I, if I, if I take Grand Street District Council or Essex County Council, I think the question everybody's asking is can we trust them? Are they representing the residents and making sure we don't? You know, we don't have a problem in this area, not just for now, but probably forever if we do put major construction on there. Or are they on the side of the government and saying, well, we're just going to have to do something and mitigate it in some way? And I think there's the sort of what I feel is there's a bit of lack of public trust is the word, and I don't know. Are they working with us or are they working on behalf of the government?

Speaker 3: 11:19

I've been a politician for years. I've been in this very brief amount of time and I'm learning my way through it, but I think as a councillor you know how you're received is widely based on the political dynamics of that council and also some personal relationships and whatever the specific issues are in hand and it's crucial that Mike and I build that constructive relationship with those people, despite the fact we don't always get on with the, you know, with the political view to get some common goals. And we've still got a great deal to do with getting full support from the leader of Braintree District Council, mike, and I's thought, like it or not, he's clearly that. You know. Graham Butler and his own agenda is not fully engaging with us are many friends and, no, I don't trust him.

Speaker 3: 12:07

Public trust in local councils, I think, depends on their actions and their transparency. And I believe that to date the actions of both Braintree District Council and SS County Council have been reactionary and the communication to the public in large has been sparsely frequent. And as a councillor you know I'd advocate that the council they do. They should effectively represent the interests of the public and to date I don't think they're listening to the local people. They appear to be driving this in the direction of their choice, and it's not necessarily lying to the local communities.

Speaker 2: 12:41

What we actually asking from him to do is that you're like that.

Speaker 3: 12:48

I think it's up to the Braintree District Council to decide. You know what, any or any enforcement actions, but we, mike and I, as district councillors, have pushed for such measures as we believe it's in the best interest of the community. However, again, the Braintree District Council leader is reluctant to commit to anything council the judicial review and he certainly doesn't want to try and stop anything currently going on on that side. So it is a battle.

Speaker 2: 13:15

But I thought that we had quite a sort of combined case with West Lindsay Council, with the Scampton proposal as well, and Braintree District Council, west Lindsay and also, you know, a private individual, all sort of working together really, with the same argument that's being, you know, scheduled for the end of October in court, which seems like a pretty stamped on case actually. But West Lindsay Council, it feels like, when you read the news that they've they've already issued an enforcement notice to stop work at Scampton, as if they're taking more proactive action, and I guess the question we're all asking now is well, why haven't Braintree District Council done this?

Speaker 3: 14:03

Well, again, this is a question that we asked at the local council meeting, at the Red Bantry Council meeting. Again, the rhetorical, it was the outcome of the judicial review that can influence the next steps. We asked them if they would enter into any other challenge and the answer to that was no. So clearly and I don't know what lawyers the BDC is and against what lawyers those other sites are using but clearly maybe we need different advice. Perhaps or are we ignoring advice and leaving that until a judicial review?

Speaker 3: 14:38

I don't know what the cause of this is and they're not telling us. In their view, if this asylum center is deemed unlawful, then that local political party may pressure the Home Office to halt development and possibly relocate them residents. But I think until then, it would appear they don't want to take any further action and I don't know whether that's being led by the lawyers who are working on behalf of Braintree District Council or whether it's Braintree District Council sticking their head in the sand. It's one they won't answer. They just stick to the same old, same old, which is Graham Butler's response every time we're not going to do anything until we've had the judicial review, which was the response to the question I asked him at the last Braintree District Council meeting, which was unacceptable.

Speaker 2: 15:27

On the 31st of October. Just have the scenario that because it is such a strong case that the asylum center is unlawful, so they haven't used the right planning policies to put it in. Do you have a view of what Braintree District Council are planning to do if that happens?

Speaker 3: 15:46

Well, yeah, they will then seek for that side to be closed down and the residents moved off. I think I've visited that site and you know, and I'm to be quite honest, I was quite shocked that those cohorts, as they call them, have been treated in the manner that they are. And you know, for whatever people think about what's going on with people entering this country legally, they are human beings. And you know, I've visited with that site with a number of other council members and other dignitaries that were invited there and senior members of the Home Office, and I think the public would be shocked to know what is going on, whether that's local residents or cohorts, as they call them, being treated in the way they are. I mean, they would have to shut it down and they should be shutting that site down right now.

Speaker 3: 16:45

And I've written to the Home Office, the COO, the Chief Offeration Office and also the Director of Property airing my deep concerns over that site. And you know what I physically saw myself on there. I raised on the day with those people and they had little or no answers to the things they were raising. In fact, they were quite embarrassed and shocked. And the guy that was guiding us around who was the person responsible for that site, decided that it was good fun to focus on the fact that there was a free lunch and move us around quite quickly after I started pointing some serious things out. So in that question you just asked me they should shut that site down immediately. In fact, it should be shut down now. If you want me to go into more detail about what we saw, I'm more than happy to do that, nick.

Speaker 2: 17:31

I think you should, mark, because I think it's really important that you know. Not many people have had access to the site, and I know you. You know through your work, you're an expert in this area, so I think it would be good for you to go into a little bit of detail, just so people who are listening can get a view of what the site looks like now. Yeah, of course.

Speaker 3: 17:52

I mean if you don't know the area, you've never been up to the site. You close your eyes and just imagine a. You know a very wide, open, large field with a five mile perimeter fence, on one of the highest points in Essex. So the views are stunning from up there across and they'd need to be higher because this was an airfield where Lancaster bombers and all sorts of other jets in the Second World War and Cold War took off and landed and because of its openness and because of its heights it's absolutely desolate in the winter. There's a. There's probably a quarter of the airfield is developed which has got old 1940s, 50s, 70s, all different mixer buildings in there, accommodation buildings, churches, theaters, social clubs, schools, there's everything. So a whole village community based up. There was 3000 American occupants there at any one time when it was fully up to speed, so it was a busy place, but they were all confined to the base really, and the village villages, local used to go in there, but very few of those people came out. They worked in that site. So it's open to the elements. There's little or nothing for those co-gorts to occupy themselves with. I think they've given them a small gymnasium, but apart from that. The conditions are very basic.

Speaker 3: 19:12

The implementation of that project clearly, or seemingly, has been you know there's been no regard to the safety of people in there. They were under pressure by the Home Office, clearly to get people on site and to start proving a point that they could get them out of hotels. On my visit I walked around and, as you say, I work in the compliance and safety industry and therefore just walked around and raised a number of fire safety concerns, just visually to the Home Office during the visit, and those things were you know. The concerns I raised were very obvious, such as double leaf doors that were going through into the building block that was occupied. The doors were wedged open with wooden wedges so in the event of a fire those doors wouldn't close, wouldn't stop the smoke or wouldn't stop the fire. They were fire door rated 60 minute fire doors that wouldn't have worked, bit like Grimfield, you know. The doors were what ended up being the biggest issue walls and the doors. We then walked down the corridors and doors double doors, fire doors weren't fitting correctly.

Speaker 3: 20:12

I then asked them questions about those buildings were built in the late 70s and 80s. They wouldn't have been up to current building standards today and therefore maybe no compartmentation which stops the fire spreading in the roof. And they had no idea what I was talking about. And yet those buildings were occupied. When I asked them about what fire testing had been done prior to those occupants going in, the director and COO of buildings did not know. They, as far as they were concerned, that occupied building had never been handed over to them from Kias. It was still being finished off. So they're occupying a building that wasn't handed over and they hadn't taken the cautions to make sure or the precautionary measures to make sure that building was safe.

Speaker 3: 20:55

Other parts of the building there was extinguishers holding doors open. There was an oxygen tank in the gymnasium. No one knew what that was doing in there. Obviously that's potential there for some sort of explosion or falling on somebody. So the whole thing was a complete fuss and at the end of it I raised serious concerns about the wanton lack of, I think, from their portion about how they occupied buildings and they weren't dismissive and they thanked me for my views and asked me if I'd write to them, which I did. So I've written to them with those concerns.

Speaker 3: 21:28

To date I have not had a response back from the Home Office regarding that. I'm still waiting, and that's over two weeks ago. And then, within a few days of my visit, there was an explosion on site and it seems that there was a fire suppressant system in another building that had not been maintained properly and that exploded and blew the roof off, which ended up with numerous fire tenders, specialist operational people who understood what was there. They didn't know if it was a bomb that had gone off or what it was, so they sent specialist explosive people up there fire brigade, ambulances, police wasted a load of people's time, but it just proves that building those buildings have been occupied since pre-war, so it's certainly pre-Cold War, second World War, and no one knows what's there and what's been. That state of that building's been left, and yet they've occupied those buildings with people from different parts of the country.

Speaker 2: 22:28

It's upsetting and scary to hear it from talking to you, mark, I think I'm visualising at the moment where I saw Chevrolet in front of the base saying that during autumn there'd be 1700 asylum seekers based at Weversfield and it'll be at full capacity. That was on a live news broadcast. If I look at the Govuk website this morning, well, there's two numbers on there. One is saying there's currently 94 asylum seekers on the base and then there's one that's saying there's a bit lower down. It says it's now at 43 asylum seekers at the base. I think one of the questions is well, you know how many people are up there, because we, I think we're worried for them, as you've rightly just pointed out, why we should be worried. What I just can't get my head around is how are we going to get from, say, if it's 43, I'll take the second number how are we going to get from 43 to 1700 when it looks like the facility is just not ready and fit for purpose?

Speaker 3: 23:33

We asked that question. And we asked that question of the guy responsible for the site, the director who's responsible for bringing that site to life, and it was Well, he couldn't answer the question. He's methoded that up. He clearly hadn't done his math because, you know, if you start looking at 50, he was talking about 50 a day until the end of October, november. Well, you know, that doesn't quite add up if you start working out the number of available days, the number of people he's expecting on there, and also the buildings aren't ready and he hasn't dealt with all of the fire safety issues. So he couldn't answer that question.

Speaker 3: 24:09

And also, you know, as far as we know and we haven't got the full story on this yet, but there was a whole cutting defence. At least 10 co-gauts decided to leave the base, not through the right maintenance, but they cut hole in the fence and left through the back of the field, over the fields, and ended up on a very busy arterial road which goes through from one village to the next, which has got no pavements. It's a narrow, winding road and they were seen wandering up there to the local village of Weathersfield, to which they then sat on the pavement with their feet in the road waiting for the bus. And when a local resident who was concerned about seeing them there and they all looked completely bewildered and disorientated asked them what they were doing, they said they didn't want to be there because there was nothing to do. They felt like they were in prison and they wanted to go back to Loob and where they come from.

Speaker 3: 25:01

So you know, whether it's 1700, whether it's 500, I don't really think they've got a plan. They don't seem to have any cohesive plan One about the retention of those people on there. How they actually know who's on there and who's off there, I've got no idea because there doesn't seem to be any way of them logging people in and out. They go out in a bus and they don't have to come back the same night. They apparently they've got up to seven days to wander free and then come back. So I didn't see while I was there anybody clicking people in and clicking people out. They had 10 lead via the back fence. So whether it's 90, whether it's 40, I've no idea Whether they'll ever get up to 1700, it's hard to believe. It just doesn't. You can't comprehend it when you walk up there how 1700 people could possibly live in porter cabins on an airfield in the middle of nowhere, with very little to do. It just doesn't compute.

Speaker 2: 26:00

Where you said before that you know you believe that if it's deemed that it was unlawful and it needed proper planning conditions in the first place which I think you know everybody from Braintree District Council to all the residents, to many of the politicians actually agree with you said that they would be removed. The asylum seekers will be removed and re and re you know, situated in somewhere which is the right place for them, and they wouldn't, they would stop development of the site. If does anybody actually put that in writing from Braintree District Council? Is Graham Butler actually said that's what, definitely what we're going to do, or is it more a hope?

Speaker 3: 26:44

Well, we're back to, you know, we're back to the same old thing again, which is, you know, in fairness to them, they follow in a very pragmatic approach of this which is one step at a time. They will deal with the judicial review first and once that's been dealt with, they'll then deal with the you know in terms of having to shut that site down and look at what you know what that site can be used for in the future. I don't know, they've not made any commitment. I think they they they being Braintree District Council have made it clear that they do not think that site is suitable for for for asylum seekers.

Speaker 3: 27:20

Well, they've not been very clear about it, despite the fact that I've been pushing and Michael and I have been pushing for the last three years two and a half three years is that that site should not be used for a prison, and that's something that Graham Butler and appears to be and has been right from the very beginning. He believes it's a good place for a prison. In fact, he was he and his party that put that forward in the first place and the local parish council to the local parish council that this was a good idea, when actually they didn't believe it was a good idea. So again, trust. I don't know. I don't trust what's been said. We know how it has been turned down on there but no one has ever a category in, no one has ever said from Braintree District Council, including the leader, that he does not believe that at the large scale, largest prison in Europe is not a good idea on that site. And I think it was.

Speaker 2: 28:16

Do you think they'll, they'll, they'll, they'll treat a detention centre, asylum seeker kind of a detention centre, which is sort of a new concept? Do you think that Braintree District Council will be for that kind of approach as well?

Speaker 3: 28:29

And I think they'll be forced into doing well, not, they will be. The Home Office will be forced into changing the way that they deal with that site. Once the leg the recent legislation goes through, they will be detained. So that will be effect become an open well, it'll become a prison. It won't become a. It's not a physically built prison, but it will become a place of detention for those people. So that is the concern that once it becomes somewhere, the people are detained.

Speaker 3: 28:53

The next step from that is you need to build the premises to put those people in, whether it's asylum seekers, you know, or or whether it's criminals from from wherever. I think the challenge we've got now is that no one knows, or seems to know, doing to stop this, you know. Let's look at the root cause of this, which is, you know what's going on near the channel 1000 people coming through in a week. They've not cut the tap. The tap is still full on and these people are still coming in and putting them up there, whether it's a weather filter anywhere else, is going to continue for years and years and years coming, years and years, decades to get these sorted out, you know. And so, until they sort out the problem at the beginning. You know right at the source, then there's no interlock that site how long that site could be used for what it says there If that judicial review does not go through, you know and they get to their way.

Speaker 2: 29:48

It could be accused of being Nimbus, couldn't we? Where you know, there's a problem in the country, which is the number of asylum seekers that are arriving, and they've got to go somewhere. So I mean, if you manage to have any direct conversations with any government, like James Cleveley or any government officials, or is there anything that we're sort of proposing that says that here's a different way of solving this?

Speaker 3: 30:13

No, I don't believe. I don't believe, you know, in terms of solving the problem. The problem lies at the core of government, doesn't it? They need to be able to process these people faster and get those people into the community, if that's where they need, into local communities, which is, in essence, where they want to be and working and contributing to the United Kingdom. That's what they need to do and that's what they haven't done.

Speaker 3: 30:38

I haven't seen or heard anything that suggests to me at the moment that they've got the resource or a plan in place to speed their up, and piling 1700 people in the airfield up there, where they're going to be totally disillusioned about being there, is not the answer. So, no, there has been no other discussions or I haven't seen a framework of anything that suggests we ask the question funny enough, when we were on site how they are going to process those people, when we weren't given a response. We weren't given a. We couldn't give a response at that time. There were folks at the time making sure that site was ready for occupation. Let's go back to this Nimbism.

Speaker 3: 31:18

Nimbism it's nothing to do with, you know, not in my backyard. This is. You know, we're not xenophobic and we're certainly not racist. We want a society, you know, that can support itself and people that can add value to the community and that, you know, when people moving into this area, we welcome them as houses being built, you know, and the schools have got the schools aren't occupied as full as they can be, so if those schools are not occupied by children, they'll be closed down. So we want people to come in here, but they've got to contribute to society. First and foremost.

Speaker 3: 31:53

That site shouldn't be developed, whether it's a prison, whether it's a asylum center or whether it's an Amazon warehouse. It's just not fit for purpose where it is, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of rural Essex, in one of the most beautiful parts of rural Essex, on a high peak, one of the highest peaks in Essex, except we've seen from miles and miles away. It was a site that was judged to be suitable enough for the Queen's Jubilee Woods. The thousands of trees were planted up there of that, and there's also an ancient woodland up there. So it's had its use.

Speaker 3: 32:29

It was used, you know, by the military for 70 odd years, there's people's ashes that have spread, and I think this is one of the most saddest things about that up there, that it almost seems as though someone whether it's the government, whether it's the home office, whether it's a combination of both have completely and utterly forgotten about everything that's gone on in the air base, and it's appalling that they have turned what was the chapel into.

Speaker 3: 32:54

Yeah, okay, it's still a chapel for prayer for different religions. However, to go and take all of the memorial signs down where people's ashes were buried, where ashes were spread after they were died, is appalling. So there's no memory on that site now of the airmen that died in that wall. That's a consecrated church and they've just ignored that, taken all the pews out and just dismissed the fact that that was ever anything. You know, anything that was associated with the people on that site for more than 70 odd years. And I think you know, crucially, they need to make sure that they deal with the safety concerns on that site and never address it promptly, and pressure has been, and will continue to be, applied to the home office to conduct and publish a comprehensive assessment of what's going on on that site before they put any more people on there today. They've not responded to me or Michael, despite the fact we've sent them numerous letters, and neither is the leader of Braintree District Council.

Speaker 2: 34:00

You know, there's always an opportunity isn't there.

Speaker 2: 34:02

And I think when I talk to people around this subject, whether it's people from the Fields Association or yourselves or, you know, even some of the politicians we've managed to talk to I think there's enough people in this local community that can help with the asylum seeker situation.

Speaker 2: 34:20

I think, like you said, if we can help and integrate them into our population somehow and take, you know, our fair share of the issue, where we can actually make an impact and help, then I'm sure the majority of the people would want to do that for a sensible number, a small number that the villagers can actually provide the services and the support to. And there's enough groups that you know that we're a very, very strong community. But the way this is being done and now listening to you, mark, the way that you know this is basically 1700 male asylum seekers being imprisoned on the edge of one of our villages it just seems ridiculous. It's almost become a normalised conversation, but you have to keep reminding yourselves about why. We're all trying to make sense of this from all different directions, and I think it's been fascinating the way that you've really clearly put your views over what would you like to see on the airfield going forward.

Speaker 3: 35:24

And I think, just going back to what you said, and the asylum seeker issue is a very complex and it is an indeed a complex issue and I think get away from all those comments around NIMBY and all that there is a balanced approach that needs to be thought through, you know, meeting the humanitarian obligations whilst considering some of the local impacts that it has on the communities in the area. So we want to keep engaging with those government representatives and to voice our local concerns. I think we've just got to keep doing that in a balanced way. You know there are lots of people that want to support those poor individuals that are already traumatised. It's not their fault. It's not their fault. They've been put somewhere which is inappropriate. It's the government's fault. So you know it needs to be sorted out.

Speaker 3: 36:15

That site in the future needs to represent, through the neighborhood plan, the local, I think, the character of this.

Speaker 3: 36:22

We need to preserve the local character of this area because it's beautiful.

Speaker 3: 36:25

It's important in every village that you drive through and as you can tell from my accent, they come not a local person, and you know as you drive through this part of Essex, you know which was.

Speaker 3: 36:36

You know a place where Henry VIII once had, you know, one of his palaces and his hunting grounds, the areas of an outstanding natural beauty, and I think we've got to preserve the local character, promote a sustainable development on that site. We want to enhance, you know, the community facilities and services, such as a museum or a visitor centre and we want to celebrate the history of the airbase and the people that lived and died there and, you know, a suitable park or woodlands to preserve the ancient woods and those jubilee woods on site. Ninety-five species of bird have been seen on that site some rare birds on that site and amphibians and plants, rare orchids. Because that site's been left for the last 20 or 30 years, it's become a mosaic landscape of various different plants and trees and wildlife and it should be left in that way and preserved for the future, for our children and their children.

Speaker 2: 37:39

Mark, I think that's a lovely way to finish the questions and the podcast today, I think. Well, I mean, my final thing is how can people come and see you and contact you as district councillor for the area? Do you run surgeries or any meetings or anything, mark?

Speaker 3: 37:55

We do. We, michael and I, visit the. If you look at your local parish council meeting, we are always there. We have a surgery half an hour before the meeting starts, so any local residents can come and see Michael or myself with any concerns they have and we will do our very best. We have a Facebook councillors Mark Alt and Michael Stain's site. If people want to drop us a message on there or we have our councillor email addresses, councillor markalt at braintreegovcouk they can reach us there as well. We are and we have our own telephone numbers which are online on the Brain Tree District Council website.

Speaker 2: 38:37

Mark, are you got any final words? Just to keep the resident spirits up with this.

Speaker 3: 38:43

Well, yeah, I just, you know we have to keep hope, and you know.

Speaker 3: 38:47

I do believe the power of the people is still there. We've got you know there's a lot of people, a lot more people could get involved, but we have got to keep positive. We've got to keep pushing the fact that that site is the wrong place, you know, for people to be housed. We are. We have got the engagement of people within the government, in the back benches of government, and we've also got some, some of the politicians that you wouldn't expect on our side. Now they are in the background doing what they can, and I think we will keep fighting. Michael and I are not going to give up on this. We you know this is we will continue to do what we can to ensure the best outcome from that site, you know, for the, for the, the people of this, of this, of this ward.

Speaker 2: 39:36

Well, look you know, I think I can say, on behalf of all the residents, just like to thank you and Michael for all your hard work and dedication, with this mark and and thanks very much for joining me today to record this podcast.

Speaker 3: 39:50

Thank you and my very final words, you know, is that it's crucial to remember the power of community and by working together and raising your voices and engage you with your representatives, you can shape the future of this area.

Speaker 2: 40:05

Brilliant Mark, Thank you very much.

Speaker 3: 40:08

Cheers Nick.

Speaker 1: 40:09

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