Fear and confusion over village homes plan

Residents in a village which recently fought off plans to house asylum seekers say they feel scared over proposals for homeless people from London to move there instead.

They have also argued that Stoke Heath in Shropshire is unsuitable because it has little public transport and want the new homes there to be sold or rented out to local people.

The previous plans, to house up to 83 asylum seekers in new-build homes on Dutton Close were scrapped in July following local opposition and the intervention of the Home Secretary

But on Thursday, Shropshire Council said it had discovered that Enfield Council is now looking to rent properties there to homeless people to whom it owes a housing duty.

The council said it had written to the authority in the capital to raise "significant concerns" while Enfield Council said no decision had been made and no households placed there.

One woman, who did not want to give her name, said: "We're terrified, this is the second time now that we have had to worry about where we live."

Another woman, who also did not want to be identified, said: "It's just the unknown, we don't know who we are going to get here, we're just not told anything."

She said she accepted the owner of the properties had to make a profit, but she thought the homes should be sold or rented to local families at a "reasonable price".

"All along they were geared for the local people that's how they got the planning in the first place," she said.

"It's putting the fear of God in everybody they're really unsettling us over this," she added.

A third woman said: "We want to see these houses filled with families, but not people from Enfield. Why Enfield? I just don't understand it when we've got a waiting list here."

Mark Gilbert, a Stoke upon Tern parish councillor, said transport would be a problem for anyone moving into the area.

"The bus service around here is haphazard. If you take someone out of Enfield and put them here you might as well have dropped them in the middle of nowhere," he said.

Gilbert said he had spoken to local estate agents who told him they "would happily market these properties because they've got a database of people who want them".

He added: "Dutton Close is a lovely, lovely area to live, but I feel deeply sad that again Dutton Close is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons."

Shropshire Council said it and Stoke on Tern Parish Council had learned of proposals by Enfield Council "to place families to whom it owes a housing duty... through private rented housing arrangements".

Shropshire Council said the properties were currently available to rent or buy on the open market but it believed the homes were "not a suitable location for these placements".

A spokesperson said the site was "poorly connected, with limited access to transport, services and other essential support" and had no community facilities nearby.

The council acknowledged that it had no legal grounds to stop Enfield Council, but "strongly urged" it not to proceed.

Local MP Mark Pritchard has said Dutton Close would be "a completely inappropriate site".

"I think it is wrong that people from a London borough are relocated from an urban area into a very, very rural area where there aren't support services," he said.

Enfield Council said it was exploring housing options as it faced significant accommodation pressures.

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