Plans to create an immigration holding facility near Glasgow Airport have been rejected by Renfrewshire councillors.
Members of the council’s Planning and Property Policy Board (on Tuesday Nov 08) unanimously refused a planning application to establish a facility with 20 bedrooms and ancillary accommodation to be used by the Home Office as a short-term immigration holding facility.
The council’s planning officers had recommended the application be granted with conditions.
Local MP Gavin Newlands has welcomed the decision.
The Home Office announced in September plans for a 51-bed immigration holding facility on Abbotsinch Road near Glasgow Airport. The new, smaller unit was to replace Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre near Strathaven in South Lanarkshire after it was announced there are plans to close it.
Councillor Terry Kelly, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Planning and Property Policy Board, said: “Members were unanimously of the view that the proposed facility would be contrary to the Adopted Renfrewshire Local Development Plan.
“There was clear concern it would be detrimental to the economic development of the Glasgow Airport Investment Area – one of the key economic drivers for the city region.
“Members agreed that there was no established identifiable functional link between the proposal and Glasgow Airport’s operations.
“The proposed facility’s location in a commercial and industrial area would also introduce an inappropriate use through the attendant noise, activity and disturbance.”
Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said: “I congratulate Renfrewshire Council for rejecting the planning application from the UK government for a short-term immigration detention centre near Glasgow Airport.
“It was clear that the local community didn’t want any part in the UK Government’s inhumane and ineffective approach towards immigration detention.
“The Prime Minister should take note of this decision and rethink her government’s approach towards immigration detention – a system which detains pregnant women and allows the indefinite detention of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”