MP says council must confirm Pontins Asylum camp plan won’t go ahead

Southport’s MP says it is up to Sefton Council to decide whether or not an asylum seeker camp is set up in Ainsdale.

The plans, which would see the huge Pontins holiday complex turned into an Asylum seeker camp, have been widely criticised with the council saying the Home Office have yet to confirm the plans are scrapped.

Last week Sefton Council confirmed to OTS News that they were waiting for the Home Office to confirm in writing that the move would not go ahead.

However MP Damien Moore now says the decision actually lies with council chiefs as the ‘landowner’

He has called on them to officially confirm the plans won’t go ahead.

Mr Moore said “ the Immigration Minister confirmed in Parliament that Sefton Council must make the decision whether to house asylum seekers in Pontins.

“I know this is worrying for many of my constituents, and so I urge Seton Council to publicly state as soon as possible that they are axing the Pontins asylum-seekers plan.

“ It is not right for the Council to keep my constituents waiting anxiously, when a short statement from them would put this to bed once and for all.

“I have done all I can to oppose these plans in Westminster, and I urge the Council to use this clarity I have today achieved in Parliament to immediately state that they will not proceed with housing asylum-seekers at Pontins.

“I have written to the Council to ask that they immediately and publicly confirm their position on this matter, both to the Home Office and to our town. People are understandably worried, and it is not right that the Council keep them waiting any longer.”