🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Braintree (Wethersfield)

RAF Wethersfield

Migrant centre Former military site 📍 Former RAF Wethersfield, Wethersfield, Braintree, Essex, CM7 4BZ Capacity: 1,300 Converted: 2023

Was: Former RAF Wethersfield

RAF Wethersfield is a former Royal Air Force and Ministry of Defence Police airfield located in Essex. In 2023, the site was repurposed by the UK Home Office into a large-scale, non-detained asylum accommodation centre for single adult males.

Context & Approval: The conversion was enacted directly by the central government. Braintree District Council strongly opposed the site's use and launched multiple unsuccessful legal challenges in the High Court. The Home Office bypassed the local planning authority entirely by using Class Q emergency planning powers, and later formalized the site under a Special Development Order (SDO).

Funding & Operation: The facility is funded by the UK central government using taxpayer funds. The daily operations and management of the site are contracted out to a private company, Clearsprings Ready Homes, which runs the facility on behalf of the Home Office.

Video evidence

Official contacts & outreach

Requests we have sent to councils, mayors and local authorities about this facility, with the status of their response.

Freedom of Information Officer, Braintree District Council Local authority Awaiting response

Requested: 7 Oct 2026

What we asked: Freedom of Information Request regarding RAF Wethersfield:

What local council resources or public funds, if any, are currently being allocated to support local infrastructure, policing, or emergency services directly related to the RAF Wethersfield asylum accommodation site?

Please provide copies of the most recent environmental and community impact assessments shared between the Home Office and Braintree District Council regarding the Special Development Order (SDO).

What formal contingency plans or communication protocols are in place between the local council and the private contractor, Clearsprings Ready Homes, regarding the management of site capacity and strain on local medical services?

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