Bexhill: Concerns that Northeye camp for refugees contains asbestos

Northeye is an “environmental health disaster zone” according to people living in the area who say the 80-year-old complex still contains asbestos.

The site, which has been a military base, category C prison and training facility for the United Arab Emirates, sat abandoned for four years but came under national scrutiny after the Home Office announced it would be used to house 800 asylum seekers from September this year.

The Home Office did not confirm or deny whether asbestos is at the site but said it will be refurbished and “brought up to the required standard”.

The main entrance to Northeye

Brian Setchfield, who lives near Northeye, is among those who believe that housing anyone at the camp would be “putting them into a serious health risk” and could have a “massive impact on our NHS”.

The 68-year-old former scaffolder said: “There is still asbestos in the buildings, it’s how they were built back in the day.

“It’s not just a ‘not in my back garden type of affair’ – you wouldn’t be able to put anybody in there because of it. You’d be putting them into a serious health risk.

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“The government might say they will tear the asbestos down, but you can’t just do that. The whole lot would have to be moved gradually. It’s not feasible to do that.”

Northeye was a prison from 1969 to 1992 and is known to have contained asbestos as recently as 1986.

The prison suffered a major fire which destroyed 40 per cent of the buildings after a prison riot in 1986.

The Bexhill-on-Sea Observer described the “explosive fireball” that the prison turned into with the “crack of asbestos sheeting as the fires grew” and the sound of roofing falling down.

The aftermath of the HMP Northeye prison riots in April 1986 (Image: Argus Archive)

People claim the boiler room still contains asbestos, with roofing materials, ceiling tiles and more within the site.

Concern has been raised as to whether there is enough time to remove any asbestos before asylum seekers move in.

“When they built the place before the war and during war, they had asbestos in everything. They had asbestos roofs but I think those were changed after the riot”, said Brian.

Roofs at Northeye which were set alight in the 1986 riots (Image: Argus Archive)

“In that large boiler room, all of the windows and doors are smashed up. When the wind blows, it could blow particles out of the building.

“I have seen the whole site, it’s a massive great place. Asbestos was the big thing. It is the silent killer.

“It will have a massive impact on our NHS.

Pictures from Northeye taken in March

“It is riddled with asbestos, there are buildings there that have materials that are crumbling on the outside and inside.

“When I had scaffolding companies I could spot asbestos from a mile away. Once asbestos gets broken or disturbed  in any way, that’s when the harmful particles or dust can cause a problem.

“When the United Arab Emirates people were there, they put modern ceilings with lights in. But whether they took all the asbestos out, I don’t know.

“This place is an environmental health disaster zone.”

The boiler room with smashed windows and the chimney can be seen on the right

Buildings at Northeye which are beyond repair will be replaced with modular buildings, while buildings in a fair condition will undergo refurbishment.

The Home Office has not confirmed whether asbestos remained at the site after the fire in 1986.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Any accommodation used in response to the increasing pressures on the UK asylum system will be fit for purpose and meet all relevant housing and health and safety rules. 

“The current site will be refurbished and brought up to the required standard.”

Tamsin Baxter, executive director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, a charity working with refugees and asylum seekers, said: “These plans are a consequence of an asylum system beset with chronic delays and a record decision-making backlog, as is the significant increase over the last few years in the use of hotels.

"There would be no need to use former prisons, military bases and hotels if cases were dealt with in a timely and efficient manner.

"The government must fix what is a chaotic and inefficient asylum system by urgently addressing the backlog, and replace the chaos and cost that we’re seeing with an approach that is orderly, well-run and humane.”