BNP pickets council meeting ahead of detention centre vote

Nine men and a woman who had attended the protest later sat in the chamber to hear elected representatives insist that they would not make any decision unless the UK Border Agency (UKBA) agreed to a meeting.

Later, former DUP mayor Cllr Bobby McKee said he had not been made aware of the identity of the observers and he added: “Had I known that they had been on a BNP protest I would have left the chamber.” Most councillors were already in the building when the protest began, a few minutes before the scheduled 6.45pm starting time of the monthly planning consultation meeting.

The application was advertised by Planning Service in the normal way, but UKBA did not seek to engage with the council to explain the proposal and members said they did not have the information they required to make an informed decision on planners' opinion to approve.

The failure of the Home Office agency – which wants to extend the custody suite at Larne PSNI to hold up to 22 detainees for up to five days in “modular” units – to consult with the local authority was said to be “an insult”.

It was agreed to seek a deferral pending a request to the border agency to make a presentation on the proposal to the council.

Ulster Unionist mayor, Cllr Andy Wilson, observed that the case appeared to have gone through planning at “almost break-neck pace” and complained that councillors were “very much in he dark”.

Cllr Wilson said most people believed, wrongly, that the council was in charge of planning and said this was borne out in letters of objection which had been addressed to the council rather than Planning Service, which had itself received a single objection.

Cllr Winston Fulton (DUP) said residents had fears about the effect of the proposed holding centre on property prices, as well as concerns about additional floodlighting, fencing and CCTV cameras, but felt that as “ordinary objectors” they would not stand a chance against a Government department.

“The public feel that they have not been consulted, except through a planning application, but this is bigger than just a planning application. It has implications for Larne not only for this year but further down the line because once again Larne will be getting a bad press every time there is a problem. I don't want to see Larne in the headlines every week or two,” Cllr Fulton added.

TUV alderman Jack McKee warned of “great difficulties” for the town “if this comes about”. He said both the council and the DPP had been ignored along with public, yet the proposal had “implications for the whole town and we would be failing in our duty if we did not ask questions”.

Ald McKee added that the application “gives the impression that Larne is going to have its own Guantanamo Bay and it sends out all the signals”.

Ald Danny O’Connor (SDLP) claimed that both the Policing Board and the Northern Ireland Office had been aware of the proposal for some time and he wondered if the custody suite at the police station had been “deliberately run down in order to make it available for such as this”.

The application had created “a lot of tensions” in the town and Ald O'Connor felt it was because people did not have all the information.

“I don’t have all the information either,” he added. “I am told, however, that these people (the detainees) would not be criminals, that they would not be on the streets but would be held under lock and key. You have to put people somewhere and they are being held in PSNI custody suites all over Northern Ireland.”

Alliance councillor Gerardine Mulvenna said if the process “is not open and transparent people think there is a hidden agenda and that is what generates concerns”. She asked the council to invite UKBA to make a presentation on their proposals.

“I would like to know why Larne police station was selected because I am aware that there is secure, unused accommodation at Lisnevin in Co Down, in excess of 100 units,” Cllr Mulvenna added.

Cllr Brian Dunn (UUP) said he believed the detainees deserved “humane accommodation” while their cases were processed, but residents close to the police station had genuine concerns about light pollution and security.

“The bigger issue is that this council has not been consulted .. and I don’t think we are in a position to give an informed view.”

Cllr Dunn felt that Belfast, as the bigger passenger port, was better placed to accommodate the centre.

Cllr Mark Dunn (UUP) said he was anxious that the public be informed that councillors had not received any information other than the advertised planning application and members felt “very aggrieved at having this bounced off us”.

Ald Roy Beggs (UUP) said the proposal “smacks to me of a piecemeal provision”. Immigration processing was largely Belfast-based and he could see no reason for peripheral provision elsewhere in the Province.

Cllr Bobby McKee said during the meeting he was shocked at the number of detainees proposed. “It is quite severe as far as I am concerned and has wide implications,” he added.