Portland's Mayor files lawsuit against Home Secretary
Carralyn Parkes thinks the Home Office should’ve applied for planning permission for the migrant barge
The Mayor of Portland says the ‘buck stops with the government' as she takes legal action against Suella Braverman over the Bibby Stockholm.
Carralyn Parkes believes the Home Office should’ve needed to obtain planning permission before they moored the barge in Portland Port
She said: “The Home Office has essentially robbed everybody of the opportunity to properly scrutinise what's going on with the Bibby Stockholm.
“If they applied for planning permission things like fire exits, Legionella and the capacity would’ve all been checked and needed to be signed off. They'd even have to make sure it was a suitable place to put the barge.”
Dorset Council argue the Bibby Stockholm does not require planning permission because the barge lies below the average low water mark and is therefore “not within the local planning authority’s jurisdiction.”
But Ms Parkes believes the “boundary of the port is at the breakwater” and as the barge is, effectively, being used as a permanent structure (connected to land for both electricity and sewage) planning permission should be necessary.
She told us: “The Bibby Stockholm is more than a semi-permanent structure. It's more like a harbour than a boat because it doesn’t have an engine and can’t go anywhere.”
Carralyn Parkes, who is crowdfunding her legal challenge and taking on the government privately, told us: “I'm having to do this not as mayor or as a councillor was as a private individual.”
So far, £15,045 has been raised by the people of Portland and Weymouth to help the mayor in her fight.
The controversial barge has divided community opinion on Portland but all campaigners are against the barge.
Ms Parkes accused the Home Office of “riding roughshod” over residents and asylum seekers on the Island: “They have the resources of the whole country, and yet they think it’s fit to move people into accommodation without making sure basic checks are in place.
“They should’ve said we want to see health and safety certificates.”
Ahead of the Bibby Stockholm first coming into use, a Home Office spokesperson said:
“The vessel will provide appropriate accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute in a carefully managed way for the community.
“The safety and security of the local community and those accommodated on the vessel is of the utmost importance. All asylum seekers are checked against policing and immigration databases."