Thames Water Warns of Insects and Odour at Proposed Asylum Detention Expansion Beside Sewage Pump

The new secure accommodation blocks planned for Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire would stand 20 metres from a sewage pumping station. That distance comes from a written submission by Thames Water, and the water company's own officials say people held there should expect to live with the consequences.

A senior development manager at Thames Water wrote that the proximity could produce "amenity effects, including odour, noise, vibration, lighting associated with maintenance activities, insects and flies" for anyone living in the blocks. The submission was made in October. It also said officials had "raised concerns regarding capacity within the foul water, surface water and water supply networks" in the surrounding area.

The company had already raised the issue of flooding. An earlier consultation response, submitted in June, stated that the development may lead to sewage flooding in the area. In it, Thames Water asked for an impact study to establish, with greater certainty, whether the proposed development would overload existing infrastructure.

The Home Office wants to raise the capacity of the centre, near Kidlington, from 160 bed spaces to 400, and to convert existing buildings. The expansion fits a wider government aim to enlarge the immigration detention estate by 40%. Campsfield reopened in December 2025. It had been shut in 2018 after years of problems that included suicides, riots, escapes and complaints about conditions.

Campaigners have seized on the water company's warnings. Ally Swadling, lead legal education officer at the charity Right to Remain, said the concerns showed how little regard was being given to basic standards of sanitation and human dignity. She argued they reinforced the view that the government was putting political priorities above people's lives and wellbeing.

Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, called detention a harmful, dehumanising experience that should be a last resort. He said the evidence showed it to be ineffective and expensive, and that it damages those subjected to it. He urged the government to use community-based alternatives, which he said had proved effective and much cheaper, rather than expand sites such as Campsfield, particularly in a way that could harm the health and wellbeing of those held there.

Oxfordshire county council has formally objected to the expansion. It said the plan risks intensifying existing public concern, and it called for the site to be closed permanently.

The Home Office places the plan within its removals policy. According to its figures, nearly 80,000 people have been returned or deported from the UK between the 2024 election and the end of June 2026, a 52% increase on the previous two years. A spokesperson said the department was confident in its plans for Campsfield and would continue to engage constructively with the Planning Inspectorate. The spokesperson said it was committed to increasing the removal of those with no right to remain, and that expanding detention capacity plays an important role in that. Thames Water said it had nothing to add to its response.

The written representations, including Thames Water's, will be heard at a public inquiry that begins on 14 December.