Dartford locals have expressed their rage at a building on a residential street being repurposed to house asylum seekers.
Pointing to a lack of consultation, locals in the Kent town said there had been no meetings with residents before works on the site started.
A resident told GB News that the area has been a building site for many months, with significant scaffolding appearing to repurpose it to house asylum seekers.
Daniel, who has lived in Dartford for 25 years, said that no one was told about the site being repurposed for asylum seekers until work had already taken place on the building.
Daniel, from Dartford, said the council tried to "ram through" the development despite opposition by residents
GB News
“There was a complete lack of consultation from the council,” he said.
He added that information was only provided when “local concerns were raised as to what was happening there”.
He continued: “They have tried to ram this through without any consultation as they know how heavily opposed the local people would be.”
Kent County Council (KCC) Leader Roger Gough told GB News that the authority is redeveloping the Limes building to house children seeking asylum after a High Court order.
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Residents pointed to a 1964 covenant which stated the Limes (pictured) should only be used to support the elderly
GB News
He said that the council was directed to take “every possible step” to increase capacity to accommodate Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking (UAS) children arriving in Kent.
Gough added that this was being done so that the council would “fully comply with its statutory Children Act 1989 duties and end the unlawful use of hotels managed by the Home Office”.
He added that the council currently has two reception centres for temporary accommodation, but following the High Court ruling, it had “identified” nine further properties across Kent to accommodate the dramatic increase of asylum-seeking children.
“The existing provision is unable to sustainably cope with demand and additional, suitable temporary accommodation is needed at pace to meet the requirements of the High Court ruling and to ensure the ongoing safe care of UAS children.”
GB News has seen the document, which specifically enshrines the terms of use for the Limes
GB News
The council has announced that government funding will cover the costs of the new accommodation, with Gough adding that the buildings “will not present an additional unfair burden on Kent taxpayers.”
The children will be held at the accommodation until they are redistributed across the country.
Concerned locals have also pointed to a 1964 covenant on the Limes building between the NHS and the local authority, which states that it should be used only for supporting the elderly.
GB News has seen a full copy of the covenant, which says that the council covenants with the health minister to “use the property for the erection of an Old Person’s Home and for no other purpose”.
Darford MP Gareth Johnson (left) has told residents he was disappointed with communications with council leader Roger Gough (right)
UK Parliament/Kent County Council
Local resident Daniel said: “Kent County Council have completely disregarded a covenant put in place to protect a local community building which was gifted to them for the purpose of looking after elderly people.
“It is a very sorry state of affairs when a council ignores the needs of the local elderly people in favour of illegal migrants. For this they should be ashamed.”
Another Dartford local said he had contacted the council and MP “many times, with no action taken whatsoever other than lip service. It’s appalling behaviour on many levels.”
A KCC spokesperson told GB News that it has factored the covenant into its decisions.
They said: “The covenant within the 1964 conveyance is a contractual matter between the NHS and KCC as respectively, the dominant and servient landowners. KCC engaged with the NHS prior to any works starting at the Limes and agreed that a change to the restrictive covenant would be supported.
“KCC’s Legal Team has subsequently been working with the NHS legal team on the Deed of Variation which is necessary to document the changes. Presently, KCC has not occupied the property as a children’s home and is undertaking the necessary maintenance, modernisation and refurbishment work that is inevitable due to its time held vacant and the intended future use.
“These works do not themselves require a change to the restrictive covenant.
“Well before the point of occupation, the relevant user changes in respect of covenant will be in place.”
Gareth Johnson MP told GB News: “I am still opposed to it due to the very residential nature of the area.
"The restrictive covenant on the property should be respected and not overridden.
“It's wrong this change in usage is taking place without consulting local residents beforehand.”