Bibby Stockholm: Council has no planning power over barge, judge says
The UK government's migrant barge is not under the planning control of a council because it is not on land, a High Court judge has ruled.
The case was brought by Portland mayor Carralyn Parkes against Dorset Council.
Ms Parkes told the court the authority could have stopped the barge from being moored at Portland Port.
However, Mr Justice Holgate ruled the sea bed and harbour could not be considered as "land", over which the council might have enforcement powers.
He concluded: "If land were to be treated as including the sea bed, there would be no logical stopping place before the limits of this country's territorial sovereignty are reached."
Ms Parkes, acting as a private citizen, was challenging the council's decision in July 2023 not to consider the suitability of the barge's location.
Her lawyers told the court she was "deeply concerned" about the 93m-long ship accommodating asylum seekers.
However, the council said the case was "absurd and unworkable", adding that "planning law simply doesn't extend below the mean low water mark".
In October 2023, Ms Parkes lost another High Court case when the same judge blocked her application to challenge the Home Office over the lawfulness of its decision to house migrants on the barge.
The 222-room ship, housing up to 500 men while their asylum claims are processed, arrived at the port in July 2023.
In December, Albanian asylum seeker Leonard Farruku was found dead on barge after apparently taking his own life.
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