The UK Home Office and the owners of a large Welsh hotel have been slammed for their “shocking and shameful” behaviour as they push ahead with a controversial plan to house 207 asylum seekers in Llanelli from next month. It was first reported last week that the Stradey Park Hotel was being considered as a location to accommodate up to 300 asylum seekers, despite opposition from Carmarthenshire Council.
On Friday, it was confirmed that the Home Office has given the proposal the go-ahead, and that a maximum of 207 people will be housed across 77 rooms - the entirety of the hotel. Details of the plan were sent in writing to Carmarthenshire Council, Hywel Dda Health Board, Dyfed-Powys Police and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service on Friday. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
There has been strong opposition to the idea of using the hotel - located in the Furnace area of Llanelli - for housing asylum seekers, with the leader of Carmarthenshire Council saying he is “outraged that this proposal by the Home Office to concentrate a large number of asylum seekers is going ahead”. Mr Price added: “Even at this stage I call on the hotel owners to reconsider their position and stop this from progressing.” Dame Nia Griffith, the MP for Llanelli, said on Friday: “This is hugely concerning, and I will continue to oppose any such proposal very vigorously, making clear the very strong opposition from local people.”
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A meeting was held in Llanelli last weekend which was attended by more than 400 people, during which concerns were raised by members of the public and questions were asked, including to council officials, who reiterated their stance that they are against the plan, while staff at the hotel said they were “as much in the dark” as anyone else. Meanwhile, members of the Furnace Action Committee, set up to oppose the proposal following last week’s public meeting, has set up a petition “to object in the strongest possible terms to the Home Office’s plan to house asylum seekers in the Stradey Park Hotel”. The group has heavily criticised those responsible and claimed the council were kept in the dark so that those in opposition would be faced with a “race against time” in their attempts to block the plan.
Furnace Action Committee member Robert Lloyd said on Friday night: “It is a barmy, half-baked scheme which will damage the community of Furnace and Llanelli and one which is not in the best interests of asylum seekers. The behaviour of the Home Office, its agents Clearsprings and the hotel owners has been shocking and shameful. The latest announcement did not come as a total surprise as we knew we faced a ‘done deal’ and that we were being lied to earlier in the week.
"Carmarthenshire Council officials have been supportive of our stated aim to block the project. Sadly, they – and our elected representatives - were caught flat-footed when the plan was first placed on the table. Four weeks of secrecy meant that our campaign would always be a race against time. The Home Office still refuses to come clean on the plan, hiding behind weasel words about commercial contracts and still maintaining that they are making every effort to reduce hotel use for asylum seekers.
“Obviously, the Home Office is unaware that the word ‘consultation’ still exists in what is supposed to be a modern, democratic society. The latest announcement is a blow for the action committee, but we are not defeated. We have already secured the services of two legal firms and have a continually expanding list of action points. We will share some of those over the next few days. Some of those action points will not be discussed outside our meetings as we want to keep our powder dry. To make it clear, we are not a bunch of NIMBYs trying to block a project in our own backyard.
"There are sound reasons why the Stradey Park Hotel is not suitable for such a project. The four-star hotel currently operates as a going concern and we wish to see it continue in business to play its vital role in Carmarthenshire’s tourism policy. The hotel is completely unsuitable for use as accommodation for asylum seekers – the scheme already hints at infrastructure changes and ‘emergency accommodation’. The plan also puts nearly 100 jobs in jeopardy, ruining the lives of 100 local families. We fully support Carmarthenshire Council’s preferred model of distributing asylum seekers throughout the wider community, a model which offers so much more for their health and wellbeing.”
When pushed for answers, the Home Office reiterated that it does not comment on commercial arrangements for individual sites used for asylum accommodation. However, a spokesperson did say: "The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain. We have been clear that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6 million a day. The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer.” The owners of Stradey Park Hotel - Sterling Woodrow - have also been asked to respond to the concerns raised.
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