Demonstrators have blocked entrances of the hotel to try to hinder efforts to prepare for the arrival of asylum seekers
By Elen Davies & Sara Rowlands
BBC News
A move to house asylum at a village hotel is not imminent and won’t happen until the site is “signed off as safe”, officials have said.
About 300 people heard from the hotel’s owners, Home Office officials, and the firm contracted by them at an online meeting on Tuesday.
Locals were told only families will be placed at the hotel.
Speaking on behalf of Clearsprings – the contractor instructed by the Home Office – Steve Lakey said the company recognised the challenges for the community and wanted to work “resolve those issues where possible”.
“Our intention for this hotel is very much entirely for family use, so there won’t be any singles accommodated there, and [there] will be up to 241 people but phased over a period of time,” he said.
“Nobody will be accommodated on site until it has been signed off as safe by all those statutory partners and our own teams as well.”
About 300 people attended an online Q&A with a panel about plans for Stradey Park Hotel
Tim Rymer, of the Home Office, added: “I recognise the use of this hotel, any hotel, is very far from ideal. But right now it remains an operational necessity.
“I can certainly say to you now that we’re not about to start moving people in, we will do that further work first, and then work through any plans with partners before we actually bring people onto the site.”
A previous legal bid by Carmarthenshire council to halt the plans failed, and the authority said it was “the saddest and most divisive and difficult case we have had to deal with”.
Jake Morgan, the council’s deputy chief executive, said that the council still believes the hotel is “the wrong site and wrong model of care” to house the asylum seekers and “we don’t believe that Clearsprings’ model works”.
‘Loss of an iconic hotel’
Mr Morgan added: “We regret the loss of an iconic hotel in the county and the 100 jobs that it supported in a community that, frankly, couldn’t afford to bear such a loss.”
Some against the move have cited lack of community consultation and information as their reason for opposing the plans.
Image source, S4C
Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli is set to house up to 241 asylum seekers
Appealing for calm at the site moving forward, Supt Ross Evans from Dyfed-Powys Police said that the last few weeks had been “extremely challenging”.
He also confirmed that there had been 18 arrests at the site, most happening over the last week, and that more were likely to follow.
All questions heard at the meeting were submitted to panel members beforehand, with no opportunity for any additional comments or questions during the session.
Following the session, Rob Lloyd, spokesperson for the Furnace Action Group of protestors, said he did not feel any of his concerns were alleviated and he did not feel that the community had any trust in the Home Office or Clearsprings.
