Protesters set up a camp near the hotel’s entrance after the plans were announced
By Thamayanthi McAllister
BBC News
Controversial plans to house asylum seekers at a hotel in west Wales have been dropped by the Home Office.
Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli was due to house up to 242 people, a move that was opposed by the council.
Carmarthenshire council said the Home Office had sent it written confirmation that the plan had been scrapped.
Council leader Darren Price said it was the “right decision” for the community and was time for everyone to “heal from the experience”.
Mr Price said, when it came to providing sanctuary for people in desperate need, the council was happy to use its dispersal model which “had been used successfully for several years in the county”.
Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith welcomed the decision: “The announcement by the Home Office to withdraw its plans for the Stradey Park Hotel is welcome and I am pleased that they have finally listened to the people of Llanelli who knew that it was the wrong decision all along.”
She added that the plans had resulted in the loss of nearly 100 jobs and had created divisions in the area and the withdrawal of the plans was “the right decision for the hotel and, more importantly, it’s the right decision for the people of Furnace”.
MS for the Llanelli constituency, Lee Waters said: “I’m glad the Home Office have finally seen sense and have realised their plans for Stradey were unworkable and wrong-headed.
“But what a mess they have created, and now leave behind.
“A cherished hotel has been wrecked by Tory incompetence and it is not clear what the owners now intend to do. They need to put right the damage they have caused.”
He also raised concerns about the long term future of the hotel, saying the site was at risk of being “left to rot” and called for the Home Office to ensure the hotel would be repaired and restored.
He added: “There’s also a big project to heal local divisions.
“The hate groups who have been drawn to Llanelli can now push-off but it will be for the local community to rebuild trust and understanding here.”
Last week, the fire service said the hotel was deemed unsafe following an inspection due to a “change of use”.
It said: “This is mainly due to insufficient fire separation between certain areas of the ground floor as well as insufficient means of detecting and giving warning of a fire.”
Image source, Getty Images
The Stradey Park Hotel in Furnace was shut after an order by the fire service
Hotel owner Gryphon Leisure was then notified of a prohibition that “prevents the premises from being used for sleeping accommodation”.
Since the plans were first announced, there have been frequent protests held outside the hotel and a group was set up to oppose the plans.
In July the council applied for an injunction to stop the plans, but this failed.
So far, 12 arrests have been made relating to the disorder at the site.
After the fire service inspection was carried out, Furnace Action Committee’s spokesman Robert Lloyd said: “Our argument is with the owners of the hotel and Clear Springs – they’re trying to carry on with a plan that is totally unworkable.”
He added “the large majority” of protesters were peaceful.
