It’s now almost four weeks since a small Welsh community celebrated an unlikely victory against the might of the UK Home Office and a company that wanted to transform a popular four-star spa hotel into a home for asylum seekers. Almost four weeks......yet still, contention and uncertainty remains, souring the taste of celebration for many who fought day and night in order to, in their eyes, save a small corner of Llanelli from having its landscape altered, possibly forever.

More than 240 asylum seekers were meant to be moved into Stradey Park Hotel in Furnace earlier this summer after plans to do so were confirmed by the Home Office all the way back in May. Almost immediately, protesters arrived outside the venue and put on a display of unity that would last all summer long and into the autumn. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.

A community was formed within a community, and at times defiance gave way to hostility as a situation thrust upon a small part of Carmarthenshire became more and more febrile. Multiple arrests were made, court cases have been held, and reporters - including WalesOnline - have been frogmarched from their duty of covering a story that resonated with people all across Wales.

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On my first visit to the site, I was welcomed - not quite with open arms, but welcomed nonetheless. I spoke to protesters, neighbours, police.....it was a normal job. On a later visit, people wouldn’t speak to me. On my final visit - within hours of breaking the news that the whole asylum seeker plan was off - I didn’t even make it to the front of the hotel. I was told I was not welcome, that it wasn’t safe for me to be there, that I was a liar, and that I had to leave immediately, despite having the same right to be there as anybody else. I was then escorted down the street by members of the public who were deaf to my remonstrations.

This all happened because of a belief that some sections of the media had been portraying the protesters as racist, despite this not being the case. The vast majority of protesters had reasons for wanting the plans scrapped that were firmly rooted in the best interests of the community, and nothing whatsoever to do with race.. Those rows and disagreements will continue - no doubt as a direct result of this article - but ultimately the vast majority of people got what they wanted from an unpleasant and torrid affair: a reversal of the Home Office’s plans and a return (although it hasn’t happened yet) to normality in Furnace.

On October 10, hours after the U-turn was confirmed, management at Stradey Park Hotel announced what many thought was unthinkable: a plan to re-open the venue and return it to its former glory, to sweep this all under a very large rug and welcome guests and wedding parties once more to dance like nothing ever happened. If only life were that simple. It’s now November and confusion and doubt still hang over the venue and indeed Furnace itself. When hotel management were tidying up after an event just six months ago, it’s unfathomable to think that they would have predicted the venue sitting dormant as we hurtle towards Christmas. Whether it was going to accommodate asylum seekers or paying customers, it was never meant to be empty in November; its corridors and function spaces cold, bereft, subject to a fire service prohibition notice, and with a handful of protesters congregating outside being the nearest thing it has to guests.

Hotel management have said that their attempts to re-open the venue are being hampered by a continued presence of people outside the entrance, creating what they call "a blockade”. They said: “We’re striving to understand the root of the continued protests. Is the issue still anchored in our past intentions, or has the narrative evolved?”

However, according to protesters, none of their actions are disrupting any work from being undertaken at the site. “The hotel owners must be in need of some sort of sympathy fix from local residents as no such blockade exists,” claimed Robert Lloyd from the Furnace Action Committee, which was set up to oppose the Home Office’s proposals back in May.

“A peaceful and law-abiding protest camp has existed in the forecourt of the hotel - and on land not owned by the hotel. An access route was agreed during a court case in the early summer. This access route is free and open for use by the hotel. The only blockage is a gate fence which is operated by hotel security. Lorries and emergency services are able to access the hotel." He believed the owners were "living on Fantasy Island".

"They need an urgent reality check to appreciate the mood of the local community in Furnace and Llanelli. Sadly, they have never had any appreciation of grass-roots feelings and passions - something which was reflected in their cavalier decision to offer the hotel for use by asylum seekers," he claimed.

“The hotel owners have now had more than 25 days in which to show some physical signs that they intend restoring the hotel to its previous glory." He said the reality was that the protestors only remained on the forecourt entrance because they shared the feeling of the Furnace Action Committee that the owners could not be trusted, based on the run-up to the hotel closure and sacking of staff - "a period when they insisted time and time again that it was business as usual. It’s time for the owners to put up or shut up. There is clear and unfettered access to the hotel if they want to start the renovations. Claims of a blockade are pure nonsense.”

Hotel management have insisted that it’s not as simple as just refurbishing the venue and opening up, claiming they are faced with “hostilities” from some members of the public on a daily basis. In a statement, they said: “We at Stradey Park Hotel acknowledge the concerns raised by the Furnace Action Committee. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, visitors, and the broader community remains our top priority. We’ve made it clear that our past intentions with the Home Office and Clearsprings (a housing provider employed by the Home Office) have been discontinued. Both entities have moved on, and we’ve unequivocally declared our intentions for the future of Stradey Park Hotel. Given this, we believe it’s now time for the entire community to move forward.

“We continue to experience vandalism and hostilities towards our security staff. The persistent aggression in the form of verbal abuse, stone-throwing, and window smashing creates an environment that is neither peaceful nor approachable. Until the entrance is truly clear of such threats, nothing can progress. Staff will not return to work, and contractors are hesitant to step forward. Mr. Lloyd’s assertions and criticisms, while noted, might be more constructively channelled into convincing the protesters to move on. It is living in ‘cuckoo land’ to expect anyone - be it our staff or private contractors - to face such hostilities daily. While an official access route may be designated as clear, the hostile environment around it makes it anything but approachable. We understand the strong feelings within the community regarding our establishment and hope that, moving forward, all parties can find a way to coexist harmoniously for the benefit of all, but nothing can be done until the entrance is clear."

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It seems, then, that the hotel owners will not press ahead with work to refurbish the venue while people remain outside, but the people who remain outside have lost all faith in the hotel owners. How did it ever come to this, and is there a way out of the mess?

The huge and impressive building of the Stradey Park Hotel sits high above Furnace, once proudly puffing out its chest and attracting tourists into the area and money into the local economy. The community which wraps around the venue can’t afford to see it die, otherwise Furnace will just become another part of Llanelli that you drive through to get to somewhere else.

“Sadly, there are still massive question marks over the future of the hotel,” said Steve Williams, a local protester. “The owners have given vague promises on social media to re-open the hotel - but the reality is that, on the ground, there is little evidence of any activity or work going on to renovate the hotel and bring it back to its glory days. This is very alarming. There is nothing stopping the owners cracking on and reinvesting in the hotel to bring it back up to standard. The lack of urgency is obviously a cause for concern for the community of Furnace and Llanelli. It will also be a cause for concern for investors in the hotel, who may now be worried about the hotel’s long-term future. Plainly, the hotel owners need to get a grip on the situation very quickly. The people of Furnace and Llanelli need to see physical signs that they are willing to back up their wishy-washy statements on social media and actually return the hotel to its key place in our tourism industry.”

Lee Waters is the MS for Llanelli. He has received huge criticism from some protesters despite being vehemently opposed to the plan to house asylum seekers at Stradey Park Hotel from the beginning. Some accused him of not doing enough, of not being visible at the coal face of a crisis. He said he was advised by police to stay away and “did not want to add to an already tense situation by giving a handful of unpleasant people the chance to make a scene”.

He now thinks it’s time for the protesters to leave the site, but blames the owners of the hotel for the “deep wounds” that now exist in Furnace. “The owners can hardly be surprised that nobody trusts a word they say,” said Mr Waters. “It is time for the protesters to go home but their reluctance underlines the fact that this episode has caused deep wounds in the community and the owners need to accept their share of responsibility for that. If they intend to try and rebuild their business they have got a lot of work to do, and the first step is to show some humility and not try and pretend that nothing has happened.”

The MP for Llanelli, Dame Nia Griffith, is unsure if things can ever be as they were but is desperate for “a massive community asset” to be used again for the benefit of the community, be it as a hotel or otherwise. “The hotel’s current owners have lost a lot of trust and goodwill with their secretive approach and their complete lack of respect for staff, customers and the surrounding community,” she said. “The jury remains out as to whether those relationships can ever be rebuilt without a significant change in their attitude. The Stradey Park Hotel is a massive community asset not just for Furnace but for Llanelli as a whole and cannot just be left to rot. We need to see a realistic and transparent plan for its future as a matter of urgency, whether that be from the owners there at the moment or anyone else with a viable, realistic interest in the site.

“Ideally I would hope that it can re-open as a hotel bringing much needed jobs and employment back to the area and helping to contribute to the local economy in the way that it used to. However, I think people are quite open minded as long as whatever happens there can be something positive to benefit the area in the long term and help draw a line in the sand after what’s gone on in the last few months.”

The hotel’s owners - Sterling Woodrow Investments/Gryphon Leisure Limited - were asked to react to the comments made by Mr Waters and Dame Griffith, but they have not responded.

What happens next at Stradey Park Hotel is anyone’s guess. Protesters - having won the battle - are seemingly not giving up on the war. What’s happened in Furnace over the past five months has caused more damage than anyone thought possible. A wedge has been driven through the heart of a community, people have lost their jobs, others have fallen out, and there now lingers a real fear that the relationships broken might never be repaired. If the relationship between a once sought-after, four-star spa hotel and the people who live around it cannot be fixed, Furnace and indeed Llanelli - the biggest town in west Wales - will suffer for some time to come.

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