People living in a small Welsh community are celebrating after a hugely controversial plan to house more than 240 asylum seekers inside a former four-star hotel was dramatically shelved on Tuesday morning. The proposal - first revealed back in May - included the closure of the Stradey Park Hotel in the Furnace area of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire and the loss of up to 100 jobs. The site was then going to be transformed into accommodation for asylum seekers during the summer months.
The former spa hotel closed its doors and employees worked their final shifts there back in July, but the wait for the arrival of asylum seekers went on. Ever since the plans were confirmed by Carmarthenshire Council - which was always vehemently against them - and later by the Home Office, scores of protesters have lined the street outside the hotel and made their opposition known. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
People have camped at the entrance to the hotel day and night and at times hundreds of locals and others from further afield have been present, along with a large presence from Dyfed-Powys Police. On Tuesday, hundreds returned to the site, but this time in celebration after confirmation came that the Home Office had reversed its original decision due to “a number of practical and logistical challenges”. Within minutes, politicians and councillors welcomed the news, while protestors dashed to Furnace to join others who were already there. By mid-morning there were hundreds of people outside the entrance gates waving flags and banners and singing along to loud music being beamed out on speakers.
Read more: Man aged 86 dies after crash in Swansea
Don't miss: Man racially abused café customer before exposing himself
The protests over the past five months or so have not gone without incident, however. Several arrests have been made and people have been taken to court. Most protesters, it’s important to stress, have been peaceful and law abiding and ultimately, the vast majority of people in and around Furnace have achieved their aim and got the result they wanted right from the start: for the Home Office to pull out of a plan which has been almost universally criticised from day one.
Tensions still simmer outside the hotel, and the fallout from a huge news story will no doubt continue for some time yet. On Tuesday, journalists and photographers working for national news outlets - including WalesOnline - were threatened outside the hotel and told they had to leave a section of public road for their own safety. Police officers in attendance had to escort reporters and photographers away from the scene and back to their cars, while a member of the Furnace Action Committee - set up to oppose the plans rather than support them - was verbally abused in the street.
A wedge has been driven between different sections of people who, ultimately, all wanted the same thing, with mainstream media outlets accused of lying in their coverage of the protests and of referring to people as racist. In reality, the media has a duty to cover a big story from both sides, and has even highlighted previously how protesters are not racist for wanting to protect their community. While Tuesday’s announcement is being heralded as a victory for the people of Furnace and Llanelli, the celebrations remain punctured by sadness as what was once a thriving hotel and spa is now closed, with no sign of it being in any state to reopen.
It is currently unsafe to accommodate anyone due to fire safety regulations, and its short and long-term future remains up in the air. What is certain is that local people have lost their jobs, something that has clearly struck a chord with people reacting to Tuesday’s news. Adrian Davies wrote on Facebook: “Ruined a hotel and put people out of work in an area where jobs are already hard to come by.” Jarrod Hughes said the situation had “left behind another rotting building in Llanelli”, while Cheryl Pugh-Jones simply asked: “What happens to all the people who have lost their jobs?"
While the future of Stradey Park Hotel is uncertain, as is where the asylum seekers intended to be housed there will now be located, what is certain is that a long and hard battle has been won in Llanelli. While the Home Office has remained tight-lipped on the controversial issue, it is clear they underestimated the strength of feeling in the town and how that has refused to die down. “Plainly, this is a major victory for the people of Furnace and the people of Llanelli,” said Furnace Action Committee spokesman Robert Lloyd.
“But, as with all these things, the devil is in the detail. We are not lowering our guard - just yet. We will want to see how the hotel owners, Gryphon Leisure Limited and their parent company Sterling Woodrow, react to this move. Will they now accept an olive branch from the local community, realise they made a massive mistake in proposing the plan and return the hotel to its four-star glory. If they accept their errors and show a sincere commitment to moving forward to rejuvenate a hotel which now bears several scars, then the local community may be able to take their apology and help in rebuilding the hotel and the business."
Mr Lloyd added: “We would also like to see a firm commitment from Carmarthenshire Council to ring-fence the Stradey Park Hotel as a major tourism asset for Llanelli and Carmarthenshire by putting some safeguards in the Local Development Plan to make sure there is no danger of this ever happening again. On behalf of the Furnace Action Committee, I’d like to say how proud we all are of the people who have worked tirelessly to make this happen. It’s been a two-pronged attack to get this done - members of the Action Committee have been working hard on the legal challenges, the research into the owners and the ownership, appearances in the High Court and lobbying different UK Government bodies and organisations. Meanwhile, protestors have staged a 24/7 presence at the hotel entrance and the majority have done so in a law-abiding and peaceful manner and they deserve full praise for doing that.”
Carmarthenshire Council has said it will work with police to ensure that the site of the hotel will be “managed appropriately for the good of the community of Furnace and Llanelli” moving forward. The leader of the council, Darren Price, said on Tuesday morning: “I very much welcome the decision of the Home Office to withdraw its plans for the Stradey Park Hotel; it’s the right decision for the hotel and more importantly, it’s the right decision for the people of Furnace. Now is the time for the community of Llanelli to come together, to heal from the experience of the past few months. On the issue of providing sanctuary to people in desperate need, I will reiterate Carmarthenshire County Council’s desire to continue to welcome our share of asylum seekers from countries such as Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria to our county via the dispersal model which has worked successfully in Carmarthenshire for many years.”
Read more: I drove around Carmarthen at 20mph and was left mystified
Don't miss: Concern over future of GP services as surgery hands back contract to NHS
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys Police, Dafydd Llywelyn, has welcomed the news, but he wants answers from the Home Office after the force has been made to commit huge resources to the hotel site in recent weeks, admitting that “the position has been untenable at times”.
“It is imperative that the Home Office now be held accountable for their decision-making processes and their lack of strategic planning,” said Mr Llywelyn. “Who made the decision in the first instance, where was the business case and the surrounding due diligence in ensuing that the decision was feasible and realistic? Tensions around the site have been growing in recent weeks, requiring frontline officers and staff to continually work in challenging circumstances which on occasions has compromised our positive relationship with communities.
“The position has been untenable at times, and the costs associated with policing this site are significant and have been rising continually over recent weeks. Add to that, costs incurred by other service providers such as the Fire Service and the Local Authority, and as importantly, how much have the Home Office themselves spent on the site over recent months? Questions need to be asked, and our taxpayers need answers. The Home Office must provide a clear explanation for their lack of foresight and the significant pressure they have placed on local service providers in Carmarthenshire and beyond.”
The Home Office has been asked if they wish to expand on a statement they issued on Tuesday morning, which confirmed that it would not be taking forward its plan to adapt Stradey Park Hotel into asylum accommodation, and added: “The number of people arriving in small boats is down compared with last year but we must go further to stop the boats in the first place. That is why we are determined, through the Illegal Migration Act, to ensure that anyone arriving in the UK illegally is detained and swiftly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country. We are also working hard to reduce the unacceptable use of hotels by moving asylum seekers into alternative, cheaper accommodation, doubling them up in hotel rooms, and clearing the legacy backlog.”
Find out about the latest local issues where you live
