Stradey Park Hotel: Injunction bid against asylum plan fails

A legal bid for an injunction to stop a hotel being used to house asylum seekers has failed.

Up to 241 people are now set to be housed in Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, despite opposition.

The council took the action against a number of associated companies and business directors.

The Home Office said the plans were necessary and that the asylum system was under "incredible" strain.

The local authority argued using the hotel for asylum seekers would be a breach of planning conditions.

At a High Court hearing on Friday, Carmarthenshire council failed to get an interim order stopping migrants being sent to the hotel while their asylum claims are processed by the Home Office.

The local authority claimed sending them to the 77-bed site was a change of use from hotel to hostel and a breach of planning rules.

It said the change, which is set to take effect from Monday, would "undoubtedly" harm the economy.

This included potentially losing more than 25% of the town's hotel rooms, job losses, cancelled weddings and an impact on tourism, a High Court judge in London heard.

Last month 50 full-time and 45 part-time staff at the hotel were told that their jobs would be terminated on 10 July, the same day asylum seekers are due to move in.

A lawyer for Stradey Park's owner, Gryphon Leisure, said there was an "urgent" need for asylum seeker accommodation, arguing there would be no planning breach.

The court was told Gryphon director Robert Horwood had warned there was a "serious" risk the hotel would shut without its contract with accommodation provider Clearsprings Ready Homes.

Craig Howell Williams KC, for the council, said there were "good reasons" to doubt Mr Horwood's claims the business could face closure.

The barrister said the former Edwardian stately home played a "fundamental" role in tourism.

The court was told there was limited information about how the site would be operated for migrants.

The use of bodyguards and perimeter patrols would be "alien" in the neighbourhood, Mr Howell Williams said.

He added there were "concerns" about community feeling, including the "potential for unrest".

Jenny Wigley KC, for Clearsprings, Gryphon, Mr Horwood and co-director Gareth Street, said in written arguments using the hotel was "a temporary solution of last resort".

She said if people were not accommodated asylum seekers were at risk of being kept in sub-standard conditions or being made homeless.

Judge Gavin Mansfield KC will give his reasons for dismissing the injunction bid at a hearing on Monday.

After the hearing, Carmarthenshire council leader Darren Price said he was "disappointed" and that the authority would consider the judge's reasons on Monday.

In May, West Lindsey District Council lost its attempt to get an injunction against work to prepare RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, for asylum seekers.

And in June Braintree council lost a High Court appeal over Home Office plans to house asylum seekers at a former airbase.

A successful legal action pursued by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, in Norfolk, saw a High Court judge rule that seafront hotels there could not be used to house migrants.

On Friday, police were called to Stradey Park Hotel as protesters stopping cars from accessing the site clashed with security personnel who were pulling down fences erected by demonstrators previously.

The Home Office said the number of people arriving in the UK in need of accommodation had reached record levels.

"The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer," a spokesman added.