Asylum seeker plan for Flintshire Northop Hall hotel rejected

Councillors have thrown out plans to change a former wedding venue into housing for 400 male asylum seekers.

Owners of Northop Hall Country House Hotel in Flintshire wanted to put the men up in the building's 37 bedrooms and in temporary units in the car park, for up to seven years.

Flintshire council got 2,500 letters of objection, with opponents calling it the "wrong plan" in the "wrong place".

The owners said the hotel would reopen while they considered their options.

Payman Holdings 3 Ltd said it would be quality accommodation, with high levels of safeguarding and security, but the application was was met with fierce local opposition and was not supported by politicians in the area.

Concerns included a lack of amenities in the village, the remote, semi-rural location of the hotel and poor public transport links.

Many were also concerned about the close conditions the men would be expected to live in - particularly in the temporary units - and the extra pressure on health services in the area.

Carol Ellis, a councillor on the planning committee, told the meeting on Wednesday that the proposal was the "worst thing" she had ever seen in all her years of looking planning applications, adding she had "nothing positive " to say about it.

Councillors went on to unanimously reject the application.

Catherine Owens, who lives in a house attached to the hotel, called the result was a "great relief".

"I am absolutely delighted," she said.

"We said all along it was the wrong plan in the wrong place and actually that was re-emphasised by the planning committee today.

"They understand the fear we have been going through that this could go ahead - the stress, not just for us in the immediate vicinity, but also in the village, it's been extreme. It should never have got this far."

Payman Holdings said the hotel would reopen while it considered its options, adding that it hoped to be able to recruit staff locally.

Numair Masud came to Cardiff as a gay man fleeing homophobic laws in Pakistan.

"In a country where legislative things are against you, you know that you can't live a life that is true," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

Now a researcher in Cardiff University's school of biosciences, Mr Masud admitted the situation in Flintshire was a "real challenge".

"One way of dealing with it is allowing asylum seekers to work," he said.

"Ultimately human beings want to be able to support themselves, they want to be independent."