Welsh council abandons injunction proceedings in asylum hotel dispute, but vows to explore legal options
Carmarthenshire County Council has decided not to proceed with its application for a permanent injunction to stop asylum seekers from being accommodated in a local hotel after having reviewed the outcomes of other cases.
Earlier this month (7 July), the High Court refused its interim injunction application, which argued plans to place asylum seekers in Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli, amounted to a material change of use requiring planning permission.
Despite the decision to abandon its injunction application, the council's leader Cllr Darren Price said the local authority would continue to pursue other legal options.
In a statement, Cllr Price said: "We have an indication of how the High Court has perceived our case and following the refusal of an interim injunction, combined with the rulings of other cases brought by local authorities, the council has decided not to proceed further with this particular process.
"But we still strongly maintain that the Stradey Park Hotel is inappropriate to house such a large concentration of asylum seekers in one location, and we will continue to pursue other legal options that are available to us, including planning enforcement legislation."
He stated that the council believes the Government's approach to be wrong and that it will continue to lobby for a change of approach "to ensure the needs of the local community are taken into account".
"In terms of loss of jobs, the loss of a key tourism asset, cancellation of weddings and significant local tensions we again implore the UK Government to put a stop to this plan", he added.
He also stated that the council has fully supported the dispersed model currently used to re-settle Syrian, Afghan, Ukrainian and general asylum seekers in recent years. "The dispersed model of accommodation provision is more sustainable in offering a longer-term solution for asylum seekers, especially in a county such as Carmarthenshire", he noted.
Stradey Park Hotel has been the site of protests following the High Court's decision to refuse the interim injunction.
Four protestors have reportedly been charged with a public order offence and obstructing the police, prompting the local police commissioner, Dafydd Llywelyn, to call on the Home Office to pause and review its plans to use the site in light of "serious and escalating tensions".
The council has also issued a temporary stop notice to the owners of the hotel after finding part of a hedge had been cut down to create a new access point to the site.
In a statement on the notice, Cllr Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Rural Affairs, said: "The gap created is being used as an access point and leads directly onto the carriageway of a classified road at a point where there are no pedestrian facilities.
"The access is therefore considered to be detrimental to pedestrian and highway safety. The notice takes effect immediately and requires the cessation of access by pedestrians."
Adam Carey
