Stradey Park Hotel asylum seeker campaigners consider ‘major escalation in protests’

The Furnace Action Committee say the first wave will start with a protest march on Sunday, June 25.

The campaigners are angry at Home Office plans to house 241 asylum seekers at the hotel.

“The plan is being pushed through with zero public consultation, no planning permission and with no consideration for public services,” said Furnace Action Committee spokesman Robert Lloyd.

“Most reasonable people will be clever enough to see what’s at the heart of the matter here – a Government riding roughshod over its own citizens, a plan which is centred on money and greed, a plan which puts 100 hotel workers on the scrapheap and a plan which cares little about the welfare of asylum seekers.

“The drips of information we are able to extract from the Home Office, its tenancy agents Clearsprings and hotel owners Sterling Woodrow (Gryphon Leisure Ltd) usually come to us via a third party and suggest that this plan will go ahead on July 10.

“Our sources tell us that the hotel staff have now been told not to accept any bookings after July 7. They have been told to cancel all bookings and events from July 7. These bookings include nearly a dozen weddings and the staff now have the heartbreaking job of telling happy couples that their wedding day dreams are in tatters.

“Meanwhile, the same staff continue to be in the dark about their futures at the hotel. They are employed by Sterling Woodrow (Gryphon Leisure Ltd) and have no information as to whether they will be offered alternative employment or made redundant.

“It is a desperate time for the hotel staff and they have the full sympathy of the people of Llanelli. They are being caught in the middle of a half-baked and barmy Home Office plan.”

Representatives of Sterling Woodrow and Clearsprings, who will manage the planned asylum seekers site, are expected to visit the hotel early next week.

Action Committee spokesman Mr Lloyd added: “We knew from just over four weeks ago that we faced a difficult fight. We knew this was a ‘done-deal’ – a plan hatched behind closed doors in the Home Office and one they tried to keep secret for a month.

“Knowing we faced an uphill battle as campaigners has not discouraged us. We will fight on and escalate protests as we get closure to Home Office’s scrapping of the town’s cherished four-star hotel.”

(Lead image: Stradey Park Hotel)