The Home Office has abandoned plans to accommodate asylum seekers at a hotel in Wales after a local backlash. Oak Alyn Hall in the village of Gwersyllt in Wrexham is currently the subject of a planning application seeking to convert the former 18-room care home into a 28-bed house of multiple occupancy (HMO).
Just over two weeks ago Wrexham County Borough Council disclosed that Oak Alyn Hall and Plas yn Rhos were being considered by the Home Office and its appointed private contractor Clear Springs as potential accommodation for migrants awaiting asylum claim decisions.
Both schemes faced fierce resistance from local residents and the Home Office withdrew its interest in Plas yn Rhos last week. Wrexham Council has now confirmed that the Home Office has scrapped its plans for Oak Alyn Hall too. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter
A council spokesperson stated: “Further to a previous statement issued in relation to the proposal by the Home Office’s accommodation provider to use Oak Alyn Hall, Gwersyllt, Wrexham, for asylum dispersal accommodation, we have been advised by the Home Office that the property will not be progressed for such use.”
Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Council, commented: “I would like to thank the Home Office for their response and I am glad that the right decision has been made and common sense has prevailed in this instance.”
Councillor Dave Bithell said: “I hope this will reassure the residents of Gwersyllt and surrounding areas of a positive outcome to address their concerns.”
Wrexham Council is proceeding with a special meeting this Friday, urging the UK government to “end the use of private sector agents in the asylum dispersal system and scrap profit-making arrangements that allows millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to be extracted from the system”.
Cllr Bithell said councillors were paying attention to residents’ concerns whilst attempting to maintain a compassionate approach.
“People are annoyed and the reality is we’re here to represent the views of the people,” he said. “There’s a couple of companies trying to buy up available accommodation at whatever cost it is, funded by the UK government. We don’t feel that’s appropriate.
“We think there’s a better way that it can be done. We’ve had really good interaction with the government on some of the schemes like Ukraine, the Syrian refugees and the Afghan resettlement. We haven’t had any problems with any of those well documented, humanitarian schemes.
“On one hand we can deal with humanitarian crisis and on the other hand we can’t deal with asylum dispersal in a proper manner. I think the UK government need to get their act together in my view.
“We are a compassionate, humanitarian council just like other councils have been. We’ve got a good track record of supporting humanitarian issues.
“What we have to do as a local authority is try to engage in a measured way and be professional about it. Through political motions and lobbying groups hopefully the UK Government might come up with different schemes where this situation can be dealt with in a more sensitive manner.”
Last month owner of Oak Alyn Hall Bilal Babar angrily dismissed that the property was set to house asylum seekers, saying that was never his intention.
Bilal Babar, a Manchester-based immigration lawyer and the property’s owner, reported that the building had been vandalised and targeted in an “arson attack”. He said he has been left “upset and stressed” and blamed misinformation which he said was being spread online. You can read what he said in full here.