Asylum hotel a feeding ground for unrest | Latest Travel News
A hotel used by asylum seekers in Essex has grow to be a “feeding ground for unrest and protest”, the High Court has been told.
Epping Forest District Council is looking for to block migrants lodging at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was the scene of vociferous protests over the summer season.
Lawyers for the authority accused Somani Hotels of “sidestepping” planning legal guidelines due to “the lure of a trove of government-funded profits”.
The Home Office, which intervened in the case, argued the closure of asylum accommodations must be “structured” and gradual.
The Conservative-led council desires a everlasting injunction, while Somani Hotels and the Home Office have opposed the declare.
A decide beforehand awarded the council a short-term injunction prior to the latest listening to, but this was later overturned.
The Bell Hotel was the point of interest of intense protests and counter-protests over the summer season, some turning violent [PA Media]
Opening the council’s case, Philip Coppel KC said the hotel was breaching planning controls in a “serious, flagrant and continuing” method.
He said the proprietor had “flagrantly” modified its use of the hotel, “without bothering to apply” for planning permission.
Mr Coppel argued this change was having a “significant adverse impact” on people residing, working and visiting the city.
“A person wanting to stay in Epping cannot book a room there. A person cannot even visit there,” he said in written submissions to the listening to at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.
“A hotel contributes to the amenity of the vicinity – those living and working there.
“It doesn’t entice weekly protests and draw in illegal exercise.”
The Bell Hotel became the focus of several protests and counter-protests in the summer, some of which turned violent, after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with two inappropriate assaults.
Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incident, was jailed for a 12 months in September.
The hotel has been housing asylum seekers in spells since October 2022.
Lawyers for Somani Hotels said the venue had been in financial decline “for many years” [Getty Images]
Mr Coppel accused Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood of allowing her judgement to be clouded by the need to house those migrants.
But James Strachan KC, for the Home Office, said block booking rooms “doesn’t change its use as a hotel”.
He argued it was not in the public interest to grant an injunction, when considering “the backdrop of a number of other local authorities looking for comparable” rulings.
Representing Somani Hotels, Jenny Wigley KC said the business had been in financial decline “for many years”.
She added there had been no changes to the building’s structure and the only external changes were to install security fencing in response to the protests.
The hearing, before Mr Justice Mould, is due to conclude on Friday.
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