'Concerned' community near Northampton slam Government's plans to house 400 asylum seekers at former hotel

A 'concerned' village community near Northampton continues to campaign against the Government's plans to house up to 400 asylum seekers at a former hotel in the area.

West Northants Council (WNC) says it was told in December about the Home Office's plans to use the former Highgate House Hotel in the village of Creaton as a fourth site for asylum contingency accommodation, with the possibility of it becoming operational at the start of January.

Following that news, WNC and residents in Creaton have been scrambling to oppose the plans in a bid to get the Home Office to reconsider.

WNC and Creaton villagers are concerned that the location is unsuitable for a variety of reasons including already overwhelmed local provisions, the isolated rural area and the lack of public transport.

David Smith, from the Conservative-led WNC, and councillor James Hill, from Creaton Parish Council, both spoke to a national news outlet after a second meeting at Creaton Village Hall, which took place last night (Tuesday, January 10).

Mr Smith said: "This is, I think, the straw that breaks the camels back.

"Creaton is...not a good place to put 400 people. It makes no sense. There's no services here, there's no school. We're under tremendous pressure already in that we are supporting three contingency hotels.

"Do they [Home Office] have to put them in places like this? I don't agree. It's irresponsible. You've got to have the services. You've got to support these people. It's a ridiculous situation that we find ourselves."

Mr Smith continued to criticised the Home Office.

He said: "Consultation is something we are rarely seeing in this particular instance [from the Home Office]. Thank goodness Chris Heaton-Harris, our local MP, has actually started a consultation, and I'm hoping the Home Office do actually listen to the 450 people who have responded to that. "

Asked if there was 'anything WNC can do about it if the plans do go ahead', Mr Smith said: "Quite frankly, no. If we do end up in this position we need funding. There are real needs for these people and we need funding. It's not fair to expect West Northants residents to fund this."

Creaton Parish Council chair, James Hill, also expressed his concerns about the move.

He said: "The contract between the hotelier, Serco and the Home office is to house up to 400 asylum seekers. They could be families or groups of single men, but not a mixture, so there is a concern about which cohort we will have.

"The primary concern, I think, is the number of people. Creaton is a village of 520. 400 people [asylum seekers] is an 80 per cent increase in population. We just find that not sustainable. We're just not set up to cope with 400 people of any variety.

"We're concerned for the people coming, too. What are they going to do? What occupations are they going to be given? Obviously they can't work legally in the country, so what activities are they going to be given to do?

"The village is concerned. Parents are concerned for their children to be able to roam around the village as normal, will they be intimidated? It's very difficult for people to understand what this means for us. And, unfortunately, we don't get any response from the Home Office whatsoever to any of our questioning."

Mr Hill added: "I understand that people could be moving into the hotel this week."

The Conservative MP for the area, Chris Heaton Harris, started a public consultation last week calling for residents to share their concerns, with 450 responses so far being passed on to the Home Office.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jonathan Harris (Brixworth ward) says the Home Office has 'abjectly failed to communicate'.

He said: "There is still a great deal of anger, understandably, but unfortunately often misdirected with the council team and the police getting the brunt of it.

"The Home Office have abjectly failed to communicate with the council on this matter. Even now, they are not attending meetings with officers. It is really important that people understand that this is a government decision – it’s their imposition."

Creaton Parish Council says it has taken legal advice and has written a pre-action letter to the Home Office calling for a judicial review into how the decision has been made.

A Home Office spokeswoman responded saying the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is ‘unacceptable’.

The spokeswoman said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 45,500 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day.

“We engage with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people.”