A parish council is challenging the decision of housing a "huge number of asylum seekers" in a village on the Nottinghamshire border. It comes after The Best Western Yew Lodge Hotel, in Kegworth, has confirmed it will be closing to the public and has informed guests their reservations and health club memberships have been cancelled.
Councillor Ray Sutton, the Chair of Kegworth Parish Council, said in a statement they will be challenging the decision at the 'highest levels' as up to 250 asylum seekers are due to be housed at the hotel. The council said they are supporting the "residents who have serious concerns about the impact of housing such a huge number of asylum seekers".
In a statement, the Councillor Sutton said the village has a population of just over 4,000 people. He says the infrastructure of the village "insufficient" to support the need.
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It has also been claimed that the ratio of asylum seekers would be one to 17 residents in the village - which the councillor deemed to be "unacceptable". In a press statement, the Parish Council says the Orchard GP Surgery in Kegworth has also said the "asylum seeker relocation process is a reckless move that compromises the healthcare of the local population".
It comes after the surgery in Gotham, Nottinghamshire, was damaged in a fire on Thursday morning, February 16, meaning patients have been temporarily transferred to the Kegworth branch. The parish council says the decision is said to put "at risk the healthcare of nearly 9000 local residents” from more than one village.
Kegworth Parish Council said "there has been a lack of consultation and planning approval undertaken for the change". The statement continued: "The lack of openness, transparency and consultation to the extent that due process has not been followed in spirit, whether or not the letter of the law, is tested."
A Home Office spokesperson 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. 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.”
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