The owner of a Valleys hotel believed to be linked to three recent deaths has refused to bow to pressure to shut it down. The Park Hotel in the Blaenau Gwent village of Waunlwyd has raised concerns in the local community since it first started being used as temporary and emergency accommodation for the homeless in 2020.
Neighbouring residents have cited ongoing anti-social behaviour problems relating to the venue, with hundreds signing an online petition calling for a revocation of its hotel licence. Most recently, police officers and paramedics were called to Waunlwyd on Monday, October 3 where they found the body of a 41-year-old man from Merthyr Tydfil.
A 29-year-old man from the same area was taken into custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder. He has since been released under investigation and enquiries are ongoing.
READ MORE: Landowner buried footpath under tons of earth after arguing with residents
Another man had been found dead in Ebbw Vale's nearby Festival Park on Tuesday, September 20. No formal identification has yet been made and the death was not treated as suspicious.
And, back in June, the body of a 44-year-old from the Merthyr area was also discovered in the village - his death was not treated as suspicious and a report was submitted to the coroner. WalesOnline understands all three deaths had either taken place in or involved someone staying at the hotel.
A spokesperson for Blaenau Gwent Council said it had used the Park Hotel for "temporary accommodation over the last couple of years to meet changes to homelessness legislation and increasing demand as a result the Covid 19 pandemic." However, they added that it would no longer house its clients there.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has also cut ties with the venue and has sought those concerned alternative places to stay. Nevertheless, the hotel's owner Andrew Boulton - a local property manager - has insisted the site provides a valuable service.
"If someone's homeless would you rather they be out on the streets?" he said. "The hotel's done nothing wrong and we've not been shut down."
Refusing to clarify if he's now in talks with other local authorities, he added, "We're a hotel - not a B&B, not a HMO - we house all different types of people. You could even stay here if you wanted to."
He dismissed an online petition - set up earlier this year - which has so far been signed nearly 600 times. It states 'thefts, fighting, discarded syringes and a car being set alight in the grounds of the hotel' among the list of complaints about the building's occupants, adding that police are regularly called there on a weekly basis.
"There's no evidence of what people are saying about anti-social behaviour at the Park Hotel," said Boulton. "We're open for business as usual."
Alun Davies, Labour Senedd member for Blaenau Gwent, said, "It is clear that there is a need to provide people with accommodation that is safe and where they receive the support that they require to enable them to rebuild their lives. This needs to happen in a way which respects the local community."
He described there having been "significant problems" at the Park Hotel, adding that "lessons need to be learnt" so that there is "no repeat of the tragedies we have witnessed there" at other facilities in the borough. Stephen Thomas, leader of Blaenau Gwent Council, called for a "rethink" from Welsh Government on the issue "as councils are struggling to provide wrap around services from existing, already pressurised budgets."
He added that there had been "several severe failures, here and in other settings" which have had "detrimental effects on both those accommodated and, importantly, on the surrounding communities. Safety for people housed in the centres and for the general public is an absolute core essential."
Read Next:
