tell us about the situation in your
region because you may be looking to
follow the lead of Eping Forest District
Council.
>> Oh, hi. Yes. So, good morning. So, yes,
we have a asylum seeker hotel here in
the burough of Broxbourne. Um, this
opened in December 2022. We sought to
get legal advice when the hotel was
opened about and stating that it wasn't
the correct location for the hotel. We
was told, you know, you have to accept
the hotel. So now following on what
Eping have done, we will be looking at
bringing in planning enforcement. In my
view, the hotel is not being used for
the purpose that it is supposed to be
used for. So we'll be looking very
closely at what Eping have done. We'll
be looking at the ruling of yesterday
and we will be seeking legal action.
>> Hotels are designed to house people.
You're challenging this on a on a
planning basis. What are you saying is
being contravened?
So it's it's run as a hotel but it's b
it's pretty much being used as a hostel.
The hotel itself has a massive strain on
the local services here. So GP
appointments are very difficult to get.
There's pressures on local schools. The
residents of Brockbornne are really
starting to feel the pressures now. So
it is time for us to start looking at
taking action to see the closure of the
hotel. So see the closure of the hotel
in its current form. If the high court
was to rule in your favor, what would
you do then? What would happen to the
people in the hotel? What would happen
to to their status within within your
council district?
>> In my opinion, that would be a decision
for the home office. I was elected to
represent the people of Broxbourne, and
that's what I will be doing. But if if
the home office said, "Right, there's
some HMOs that are available to house
people in Brockbornne, you would accept
that, would you?"
>> I think what we're going to have to do
is we're going to have to look very
closely at what's happening with Eping.
So, I believe their closure date is the
12th of September. As I say, we'll be
working very very closely with Eping and
seeing what they're doing and when those
decisions come up, we will be making
those decisions at that time. cuz I I
guess the challenge that that the
government will will say and and I'm
sure the minister will say is look we
acknowledge that hotels aren't the the
the best solution here but they are kind
of the least worst and I I I wonder if
if not in hotels then do we end up kind
of chasing the problem around and having
even less adequate solutions and and
obviously the home office will will look
to councils like yourselves to try and
play your part. You're saying you're
going to wait. Are you doing any
contingency planning to to potentially
mitigate any against any closure of the
hotel in Chestnut for example?
>> I think here in Brock, we've played our
part. We have housed asylum seekers now
since 2022. As I say, they are taking a
massive strain on local um resources and
services. The government do need to come
up with a clearer plan to stop
immigration. They need to protect our
borders. our local residents shouldn't
have to suffer the consequences for
these people that are coming here
illegally. Um, as I say, we will be
looking um seeking all the correct
advice and as soon as we have that, we
will take everything we can forward and
we will be fighting really hard here to
to to represent our residents and for
those people's voices to be heard.
>> You say the phrase we've played our
part, it's past tense. It implies to me
that you'd like to see no migrants
within within your district at all.
I don't think you should be putting
words into my mouth. I haven't said
that. I've just said the asylum hotel
here is not best placed here. It's, you
know, as I say is take it's a massive
pressure on our local resources here and
you know we we are seeking the closure
of the hotel.
>> What are your constituents what are
people in the region saying to you? What
are the concerns that that they're
airing at the moment?
I mean, we've been having protests here.
Um, we've been having three weekly
protests. These are growing very large
in size. I think that speaks a lot of
volumes to what our constituents here
are saying to us. And and we're going to
listen to those people.
>> And when you say listen, what are they
saying?
>> I think people have had enough. They
would like to see the closure of the
hotel. We we aren't sure who is in the
hotel. There's a lot of concern around
here. You know, people are afraid. If
you look at what's happened at the Bell,
people are very concerned that we're
going to start seeing that here in
Broxbourne. And and people are
concerned. I'm a mother of five
daughters myself. I'm a resident here in
Broxbourne. I share concerns.
>> You share concerns. I'm I'm just trying
to get to to the heart of these concerns
because we we talk about concerns, but
we're not really describing what those
are. What What are you as a mother
concerned about? What are other people
concerned about here?
So the main concern here as I keep
saying is the pressure it puts on our
housing service. It puts pressure on our
GP services. We're not a large burough
here. We are a very small burough. So we
have pressures on our GP services. We
have pressure on our local schools. We
have pressure, you know, on on
ambulancing services, all those sort of
things. Those pressures are really
starting to take the toll on our small
burough here.
We've talked lots about the reduction in
funding and capacity for councils across
the the country over years of of of
austerity and reductions. What impact is
that having as as part of this wider
picture? What impact is that having in
in logistical terms in the way that
you're able to support not only people
that live in in the burough but also the
people who are currently being housed in
the hotel for example?
>> Um I I'm not sure on the funding that we
are currently receiving. Um that is
something that we will also be looking
into. But the the impact has been
massive on us as a council. As I say,
you know, it puts pressure on our
housing. We already have high demand
pressures here for our housing and this
is just adding to that.
>> Karina Gander joining us live from
Broxbourne. Good to have you with us.
Appreciate you sharing your time. Thank
you.