There will be no changes to a ‘transitional hotel’ that is being used to resettle families from Afghanistan in Bracknell following a court ruling closing a hotel for asylum seekers in Epping.
Protests have taken place at the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest in Essex this summer in anger after an asylum seeker from Ethiopia was charged with three sexual offences, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, has denied the charges.
Scenes of disorder outside the hotel captured by YouTuber Wesley Winter and other vloggers showed protesters damaging Essex Police vans.
Following the disturbance, Epping Forest District Council successfully achieved a High Court interim injunction High Court interim injunction to restrain the use of the Bell Hotel for housing asylum seekers on Tuesday, August 19.
This has sparked other councils to seek injunctions to close asylum seeker hotels in their areas as well.
Families from Afghanistan are being resettled in Bracknell in refugee and asylum programmes devised by the previous Conservative and current Labour governments.
It is understood that the Afghan families are living at The Grange Hotel, which closed down in December 2022.
The families are living at the hotel while they find long-term private accommodation throughout the UK. Some may choose to stay in Bracknell.
The leader of Bracknell Forest Council has said that there will be no change to this arrangement following the High Court ruling, and the families have indefinite leave to remain in the country.
Councillor Mary Temperton (Labour, Great Hollands), leader of the council, said: “We have been following the Epping case very carefully and have taken a full and thorough review of what it means for us locally, both in terms of planning and legal implications.
“Firstly, we’d like to make it clear that Bracknell Forest does not have any migrant hotels in the borough housing asylum seekers. We have transition accommodation run by the Ministry of Defence that is currently home to 194 Afghan people in family groups – they have indefinite leave to remain, so are not asylum seekers, refugees or illegal immigrants.
“Therefore, we will not be seeking an injunction to prevent use as a migrant hotel in Bracknell Forest as we do not have a migrant hotel in the borough.
“Before any of the new families moved to the borough, we thoroughly reviewed the existing planning permission. As it is transitional accommodation, not permanent accommodation, for people with indefinite leave to remain, that review found that no change to planning use was needed.
“In light of the High Court interim injunction, we have carried out a further review and legal advice remains that no change to planning use is needed for the hotel.”
Although cllr Temperton referred to planning use, no change of use application could be identified for the Grange Hotel on the council’s planning portal.
The former hotel has been identified by YouTubers as the transitional accommodation.
