Home Office ‘listening’ after pausing north Wales asylum housing plan

Alec Doyle Local Democracy Reporter

The Home Office says it is listening to local concerns following strong opposition to plans to house asylum seekers in a residential development.

Residents of Gronant in Flintshire have faced a turbulent week since discovering plans to accommodate people awaiting asylum decisions in 13 properties at the redeveloped Gronant Institute.

Since Friday the village has been swarmed with anti-migrant groups and right wing social media personalities descending on the village to have their say.

But since Clwyd East MP Becky Gittins met with Home Office officials on Wednesday to secure a pause in the process while it undergoes a review, village life has calmed down.

Community Councillor Jo Gillmore – one of the leading voices representing the residents of Gronant since news of the proposals broke – said the furore caused by the Home Office’s lack of transparency had already had an impact

“The saddest part of all this is that one migrant family did get moved into the property and they were quickly moved back out,” she said.

“If the process had been more open and the people of Gronant were given a say then perhaps they would have agreed to a smaller scale of use and this family – who we assume were fleeing war or persecution in their home country – might have been able to stay.

“The issue is not migrants, it is the scale of people coming in and out of the village and the fact we do not have the infrastructure or amenities to support them.

“Because of the local anger caused by the secrecy and the scale of the proposals however that family has endured additional stress which was not what anyone wanted.”

Cllr Gillmore said that the campaign would continue until the Home Office made a firm commitment over the Gronant site.

“Our Flintshire County Councillor Glyn Banks and Becky from Labour, Reform Cllr Helen Brown and the Reform MS’ and obviously Darren Miller from the Conservatives, they’ve all worked really hard on this for the people of Gronant,” she said.

“There has largely been a cross-party consensus that we understand that people seeking asylum need somewhere to stay but that Gronant is not suitable for 13 people or families due to its size and lack of amenities.

“Things have quietened down now but this is not the end. We will keep campaigning until a final decision is made. Hopefully that will be a change of policy to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“More upset has been caused due to the misinformation and people filling in the blanks. If the process was not so secretive and the public had a say perhaps we could avoid the stress and protest.”

Following this week’s decision to pause plans to house migrants at Gronant Institute, the Local Democracy Reporting Service got in touch with the Home Office directly.

We asked it to clarify whether new rules that prevent its housing partner Clear Springs Ready Homes housing asylum seekers in new-build homes applied to Wales.

We also asked how long the review into the use of Gronant Institute for asylum housing would take and whether it planned to make the process of selecting housing sites was not more transparent – with communities allowed to have their say.

In response the a Government spokesperson on behalf of the Home Office said: “We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, working closely with local authorities, and listening to local concerns to reduce the impact on communities.

“We are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation including ex-military sites.

“The population of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen by 35% in the last year and by 63% from the peak in 2023. Overall asylum costs have already fallen by £1 billion since the general election.”

The Home Office did clarify that there is no difference in asylum housing policy between England and Wales – so its rules around not utilising new-build properties applies in Flintshire.

It would not comment on the specifics around Gronant but said it was developing a long-term, sustainable asylum accommodation strategy which will prioritise alternative sites such as disused properties and former military sites, while reducing impacts on local communities.

It also said safeguarding of communities and vulnerable migrants fleeing persecution and violence were its highest priorities.

“I think it’s very clear that mistakes have been made and that the people that have looked into this and identified it as a suitable site have probably never even been there,” said Cllr Gillmore.

“There should be a public process where people who know the area can have their say on whether a location has the services and amenities to support asylum-seeking migrants and whether it is suitable for all parties. They should also be made to conduct site visits to ensure suitability.

“We will keep campaigning, but now we have opened up a formal official line of communication we simply didn’t have before. Hopefully they are going to listen.”

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