The leader of Epping Forest District Council has hit out at the continued silence from the Home Office after securing a victory over the use of a migrant hotel in the area.
Speaking to GB News, Councillor Chris Whitbread declared this is “just the beginning” of the process, and warned the Home Office that the “ball is in their court”.
Epping Council leader Chris Whitbread has hit out at Home Office silence following their High Court victory
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GB NEWS
Discussing the victory, Mr Whitbread told GB News: “I’m really pleased for the students, the residents and the businesses of Epping Forest, because they deserve to have a respite from what’s happened over the past few weeks.
“And I think this is the start of addressing the problem, not the end of it.”
Asked what the next steps for the migrant hotel are following the High Court victory, Mr Whitbread revealed that the Home Office “still haven’t spoken to us” despite the win on Tuesday.
He explained: “Four o’clock on September 12 is when the hotel is meant to be cleared of residents by. At this stage, the Home Office still haven’t spoken to us, and they haven’t spoken to us really very much over the past few weeks anyway. But obviously the ball’s in their court.”
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Praising the work of hi council for putting together a “well-constructed case” against the use of the asylum hotel, Mr Whitbread said: “My council office team, both legal and planning, have been working very diligently over the past month since our full council meeting where we said that we wanted The Bell closed.
“They’ve worked really, really hard and gone through the planning elements of it and put together a very good, well-constructed case that the judge listened to intently on Friday and agreed with yesterday.”
Urging other councils to do the same on the back of their win, he added: “So I think we have worked really hard to make sure of the planning arguments that we had, and I think any council up and down the country now will probably be doing likewise.
“Not every hotel will have the same issues, but in this particular case, taking into account the location of the hotel as well, we were really clear to the Government from day one, this was a hotel in a completely wrong position. Five nearby primary schools, residential properties, it’s just not suited to this type of use.”
Mr Whitbread told GB News that people in the town ‘want to get back to normal’
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GB NEWS
Reflecting on the community reaction to the verdict, Mr Whitbread concluded that he wants his town to “get back to normal” and doesn’t believe the decision will “spark off other protests” at other hotels.
He said: “It’s so frustrating because over the past few weeks, the initial protest did become violent, but they’ve quietened down an awful lot. I think there were some unfortunate scenes last night at the hotel, but on the whole, there’ve been peaceful protests.
“I don’t believe this will spark off protest everywhere, the majority of people I’ve dealt with over the past few weeks have been quietly telling me about their concerns. The people who come up to you in the street, in the marketplace, in the shops, who say ‘you’re doing the right thing, we want The Bell closed’.
“But we don’t want ongoing demonstrations outside or in the high street because we want our town to get back to normal. We’re a lovely community, it’s a beautiful town, and people just want to get back to normal. The trouble is, with demonstrations, of course, they impact upon the comings and goings of the town and the businesses in the town as well.”