Northop Hall Village Action #wrongplanwrongplace

Help our voluntary group oppose an application to house 408 asylum seekers in the 41-bedroom Northop Hall Country House Hotel and its car park.

Northop Hall Village Action (NHVA) is a group of volunteers who are leading our village in a campaign to stop the use of a 41-bedroom local hotel being changed to an Initial Accommodation hostel for asylum seekers.

Northop Hall is a village in North Wales. We have an adult population of around 1,400, a small village shop, a pub, poor public transport, and no medical services within walking distance. Our county, Flintshire, is the most densely populated county in North Wales yet one of the most poorly funded (20 out of 22 counties). Our health board, Betsi Cadwaladr, has been in special measures for almost 8 years and the local population finds it extremely difficult to access GP and other health services.

The owner of Northop Hall Country House Hotel has submitted a full planning application to house 156 men in the bedrooms, and 252 men in 126 modular units (containers) in the car park on a 'temporary' basis for 7 years. With a turnover of 408 men on average every 3 weeks, close to 50,000 men would transit through the village over the 7-year duration of this ‘temporary’ permission.

These conditions will be cramped and inappropriate for those traumatised and seeking asylum. There are also no facilities in the village for asylum seekers to access.

Our village does not have the infrastructure or amenities to support this proposal. The application does not meet the Home Office's own statements that asylum seekers should be placed in conurbations (towns merging with a central city).

The application also does not meet Home Office guidelines which state: “The Home Office provides accommodation in areas which generally have established ethnic minority communities and where voluntary and community infrastructures are in place” (The Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts).

This proposal is the wrong plan in the wrong place #wrongplanwrongplace.

We are fundraising to pay for specialist planning and legal advice. We’d also like to use some funds to produce placards, leaflets and other campaign materials. The specialist advice will be prioritised.

Our fundraising target of £10,500 has been calculated based on quotes we have obtained and the experience of other action groups elsewhere.

If the application process becomes protracted, and we need more extensive professional advice, we would launch a second round of fundraising.

We will of course be transparent with the use of any donations received. We will publish full details of the income and expenditure at the end of the campaign. Any excess funds raised will be invested in local community projects.

Every penny raised will help us stop this proposal being placed in our village which is the wrong location for asylum accommodation.

We are grateful for all contributions received. Thank you.