We are pleased to share some very positive news for Diss and the surrounding community. After strong opposition from South Norfolk Council, the Home Office has confirmed it will no longer use the Park Hotel in Diss to house single male asylum seekers.
This decision follows weeks of concern from local people, and it reflects the determined stance taken by your Conservative-led council. Plans had been brought forward to move out the women and children currently living at the hotel and replace them with single men.
Council Leader Daniel Elmer was clear from the start that the proposals were unacceptable. He said:
“The Home Office thought it could just impose this change and that we would accept it. But there is a right way of doing things and the decision by the Home Office was just plain wrong.”
South Norfolk Council made it clear to ministers that such a move would unsettle both local residents and a community of asylum seekers who were already integrating well into the area. Cllr Elmer had pledged to fight the plans – including taking legal action if necessary – while the hotel’s owners also said they would rather shut the hotel than accept the proposals.
Welcoming the Home Office decision, Cllr Elmer added:
“Although I welcome the decision, in reality it does mean that the women and children who we fought so hard to protect will now be moved elsewhere, and that is a shame. South Norfolk, and Diss in particular, has always opened its arms to people in need and that’s something that should make us all very proud.”
This result shows what can be achieved when our communities and their Conservative representatives stand firm. It is a clear message to Whitehall that local voices must be listened to and that South Norfolk will always stand up for what is right.
