Holly Whitbread: Why we are going to court over the Bell Hotel

Cllr Holly Whitbread is an Epping Forest District councillor and the Cabinet Member, Housing & Community.

Epping has become the epicentre of the national debate on the illegal immigration crisis and the Government’s reckless use of hotels for asylum processing. This misguided policy has come at a huge cost to the taxpayer and caused serious damage to the fabric of our community.

This week, we welcomed the Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch to Epping, where she met residents and heard first-hand from a community that has been ignored for far too long.

Despite a petition signed by almost 10,000 people, a unanimously approved council motion calling for the hotel’s immediate and permanent closure, and ongoing protests that have disrupted everyday life in the town, the Government continues to turn a blind eye to the concerns of both the council and the people they represent.

The Conservative-led Epping Forest District Council has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, seeking legal advice and exploring every possible option to shut this hotel down for good. On Tuesday 12 August 2025, we lodged formal documents with the High Court of Justice in London to take legal action, an interim injunction, against the Bell Hotel’s owners for clear breaches of planning control. If granted by the court, this would force the hotel to cease its use for asylum processing and require a planning application for future use.

Citing the urgent need to ease escalating community tensions and protect public safety, the Council has applied for an injunction to stop the Bell Hotel being used for asylum accommodation. We are also seeking a declaration that the hotel’s use for housing asylum seekers is unlawful under current planning permissions and must be prohibited immediately.

If the Council had control, the Bell Hotel would never have been allowed to open for this purpose. Yet it remains operational, putting local people at risk.

We do not know who is living in the hotel or what risks they may pose. To our knowledge, no criminal record checks are carried out on individuals who may have arrived in the country only days before being placed there. The hotel sits in a quiet residential area, close to five schools and nurseries and a residential care home. The Government’s reckless use of this premises risks further escalating tensions and causing irreparable harm to our community, a risk that will only grow as the new school year begins.

The Bell Hotel was reopened without any consultation with the Council or local residents, despite repeated and serious warnings. The Government ignored an arson charge against a resident. They ignored the appalling sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in broad daylight.

As a lifelong resident of Epping and the ward councillor for this area for almost a decade, I firmly believe the Government is showing contempt for my town, contempt for local democracy, and contempt for public safety.

As tensions reach boiling point, continuing to ignore calls to close the Bell Hotel is both unacceptable and deeply irresponsible.

Epping Forest District Council has consistently and firmly opposed the use of the Bell Hotel for asylum accommodation. This is not nimbyism. It is based on genuine, long-standing concerns about the impact on our town, public services, and the safety of local people.

When first repurposed in 2020, the hotel housed families, women, and children. We fought hard to close it and succeeded in April 2024. Earlier this year, the Government reopened it without consultation, this time exclusively for single adult males.

Epping Forest District has another asylum hotel just a few miles away from the Bell Hotel. Our area is bearing an unfair share of this national challenge, and local services are under immense strain. The Bell Hotel’s location, a short walk from a school in a quiet residential neighbourhood, is wholly unsuitable. There is no transparency about who is living there or their backgrounds. This is unacceptable in terms of planning, safety, and community wellbeing.

As a Conservative council facing a Labour Government that refuses to listen, the challenge we face is significant. But we are doing everything possible to ensure local people’s voices are heard loud and clear.

I share the strong feelings in our community. Epping will not be ignored. This legal action is about more than closing one hotel, it is about defending public safety, community cohesion, and the very character of our town.

One of my council colleagues who attended the protests put it best when meeting with Kemi Badenoch: “It is not the job of the people of Epping to solve the illegal immigration crisis.” As local councillors, our job is to stand up for Epping and explain why the Bell Hotel is wholly unsuitable for this use, not to solve a problem that is ultimately a Government responsibility.

We will pursue every democratic and diplomatic channel, including petitions and motions, and letters from the Leader of the Council, the local MP, and the Police and Crime Commissioner to the Home Secretary. Although they have been ignored, we will not and cannot stop.

We now have no choice but to take this fight to the courts. It is time for the judge to decide.

The Government must listen. The Bell Hotel must close. It must close immediately.