Emigration Center Plans Rejected

It now seems that plans to convert a hotel near Gatwick Airport into an emigration detention and removal center have been refused. Arora Management Services had applied for permission to convert the four star Mercure Hotel near the airport's north terminal into a secure removal unit.

The application, however, was turned down by planning officers at Crawley Borough Council on the grounds that there was no proven requirement for the facility. As of right now, there are two emigration detention centers near Gatwick.

The Home Office, on Tuesday, confirmed that it had no plans to open a third removal unit near Gatwick Airport. Local residents had objected to the conversion of the Mercure Hotel on Povey Cross Road in Horley. They said that they were not comfortable with the idea of a facility surrounded by a security fence.

The chairman of Crawley Borough Council, Lee Gilroy, said that the application was refused, because there were no proven requirements for the facility. Also, it was detrimental to residents, and there were concerns over security and police resources.

The planning application was submitted last September. The hotel's owners said that the current economic climate had caused them to look at a variety of options for a number of its buildings. It said that one option was to turn the Mercure hotel into a detention center, but the planning application it had submitted to Crawley council was speculative.

Many hotels have had to look into a lot of different options to keep some of their hotels open. Other hotels have had no choice but to close down all of their locations.