Plans ditched (From Penarth Times)

Plans ditched

CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn Sully Hospital into a centre for asylum seekers have been shelved after the building was deemed unsuitable by the government.

Following months of speculation, the announcement was made in the House of Commons on Tuesday by Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes.

It was immediately welcomed by locals who protested strongly when the plans were first revealed.

Sully Community Council spokesman Ian Barlow said: "We have long been opposed to using Sully as a centre.

This is because there were insufficient facilities in the area to cope with the 750 asylum seekers. The hospital only housed a third of that amount and they only used the facilities at the hospital.

"Transport to and from the area would not be able to support that amount of new inhabitants."

He added: "We can now proceed with the development of the building."

Vale of Glamorgan MP John Smith said: "Throughout this campaign I have maintained that the former miners' hospital was not suitable and at the earliest occasion I went straight to the Home Secretary David Blunkett.

"I explained to him that the building was unsafe for psychiatric patients and had been closed and therefore could not be suitable for asylum seekers.

"I am glad that the Home Secretary has acted on my advice and has now rejected using the hospital."