Representatives from a number of agencies – including the Home Office – have responded to questions submitted by the public on the decision to use the MoD base at Penally to temporary house asylum seekers.
The area’s MP, Simon Hart, and the managing director of the company supervising the facility, were among those taking part in an hour-long community engagement webcast hosted by Pembrokeshire County Council.
The virtual meeting – which could be viewed live publicly – was chaired by the Council’s Leader, David Simpson, who made it clear from the outset that the Authority had not participated in the decision to place asylum seekers at Penally.
“The County Council is hosting this meeting because we think it is important that the many concerns raised by the local community are addressed” he told viewers.
Over 50 questions were submitted by the public and they were broken down into common themes which the nine-strong panel were asked to address.
The themes included the choice and use of the site; its security and safety as well as health matters.
Councillor Simpson said afterwards that he thought the meeting had been extremely useful in answering some of the concerns raised by Penally residents and many others.
He said: “I understand the webcast was viewed live by around 400 people so hopefully it addressed some of the myths and wild speculation that has surrounded the presence of the asylum seekers in our community.”
A list of questions and the panel’s responses will be published on the Council’s website in due course.
On the panel were:
· Simon Hart (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire MP)
· Deborah Chittenden (Director, Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System, Home Office)
· Superintendent Anthony Evans (Local Commander, Dyfed-Powys Police)
· Dafydd Llewelyn (Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner)
· Steve Lakey (managing director, Clear Springs Ready Homes Ltd)
· Juliet Halstead (Deputy Director of Asylum Services, Migrant Help)
· Dr Phil Kloer (Deputy CEO and Medical Director for Hywel Dda University Health Board)
· Jon Preston (Penally County Councillor)
· Ian Westley (Chief Executive, Pembrokeshire County Council)
The webcast will shortly be available to view at: https://pembrokeshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcasts
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