Council - Tuesday 25 November 2025, 7:00pm - Epping Forest District Council webcasts
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Speaking:
Agenda item :
Start of webcast
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Cllr Louise Mead
Agenda item :
1 Webcasting Introduction
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Laura Kirman
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Cllr Louise Mead
Agenda item :
2 Apologies for Absence
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Laura Kirman
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Cllr Louise Mead
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Laura Kirman
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Cllr Louise Mead
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Cllr Lisa Morgan
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Cllr Louise Mead
Agenda item :
3 Declarations of Interest
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Agenda item :
4 Exclusion of Public and Press
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Cllr Chris Whitbread
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Cllr Louise Mead
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Webcast Finished
Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Please be upstanding for the Leader of the Council, Councillor Louise Mead.
Please be upstanding for the chairman of the council.
Thank you, Councillor Ponder, Councillor Louise Mead.
Good evening, councillors.
Please be seated.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:01:55
A very good evening and a warm welcome to everyone. I just want to remind the members1 Webcasting Introduction
of the public here that there will be no opportunities to ask any questions this evening. If you
wish to ask questions then our next ordinary full council will be in December at which
you can register to do so. The meeting tonight is called an extraordinary meeting. It's
to debate one subject and this is the consideration of judgement of the High Court of Justice
Kings Bench Division dated 11th November 2025 between Epping Forest District Council and
Samani Hotels Limited and 1. Secretary of State for the Homes Department and 2. Clear
Springs Ready Homes Limited and consideration and agreements of Next Steps. This debate
is proposed to be held in private session with the exclusion of press and public. May
I please ask that mobile phones of everyone here is either switched off or kept silent
wherever possible. So councillors, item one on our agenda is the webcasting introduction.
May I please ask Laura Kerman to read the webcasting introduction.
Laura Kirman - 0:03:30
Thank you Chairman. The Chairman would like to remind everyone that this meeting will be filmedlive or recorded and uploaded to the internet and will be capable of repeated viewing. Therefore,
by participating in this meeting you're consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of
those images and sound recordings. If any public speakers on Microsoft Teams, sorry
we don't have that tonight, members and public speakers are reminded to turn off the microphones
before speaking and turn them on when they have finished.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:04:03
It's the other way around. Please turn on their microphones before speaking and turn2 Apologies for Absence
Laura Kirman - 0:04:13
them off when they finish. Thanks. Apologies Chairman. Okay agenda item number two apologiesCllr Louise Mead - 0:04:18
Laura Kirman - 0:04:19
for absence. Do we have any apologies for absence Laura? We do I'll try and get thisright. We have apologies from Councillor Allgood, Councillor Adakhani, Councillor Baldwin, Councillor
Bassett, Councillor Bedford, Councillor Charles Holden, Councillor Dadd, Councillor
Gabbitt, Councillor Lee and Councillor Williamson. Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:04:40
Councillor Morgan. Councillor Bummage sent his apologies last week that heCllr Lisa Morgan - 0:04:45
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:04:49
wouldn't be here. His wam business. Noted. Thank you. I wasn't quite sure whether I caughtCouncillor Stephen Murray apologies please yeah did I yeah also cancel Irish
council I didn't hear council Irish in the anyone else thank you so agenda item
number three declarations of interest do we have any declarations of interest
3 Declarations of Interest
4 Exclusion of Public and Press
for our meeting tonight. No? Okay. Right. Agenda item number four, exclusion of public
compress. So members, we're here to consider the exclusion of public, before we consider
the exclusion of public compress, the leader of the council, Councillor Whitbread, would
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 0:05:52
like to address the chamber. Thank you Chairman and thank you members for attending this evening.2025 will be remembered as a defining year for our district. At the start of this year the Bells
stood closed, a former asylum seeker hotel shut by the previous government with no expectation
of reopening. We were promised its return to normal operation welcoming fee paying guests
as it had done for generations before.
And then against all reason,
a new government elected on promises
to close the remaining asylum seeker hotels
bizarrely chose the bell as the place to reopen.
The decision was taken in the face of clear objections
from this council and from our residents.
Worse still, the choice to accommodate single men
only deepened the strain on our community.
I will not rehearse every instance since then. They have been well documented, debated and
endured. Tonight we are here to decide what happens next. Do we continue to fight for
closure or do we allow the Home Office to prevail? Some will reasonably ask why this
decision should not be made in public, but let me explain that the Epping Forest District
Council has played all the way through this with a straight bat.
We have been open and transparent wherever possible, but tonight's discussion must protect
legal privilege.
In recent days, I'm sure we have all felt increasing anger at the actions of the Home
Office and Clear Springs for their decisions have brought hardship to our people.
At the moment it's focused on napping but felt across the district.
Our residents have endured months of fear, anxiety, disruption, fires, sexual assaults,
protests, even the farcical mistake and release of a serious offender.
It's unforgivable.
Each incident compounding the sense of insecurity across our community and particularly for
the victims of those heinous crimes.
And then at the end of last week, another bombshell, out of the blue with only five
days to respond and with the audacity to demand confidentiality. Clear Springs notified a manager,
not even the Chief Executive or myself, of their plans to procure eight new properties
in Buckstil for asylum seekers. To be honest with you, I was completely staggered.
After everything this district has endured, how could anyone believe Epping Forest is
the right place for more accommodation?
It shows beyond doubt the utter disrespect, the lack of compassion and the disdain which
obviously Clear Spring and the Home Office regard our community.
Members, let me be clear, we will fight this.
We will not allow this disregard for our residents and we will not stand silent.
I have written in the strongest terms to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for the local government and the Justice Secretary.
Alongside that, all three ward councillors for Bucklesdale West have done likewise.
I have instructed our officers we will not remain silent through this.
Our residents deserve to know the government we are up against.
So tonight as we consider moving into private session, I ask you to understand our need
for confidentiality.
This is not secrecy, it is defence.
Defence of our district, defence of our residents and defence of the values we stand for.
We will not be cowed, we will not be ignored and we will not let down the people we serve.
Members, we have a difficult decision to make this evening.
I'm sure you will listen once we have our KC speak to us
and make your judgments accordingly.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Whitbread.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:09:56
Can I just ask Councillor Patel before we move on,do you have any declarations of interest?
No, thank you.
So item four on our agenda
is the exclusion of public compress.
So Councillors, as you'll note,
this item is for the Council to resolve
to exclude the public and press from the meeting in order to allow the council to
consider the next item in private session. The meeting needs to be in
confidential session in order for the council to receive and discuss its legal
advice and to avoid waiver of legal privilege with serious consequences
should the council determine to appeal and also financial considerations
relating to the matter. So councillors do I have your agreement to exclude the
and public and press for item 5 on our agenda.
Agree.
Thank you. So we're now going to clear the public gallery and we're going to turn the webcast off.
So if we just wait a moment please while that's done.
