Confusion over Greater Manchester asylum seeker hotel controversy

A letter to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood from the council’s chief executive Sara Todd – seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service – raises concerns about the financial pressure on the council and ‘community cohesion’ resulting from the use of the hotel for temporary accommodation ‘solely for single adult males’.

Yet at a stormy council meeting last night, a Conservative motion calling on the Government to end the use of the hotels as temporary accommodation, and two amendments from the Greens and Liberal Democrats, were resoundingly defeated.

The letter from Ms Todd, dated October 24, has not been in the public domain, but Tory group leader Coun. Nathan Evans said it showed a ‘juxta position’ between senior town hall officers and the Labour group.

In it, Ms Todd wrote: “Trafford has a proud history of being a diverse, tolerant and welcoming borough, and we are dedicated to maintaining these values while addressing practical concerns, including healthcare and safeguarding.”

But she went on: “However, the cost of this support is starting to impact the council financially. We are a council that has a structural deficit, and which has received exceptional financial support in 2025/26 and continues to make drastic cuts to put the organisation on a firmer footing.”

She said that the Cresta Court Hotel had become the focal point for protest, and had been the scene of a monthly protest for he last 12 weeks.

“The council has serious concerns about what could potentially develop if Cresta Court stays open into Trafford’s Local Elections in 2026,” she said.

“The hotel is being solely used to accommodate single adult males. We have 46 unaccompanied children, including 33 with no leave to remain, which equates to 12.6 per cent of our cared-for children population. We have 76 care leavers who are former unaccompanied children, overall 15pc of our care leavers and likely to continue to grow.”

Ms Todd said the council is seeing ‘considerable issues with community cohesion, with protests outside the hotel and wider problems with groups in our borough’.

“This situation requires a significant and ongoing operation from Greater Manchester Police,” she said.

“The hotel is very close to the centre of Altrincham and was an important contributor to the local economy before being used solely for asylum seekers. The loss of a hotel and event space has been felt by businesses and residents.

“Its proximity to Altrincham’s economic centre is now also impacting organisations within the town.

“To add to these incidents, the hotel is located 500 feet away from an all-girls secondary school, with rumours and misinformation about migrants acting in an untoward manner to the girls being rife on social media.”

She added: “The issue requires urgent Government attention and we would welcome further discussion with you, your department and your ministers to look at possible solutions.”

Meanwhile, Coun Evans addressed the full council meeting, saying voters in Broadheath and Hale who have elected two Conservative councillors at recent by-elections had ‘spoken’.

“Those by-election results against appalling national polls were a verdict on weak leadership, poor communication and a council that forgot that its first duty is to the people who live here,” he said.

“The use of Cresta Court and the Ashley Hotel in Hale for migrants has let our borough down. From day one, we were the only party to challenge this and hold public meetings because residents asked us to.

“And now, what do we see? A Labour administration scrambling to rewrite history, downplay the chaos and pretend there was always a plan. But residents know the truth. There wasn’t.”

However, Green Coun Michael Welton was critical of the Conservatives accusing Coun Evans of stirring up tension in the area, a claim he later denied, saying he had never been near the Cresta Court Hotel.

Coun Welton said: “Residents living near the Cresta Court Hotel, like us, support the right to protest, but it is clear that on many occasions these protests have gone beyond the bounds of acceptability.

“The aiming of fireworks at the hotel across a busy A-road, the taunting of hotel residents, calling on them to jump, the racist tropes carved into pumpkins, all speak to a protest that is attracting people who are definitely not just expressing the legitimate concerns of local residents.

“The worst elements of the protest are the video vampires – the camera creeps that the police call the Auditors – a group of 15 or so who stick their camera in the face of local residents, intimidating them, trying to get a rise out of them, to get content for their monetised social media channels. Intimidation for clicks is not acceptable on the streets of Altrincham.

“Nobody is happy with the Cresta Court being used for asylum accommodation. But the residents of the hotel deserve to be respected and left alone, not subject to fireworks and taunts.

“We had contact with them at the Altrincham Library litterpick, playing football in Navigation Park, cricket at Timperley Sports Club, listening to free music at the Old Market Tavern and volunteering for Altrincham in Bloom. They were respectful and friendly.”

Deputy leader of the council Coun Liz Patel responded for Labour, saying: “Councillors in here certainly do have a responsibility to bring communities together and not to fuel division.

“The antisocial behaviour around Cresta Court hotel is unacceptable.”

To the Greens she said: “I know as local councillors you’ve worked hard to stay connected to those residents and offered them support.

“We won’t be supporting either of these amendments as they don’t fundamentally change the premise of the main motion [which was also opposed]. Trafford council is listening and acting on asylum seeker hotels.”