“I Was Told Where 600 Failed Asylum Seekers Will Be Housed and I Was Left Shocked” – Gosport Man Cries Out

A man living in Gosport has spoken about his concerns after plans were announced to house hundreds of failed asylum seekers at an immigration removal centre close to local homes.

David Robinson, who has lived opposite the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre for around 20 years, said the plans have left him and some other residents feeling worried about what could happen in their neighbourhood.

The Haslar Immigration Removal Centre is located very close to a residential area. The centre closed in 2015, but plans were later made to reopen it as a detention facility for people who may be removed from the UK.

The centre is expected to hold people who do not have permission to remain in the country, including some whose asylum claims have been refused and others who are waiting to be deported.

Work is already taking place at the site. The first stage of the redevelopment is expected to provide around 130 bed spaces.

However, the Home Office has also submitted plans that could increase the centre’s capacity to around 600 beds. The expansion would involve building additional facilities on land close to the seafront.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Robinson said residents have already experienced years of disruption because of the work taking place at the site.

He said that when plans to reopen the centre were discussed in 2022, residents were initially told that work to bring the site up to the required standard would take around six months. However, he said the process has continued for about three years.

According to Mr Robinson, people living nearby have had to deal with noise, dust and vehicles arriving early in the morning. He also claimed that cars have sometimes blocked residents’ driveways.

Mr Robinson said the possibility of having hundreds of detained people living directly across the road has made him feel uneasy.

He told GB News that he sometimes goes to bed wondering what could happen during the night or the following day. He said the uncertainty surrounding the centre has become a worry for some people living nearby.

Mr Robinson said the area had previously felt peaceful and safe to him, but he now feels uncertain about what the future will bring.

He also criticised the way residents have been treated during consultations about the development. He claimed that local people’s concerns have not received enough attention.

Mr Robinson also claimed the development has affected property values in the area. He said some residents believe their homes have lost as much as £50,000 in value and claimed some people are finding it difficult to attract buyers. These claims were presented by Mr Robinson and were not independently confirmed in the report.

Local MP Dame Caroline Dineage has also criticised the Government’s handling of the site. Speaking to GB News, she said one of her main concerns was whether the Government had properly communicated with residents.

She said people living around the centre have experienced noise, dust and other disruption during the redevelopment work. She also argued that the site is extremely close to people’s homes and questioned whether it is suitable for the number of people proposed.

Dineage said she believes 600 people would be too many for the site and argued that the surrounding area may not be properly equipped to deal with such a large facility.

The Home Office, however, defended its plans to increase immigration detention capacity.

In a statement to GB News, a Home Office spokesman said the Government makes “no apology” for significantly increasing detention capacity. The department said the expansion forms part of its plans to remove more foreign national offenders and people without legal permission to remain in the UK over the coming decade.

The disagreement has left the future of the Haslar site under close attention, with residents continuing to raise concerns about the size of the proposed centre, its location close to homes and the impact the redevelopment could have on the surrounding community.