The sleepy seaside town of Gosport could soon become an asylum “capital” if the Government pushes on with plans for immigration sites in the area, residents and local politicians fear.
Anti-migrant activists have descended on the run-down harbour town in recent weeks as the spotlight turns on small boat crossings along Hampshire’s South Coast, in the face of increasingly dangerous western routes undertaken by migrants in overloaded dinghies.
The Home Office has quietly started recruiting for seven staff to reopen Gosport’s Haslar Immigration Removal Centre next year, with initial plans to hold 130 migrants before they are deported.
Residents and local councillors are outraged over the Home Office’s plans to grow this site to 600 beds, including a new, three-storey accommodation block. The Government still has to overcome a planning inquiry next month to complete the expansion.
Separately, the Home Office is considering using Fort Blockhouse in Gosport – a former Navy sea fort first built in the 15th century, less than a mile away from Haslar – as a landing site to bring ashore small boat arrivals in the region, The i Paper understands.
But no decision has yet been made, with local politicians accusing the Government of “secrecy” over its plans.
‘Arrogance and secrecy’
Zoe Huggins, Conservative leader of Gosport Borough Council, has said it is “outrageous” that the Home Office had not confirmed what its plans are for Fort Blockhouse. Dame Caroline Dinenage, Tory MP for Gosport, accused the department of “arrogance and secrecy”.
George Madgwick, Reform UK’s group leader at Hampshire County Council, said it would be would be “unpalatable” to make Gosport a regular landing point for Border Force operations in the Hampshire area.
“We don’t want to encourage people smugglers and say, ‘Here’s another place to cross to’,” Madgwick told The i Paper. “We’d like more tourism in Gosport. But if it becomes a new home, a new capital for asylum seekers as a landing site, then of course it’ll put people off.”
‘Will affect house prices’
Haslar removal centre, which was shut in 2015, is set to reopen in 2027 with an initial 130 beds.
Home Office recruitment ads for seven detention engagement officers, which are no longer live, said they “will work directly with detained individuals” and “make a meaningful difference during a challenging period in their lives”.
Residents in Gosport – home to 70,000 people – are upset about plans to expand the site to 600 migrants. Almost 500 objections to the expansion have been sent to the Planning Inspectorate ahead of its inquiry, which starts next month.
Cameron Goad, 61, lives 800 yards from the Haslar removal site. He fears a bigger complex would add to traffic, noise and disruption.
“It’s devastating,” Goad told The i Paper. “I feel for the people living right next to it, because it’ll affect their house prices.”
One resident who submitted an objection said a three-storey block overlooking nearby homes would “spoil our beautiful town”. Another said house prices would fall “because of this monstrosity”.
Fort Blockhouse as possible landing site
There are also fears about how the Home Office might use Fort Blockhouse, which is also close to Gosport’s busy marina resort, where ferries bring visitors over from Portsmouth.
An aborted attempt to use Fort Blockhouse to land 50 small boat migrants sparked protests at the end of September. Far-right activists descended on the town, but the vessel was taken along the coast to dock in Kent instead.
Then, on 4 October, 149 small boat migrants were brought ashore at Fort Blockhouse before being taken on coaches to a processing site in Kent. Flares were set off as anti-migrant protesters again clashed with police.
A source close to Home Office discussions told The i Paper that Fort Blockhouse is still under consideration as a possible Border Force disembarkation site to bring small boats safely ashore.
Migrants could then be taken on coaches to other facilities like Western Jet Foil or Manston in Kent to have their asylum claims processed.
It comes amid increased concerns about “gaps” in the monitoring of small boats along the Hampshire coast, as people-smugglers try to land further west from the traditional Calais to Dover route.
Fears over tourism and ‘easy target’ for protest
Huggins told The i Paper that the idea of migrants being brought ashore at Fort Blockhouse was “causing huge local tension, concern and disruption”.
Limited access routes and pressure on emergency services would make it “totally unsuitable”, said Huggins. She made clear that the council was not aware of any plans for a new processing centre at the fort – but even an organised landing point would be unwelcome.
She worries that it would create “an easy target for protesters to blockade coaches” – which has happened before in Eastney, Portsmouth – since there is only one main road in and out.
There is also the threat to regeneration plans. Gosport is the most deprived local authority area in Hampshire, according to figures cited on the borough council’s website. In a letter to the Home Secretary, Huggins said the area in and around Fort Blockhouse has “significant potential for heritage, tourism, marine, leisure and economic uses” to boost the town.
Goad, who lives close to the old fort, is worried that the area’s push to get more tourists would be ruined if Gosport became a regular small boat landing site.
“We do get visitors, and the council has been trying to regenerate the marina area,” Goad said. “More illegal migrant arrivals will put people off and affect local businesses.”
“We don’t want it here,” he added. “I’m not in the minority – people are very upset.”
Cost of policing protests over £800,000
There are plans to hold a further, anti-migrant protest in Gosport on 25 October, The i Paper understands.
Hampshire’s police and crime commissioner Donna Jones has said the cost of policing recent protests around both Gosport and Eastney had already gone over £800,000.
Dinenage, the Gosport MP, said the Home Office has been “incredibly slow” to provide any information on whether Fort Blockhouse could be used as a landing point for further boat crossings. She said she had asked for meetings with ministers to no avail, adding: “The levels of arrogance and secrecy to date have been breathtaking.”
The Home Office declined to comment.