Full Breakdown
Gosport Residents Oppose Expansion of Haslar Immigration Removal Centre
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Plan to House 600 Asylum Seekers
The Home Office has submitted plans to expand the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport from an initial 130-bed reopening to a capacity of 600 beds. New buildings would be added on nearby seafront land, placing the detention facility within metres of residential homes.
Background & Context
Haslar detained 198 migrants until its closure in 2015 under a Labour government. The current administration announced a reopening for 130 people last year, then disclosed a Crown Development proposal earlier this year to increase capacity to 600. The site is described as the country’s closest removal centre to private housing.
Data & Statistics
- Planned capacity: 600 beds (up from 130).
- Historical use: 198 detainees before 2015 closure.
- Reported property-value impact: reductions of up to £50,000; a £650,000 home listed at £100,000 below market.
- Home Office projection: over 45,000 additional removals in the next decade.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Emotionally it grinds you down; the continuous construction, the noise, the relentless beep beep beep from the diggers.” — Nobody
- “Nobody asked for this, everyone is in the same boat. No one in their wildest dreams imagined the home office would expand to as many as 600 migrants” — Graham, local resident