Back to list

Date submitted

3 August 2026

Submitted by

Interested party

I strongly object to the expansion of the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre proposed at Crown Development Application CROWN/2026/0000005. Gosport is only slowly recovering from the withdrawal of the MoD from many sites which has had an extremely detrimental effect on the town. We are recognised as having a high level of deprivation. The regeneration of Gosport is essential and I am aware of important plans to develop the Haslar Peninsula and join it up with the waterfront development. This has already started on the old Royal Hospital Haslar site and I am aware of plans being developed for a number of other sites including Fort Blockhouse. A large IRC on the Haslar site will threaten all of that. I found the application extremely difficult to follow. Partly because of its size and the large number of separate documents but also because so much of it was blanked out. Living ████████████████, I am acutely aware of the difficulties getting on and off it. If the expansion of the IRC is approved this will become even more difficult. The Transport Assessment document had most of the detail blanked out but also failed to take into account things like the development on the old Royal Hospital Haslar site which already generates a considerable amount of traffic and is going to become even bigger with things like a hotel and a health centre on it. The peninsula is also home to large number of important historical sites and conservation areas which will be adversely by this fortified detention centre being built in the vicinity. The proposed IRC is also very different from what we were told at the initial public meeting at the Stokes Bay Golf Club. There are many more, and bigger, buildings and I now understand that many of the men who will be admitted to the IRC could be let out into Gosport until their case is completed and they could choose to stay in Gosport if they please. This would be a disaster for local services, including health care, and those waiting for housing. Finally, I have been told that there is also a plan to turn the IRC into a prison in the future. That would be even more unacceptable for Gosport and Haslar.