Ten-year carparking plan for the revamped Haslar Immigration Removal Centre has been given the green light
A ten-year carparking plan for the revamped Haslar Immigration Removal Centre has been given the green light after residents raised concerns about problems in the area.
Gosport Borough Council approved a late addition to the council meeting agenda last Wednesday, October 15 approving a short term licence and subsequent lease to The Home Office to use the land to the south east of Fort Road in Gosport known as the Haslar Sea Wall Car Park or the Fort Road Car Park.
The car park development will create space for 150 vehicles was voted in favour by all councillors except one abstention, to support the project to bring the IRC back into the use - a project with a current price tag of £101m.
The spaces will be used by staff when the site has reopened, but in the short term will be used by contractors, helping to alleviate problems at the site with no carparking facilities currently provided. This has led to contractors parking on residential streets and displacing nearby residents.
“As a condition of the lease, the Home Office will be required to provide a minimum of 30 car parking spaces for use by the general public, in lieu of the former Fort Road car park,” council papers say.
“Fort Road car park is mainly used by walkers and other visitors to the sea wall plus occasional visitors to Fort Monckton without the requisite security clearance. The car park is not intensively used and the Council does not operate a parking charge.”
The council will be paid an upfront payment of £45,000, along with £95,000 a year for five years for the two-acre site. £504,000 is expected to be paid imminently for the five-year income paid up front.
One nearby resident to the park park wished to remain unnamed remained unconvinced the new carpark will benefit the local area.
They said: “My belief, and I think most people you speak to here will say the same, human nature, being what it is, will still continue to park in Fort Road and the surrounding roads because it's closer to the access point for the removal centre, and they will only start to use the car park when all the other spaces are full.
“There will be light and noise pollution from the car park, along with security fencing and security gates; it has to be a secure area.”
They were also unhappy the proposal was a last minute addition to the council’s agenda.
As previously reported by The News, work is ongoing on phase one of a two-stage plan to bring the Dolphin Way facility back into use as part of the government’s measures to deal with the backlog of asylum applications.
As part of phase one, 130 beds are being created and facilities are being brought up to standard following its closure in 2015, with works on this first phase expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
A second phase will follow creating an additional 600 beds for men to allow higher levels of enforcement and returns for those who have had their claim for asylum rejected. However the Home Office has previously refused to share more information about the plans for this phase, or the timescale.
A dedicated page on the Home Office website provides some updates to the local community on the project www.gov.uk/government/publications/haslar-immigration-removal-centre-factsheet