Local MP Dame Caroline Dinenage praises decision to launch a Public Inquiry, saying residents have been "vindicated".
Haslar Immigration Removal Centre will face a full Planning Inquiry, after the Planning Inspectorate agreed with calls from Caroline and Gosport Borough Council that the proposals require the highest level of scrutiny.
The Planning Inspectorate has confirmed that an Inquiry will be held into the Home Office’s Crown Development application to expand Haslar Immigration Removal Centre to accommodate up to 600 people.
The decision follows calls from Caroline and Gosport Borough Council for the proposals to be examined through a full Public Inquiry rather than decided solely on the written evidence submitted.
The Planning Inspectorate said an Inquiry was necessary because the application has generated “considerable local interest” and because “some of the issues raised are complex and the evidence would benefit from formal cross-examination”.
Caroline specifically called for an Inquiry in her objection to the proposals, arguing that the scale of the development and the strength and complexity of the concerns raised meant the Home Office’s case should be tested in public.
The decision comes just days after almost 100 residents living closest to Haslar attended a meeting organised by Caroline to discuss the existing redevelopment and proposed expansion. Despite repeated invitations, the Home Office declined to attend.
Caroline has repeatedly criticised the Government’s decision to use the Crown Development process for Phase 2 and the lack of meaningful engagement with local residents. Gosport Borough Council has also raised concerns about the process directly with the Government and called for an open Inquiry.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport, said:
“This is an important victory for local residents whose opposition has been vindicated. An inquiry is exactly what I called for in my objection.
“The Planning Inspectorate has recognised that there is considerable local interest in these proposals and, crucially, that some of the issues we have raised are sufficiently complex that they need to be properly tested.
“That makes the Home Office’s continued reluctance to properly engage with our community even more frustrating. Just last week almost 100 of the people living closest to Haslar came together to ask serious and reasonable questions about these plans, yet the Home Office declined repeated invitations to come and hear those concerns for themselves.
“The Government chose to pursue this development through the Crown Development process rather than the normal local planning system. It is therefore particularly important that the Planning Inspectorate has now agreed that its proposals should face the highest level of scrutiny available."
Cllr Zoe Huggins BEM, Leader of Gosport Borough Council, said:
“This decision vindicates the concerns that Gosport Borough Council and local residents have been raising throughout this process.
“We have consistently argued that an application of this significance cannot simply be pushed through without the proper opportunity for the evidence to be scrutinised and local concerns to be heard.
“I wrote directly to the Home Secretary to raise our further concerns about both the proposals themselves and the process being used. The Planning Inspectorate has now agreed that the complexity of the issues warrants a full Inquiry where the evidence can be properly tested.
“The Council will continue to stand up for Gosport and ensure that our residents’ voices are heard throughout what happens next.”
An Inquiry is the highest level of scrutiny available when examining the application and will allow evidence submitted in support of and against the Home Office’s proposals to be examined and formally cross-examined.
The Inquiry will be open to the public. Anyone wishing to formally participate can request to do so by writing to [email protected] and quoting application reference CROWN/2026/0000005. Caroline intends to make representations to the Inquiry and support residents in doing so. The Planning Inspectorate will confirm the date, time and venue of the Inquiry in due course.
