‘We awoke, and all of a sudden it was a refugee centre’: The village of 1,975 individuals who say an enormous 93-acre website for 1000’s of migrants is being pressured on their quiet city

With its long runway and proximity to the English Channel, residents of Manston are rightly proud of the key role their Kent village’s airport played in the Battle of Britain.

Indeed, a museum to the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft – and the brave pilots that flew them during Britain’s darkest hour – is a popular destination for those keen to pass on the area’s rich wartime history to the next generation.

But across the road from the memorial behind high barbed-wire fences, the calm of this particular village which has a population of just 1,975 people, is being threatened by the expansion of the Manston Asylum Processing Centre.

Residents living opposite the decommissioned RAF base are angry at a proposed ‘refurbishment’ of the centre costing around £700 million, sparking fears that the site, which is meant to process migrants who arrived from France across Channel in a matter of a few days, maybe used to house new arrivals on a more permanent basis.

Those living in Manston in the pretty houses just across the road from the centre say the Home Office‘s plans are shrouded in secrecy and say they are being kept them in the dark about how many migrants are set to be held at the site and whether, eventually, it will become a permanent hub for holding asylum seekers.

When MailOnline visited the village this week residents were aghast that such a vast amount of taxpayers’ money was being used to make the holding centre for new arrivals seemingly more comfortable when public services locally are already stretched, with long waiting lists for doctor and dentist appointments a regular occurrence.

‘It all feels very hush, hush even though we live right opposite the place,’ a concerned local mother told MailOnline. ‘It is a worry because you are not really sure what is going on or what is happening over there.

‘We are told the asylum seekers will only be held for a little while, but it feels more likely that it will become a permanent housing site.

‘We haven’t even had a letter through our doors telling us about the expansion and what is happening.

‘There has been no explanation on what they are planning to do, how it is going to look, how much it is costing or about what they plan to use the update premises for.’

Perhaps the reason for the secrecy surrounding the refurbishment is the centre’s recent chequered history.

Opened in January 2022, the former RAF base was set up as an emergency holding centre for migrants arriving on the shores of south-east England claiming asylum.

Just nine months later, however, chaos broke out when the site, designed to hold no more than 1,500 people, was overwhelmed with almost 4,000 people.

Men, women and children were propped up in makeshift tent accommodation with Manston quickly being branded a ‘filthy prison’ after outbreaks of diphtheria, scabies, MRSA and violence erupted, killing one Iraqi migrant Hussein Haseeb Ahmed, 31.

Next month, an inquiry will be opened to explore the ‘decisions, actions and circumstances’ that led to 18,000 people being detained longer than the prescribed 24-hour period – including one Afghan family who were kept in a marquee for 32 days.

But despite the centre’s disturbing past, the Government is ploughing ahead and continuing to pour money into the expanding site, much to the concern of locals.

The Home Office had planned to build a 700-capacity migrant removal centre on the site, but that plan was later overturned.

Currently the former RAF base is made up of old buildings that have been turned into accommodation blocks and a number of large tents that also act as housing.

The new plan for the 93-acre site includes the asylum reception centre, a Border Force training centre, CCTV security, parking and a waste treatment centre.

It was previously reported that keeping Manston, along with a reception site at Western Jet Foil in the Port of Dover where migrants disembark from crossing the Channel, running for 10 years would cost £700million.

Residents living yards away from the site on a former military housing estate, however, would prefer that it was completely shut down altogether rather than upgraded and are concerned about the effect the centre will have on already-squeezed services.

Rob Carroll, who has lived on the estate for 20 years told MailOnline: ‘I think the expansion is wrong because we need to support our own people. These are not refugees – these are economic migrants and that is what upsets a lot of the people around here.

‘We have older people, children at schools, we have special needs schools for children and groups are closing because of the lack of Government funding but we are spending millions of pounds a day funding this sort of enterprise, which isn’t good for the country.

‘You can’t get a GP appointment around here so you have to go through online referrals and I know from experience that the schools around here have seen a huge influx which affects the teaching.

‘Classes have multi-linguistic issues so children suffer because of the time it takes to teach everyone everything. All the medical facilities, schools, doctors, dentists, they are all affected. The whole thing is wrong.

‘Living so nearby we can hear every time that a coach turns up, people cheering and clapping because it is a celebration for them,’ he added.

‘At night, the whole place is lit up which affects the wildlife because of course it is permanent daytime over there. There is also the noise from the generators at night. We have complained to the MP but of course, as usual, nothing gets done.

‘This was all forced upon us. There was no Government consultation. We woke up one morning and suddenly it was a refugee centre. And we can see how much money they have spent over there already.’

Local MP Sir Roger Gale has tried to reassure his West Thanet constituents that there will be no ‘mission creep’ from the new centre and that residents will remain under lock and key until they are sent on their way.

But not everyone is convinced. Melvin and Sandra Harvey, who have lived on the estate opposite the processing centre for around 16 years, also have concerns.

Mr Harvey said: ‘Immigration has happened for hundreds of years and that is not a problem. We disagree with the quantity and the uncontrolled nature of immigration.

‘My main concern is that if they are building a new site over there, how many people are they expecting?

‘They must be expecting a hell of a lot of people to come over here and that seems against most people’s feelings.

‘They are spending a lot of money on immigration in general, with housing or whatever, but there are people within our own country who need that money spent on them, who don’t have any housing.

‘And that’s the biggest concern, in my opinion, about how much is being spent.

‘We don’t want the site there because we don’t want the immigrants. And we worry whether it will devalue the price of the houses,’ Mrs Harvey added.

‘The bigger worry is how much it is costing the Government. We have enough people of our own we should be looking after. It is going to be a strain on our country no matter what they say. But everything is a strain at the moment isn’t it?’

Paul Bell, 48, a chartered engineer, living in the village added: ‘I have nothing against the expansion of the asylum centre, but I am concerned about the increase in development without an upgrade in the infrastructure. There has been an increase in traffic and strains put on housing and medical care.’

David Stroud, 66, a cabaret artist, said: ‘They’re [the government] putting money into that [place], expanding that [centre], when our streets need tidying up, our own people need looking after, because they really do. We’re struggling and we’re paying to keep these people.’

Kevin Jones, 62, a model maker, and his wife Annette Jones, 57, a care worker, also shared their concerns, adding: ‘I don’t agree with upgrading the asylum reception centre. To be honest I don’t think these people should be here in the first place. They are a strain on the NHS, on GPs and schools and it’s us British people who are having to pay the cost.’

Annette said: ‘They should be upgrading the airport not turning it into a place to house migrants.

‘There were plans to open a college to teach pilots. That would have brought jobs to the area. But that seems to have faded away.’

The biggest question on residents’ lips, however, is how many migrants are expected to be held and processed at the site?

The Home Office is yet to reveal exact figures but according to local reports, the asylum centre is set to become ‘bigger and better’.

‘I can’t see them having it just as a processing centre when they have so much space there,’ another resident added. ‘They have a huge space so it’s more likely to end up as a permanent site.’

Locals believe work on the expansion is already underway with the Home Office expecting the project to be completed by 2028. 

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We began community engagement work last year on the infrastructure upgrade needed at the Manston site.

‘Our top priority remains protecting the security of the local community, and consulting them on the upgrade plans will of course be part of that.

‘The government is committed to smashing the criminal gangs responsible for the cross-Channel smuggling trade, and reducing the need for the Manston processing facilities as a result.’