Arora, the latest detention profiteer

Activists from No Borders London staged a protest last week inside the Arora International Hotel, near Heathrow airport, against the hotel owners' plans to turn one of their other hotels, at Gatwick airport, into an immigration prison. Driven by what appears to be a decline in business, Arora Management Services had applied to the Crawley Borough Council for permission to convert its four-star hotel, Mercure, into an immigration detention centre. As one of the protesters put it, "this is just another example of the cynical, profit-driven opportunism exhibited by big companies wanting a slice of the lucrative detention market."

The art of planning

Planning application no. CR/2009/0421/COU, which can be viewed on the Council's website, shows that Tim Jurdon, Arora's head of planning, lodged a 'change of use' application with the Council on behalf of Arora Management Services Ltd. on 10th September 2009. The application seeks permission to change the property's use from Class C1 (hotels) to Class C2A (secure residential institutions), or what the application refers to as "removals centres".

The Crawley Borough Council's Local Plan 2000 - Saved Policies, September 2007, states that planning permission "will not be granted for development within the airport boundary which is not clearly required in this location for [the airport's] operational, functional, safety or security reasons." Policy GAT 4, which covers changes to Gatwick, specifically lists the following "major developments and uses" as shown on the Proposals Map: (i) cargo handling facilities; (ii) aircraft maintenance and engine testing facilities; (iii) other operational developments; (iv) an airport visitor centre; (v) short and long term passenger car parking; (vi) activities ancillary to the airport's operation; and (vii) structural landscaping.

Arora, however, is trying to sell its plans arguing that locating detention centres at airports would make deportations easier and less costly for the immigration authorities. The Planning, Design & Access Statement accompanying the planning application claims that "there are clear operational, functional, safety and security reasons why an airport location would be suitable or desirable for this development as required by Policy GAT4 of the Local Plan." More specifically, "close proximity to the airport terminals and immigration handling facilities provides the functional link and relatively short distances to transport detainees."

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