The government has pledged to keep a council informed of its plans for an immigration processing centre – but stopped short of giving any details.

Leader of Thanet District Council, Rick Everitt (Lab), wrote to then Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick in November after hearing from Kent County Council about plans by the government to build a “secure migrant removal centre” at the current Manston processing site.

The plans include accommodation for 360 people at the outset, rising later to 700.

Cllr Everitt said that only in September the council had held a meeting with the Home Office and had received the clear message there were no plans to expand or vary the current use of the former Ministry of Defence site as a centre for processing new arrivals.

It has heard nothing to the contrary since and has called on the government to be open with the public.

Cllr Everitt said: “Thanet District Council is the local planning authority and while we recognise that the government would use its own powers to grant itself consent, we have serious concerns about the suitability of this site for the purpose now being proposed.

“These include issues of historic land contamination, the potential for noise and light pollution, traffic impacts, and the spread of infectious diseases.

“Such a facility is also likely to be controversial and may become a focus for public demonstrations and political extremists.

“While we continue to liaise with both the county council and local MP Sir Roger Gale, it is in my view discourteous to this council and disrespectful to the people of Thanet that we have waited for so long to receive a direct response from the Home Office regarding these plans.”

The Manston immigration centre opened in February 2022, to process asylum seekers who arrived in the UK on small boats.

The Home Office intended to hold them at the centre for up to five days while they underwent security checks. They would then be moved into accommodation, usually hotels.

Those who did not pass security checks would be moved to immigration detention centres.

The Manston site has been heavily criticised in the past for squalid conditions and issues of overcrowding.

Click here to read more about the site and why it has proved so controversial

Mr Jenrick has resigned since Thanet council’s last letter appealing for more information about the plans.

But today they received a reply from his replacement, Michael Tomlinson KC MP, Minister for countering Illegal Migration.

It outlined a commitment to keep Thanet council and Kent County Council informed through regular planned meetings.

The council will also be invited to contribute to government considerations regarding the site, it said.

But the letter stopped short of addressing any specific matters related to the proposed plans.