RIGHT from the start all the residents of Lee-on-the-Solent have wanted is to be listened to.

Ever since the shock announcement that the government was intending to house up to 3,000 asylum seekers a year at the Daedalus site, residents have been urging Home Office minister Beverley Hughes to meet them face to face.

Even today as she visits the proposed site in the heart of the seaside town the minister is accused of continuing to snub them, refusing to answer their questions and address their concerns.

So the Daily Echo has asked the residents and campaigners in Lee-on-the-Solent for the question they would most like to ask Mrs Hughes if they had the chance.

Although they have been told an audience with the minister is out of the question, crowds were still expected to flock to Daedalus' gates this afternoon to show their opposition in numbers.

Just as at the Downing Street demonstration, protesters were expected to wear bright yellow and use whistles to get their point across.

They pledged to carry out a peaceful protest and police responded with nine extra officers being drafted in to help man the crowds.

Chairman of the Daedalus Action Group John Beavis said: "We want to get our point across but we want to do it peacefully, and I will be making an announcement to that effect at the start of the demonstration."

Gosport MP Peter Viggers said: "I am disappointed that she has categorically said she does not want to spend any time listening to the public. The first rule of any democracy is to listen to people and she does not seem to be doing that."

WHAT WOULD YOU ASK BEVERLEY HUGHES?

FRANK PAGE

A builder, aged 64, of Montserrat Road, Lee-on-the-Solent: "We were all set to sell up our home and retire abroad after a lifetime of working when this announcement was made. As a result buyers have pulled out and although we have dropped the price by £25,000 we still can't sell.

"I would ask her what she would do if her retirement fund was taken away from her?"

TIM ASTILL

Aged 34, a mature student and father of two of Richmond Road, Lee-on-the-Solent: "Why, after receiving a petition of over 32,000 signatures, is she still going ahead with these proposals. Does the voice of the large section of the voting public not count for anything?"

DEREK KENT

Aged 44, vice-chairman of the Daedalus Action Group: "I would like to ask her a number of things. Was any thought actually put into choosing the Daedalus site. Did someone just see that it was empty and decide it would be a good place to put a centre, regardless of where it was and what was around it?"

CHRIS CARTER

Aged 59,councillor for Lee West ward: "I would like to know why the Home Office have fudged this whole thing right from the start. From the first announcement they always referred to the site as in Gosport when it is not. Lee is a totally separate village and not an urban area with the infrastructure to cope with it."

VAL HOCKLEY

Aged 54, restaurant owner in Lee-on-the-Solent: "It's a sarcastic one really. but I'd like to know when the businesses in Lee-on-the-Solent go out of business are the government aware they will be out of pocket from the VAT they will loose from us?

"I do have a lot of sympathy for the genuine asylum seekers but I am afraid if this centre does go ahead then a witch hunt could well start."

JOHN BEAVIS

Chairman of Daedalus Action Group: "In the current climate of increased terrorism, does she believe it is wise to process up to 3000 uncleared Asylum Seekers in an open centre in the heartland of the Royal Navy where there are over 28 sensitive military and civilian sites?"

GRAHAM BURGESS

Aged 53, councillor for Lee East ward: "I would like to know how they think we will be able to cope with an asylum seeker centre. The Home Office is well aware of what we have to offer so I would like to know if official statistics and documents actually count for anything?"

ALISON ROAST

Aged 51, vice-chairman of the Lee-on-the-Solent Residents' Association, said: "My main concern is a health matter. If a third of all applicants are allowed to stay in the area that is 1,000 extra people on doctors' and dentists' waiting list, not to mention extra family members if they choose to bring them over with them. How does she think the local health service will cope with that?"

WHAT THEY WILL BE ASKING BEVERLEY HUGHES:

Leader of Gosport council Shaun Cully, Fareham leader Sean Woodward and Gosport MP Peter Viggers will be accompanying Mrs Hughes around the site.

This is what they will be saying....

SEAN WOODWARD, 42, leader of Fareham council, said: "The point we want to make is how unsuitable this centre is given the locality in Lee-on-the-Solent, but from our point of view Stubbington and Hill Head too.

"I will be drawing her attention to the social, economic and environmental problems this centre would cause."

SHAUN CULLY, 53, leader of Gosport council, said: "I will make the point that we have made all the way along that this just is not the place for an asylum seeker centre, not in terms of infrastructure or the surroundings.

"I will also be asking about the impact on local services not least housing. Since the announcement was made in February we have had almost 500 more people on our housing waiting list, so how do we cope with any more?"

PETER VIGGERS, Gosport MP, said: "I do not want her to sneak in through the back door, just see the site, the accommodation and say 'yes that will do'. She needs to appreciate the surroundings and I shall be urging her once again to visit the High Street and the houses that back on to the Daedalus site."