microlight and motorgliders are operated at what is now the principal HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter base on the south coast. The airfield is operated by Regional & City Airports Management (RCA) on behalf of the owners, Fareham Borough Council. More information about the airfield is available on the website of Lee Flying Association. A planning application was approved in February 2008 for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Driving Test Centre with Motorcycle Manoeuvring Area (MPTC) from the Driving Standards Agency, inside a part of the Daedalus site. The Daedalus site has had housing developments built in recent years, with more re-development planned. In 2003, the community of Lee-on-the-Solent received nationwide attention for probably the first time in its 120-year existence. The government had proposed to house asylum-seekers at the former base which forms a large area of the resort. At once, the Daedalus Action Group was formed under the chairmanship of John Beavis to oppose the scheme with the support of a large number of local residents. After a U-turn in government policy, the Home Office decided in February 2004 to abandon the asylum centre plan and the action group celebrated with a rally on the seafront. Channel 4 produced a fly-on-the-wall Dispatches documentary Keep them out in 2004 dealing with both sides of the argument. In early May 2006, 20 unexploded Canadian pipe mines were found under HMS Daedalus during site clearance prior to disposal by the Ministry of Defence. 60 feet (20 metres) long, they were left over from 265, packed with a total of 2,400 lb of gelignite, planted in World War II to make the airfield unusable in the event of an enemy invasion. The subsequent removal, thought to be the largest of its kind in peacetime Britain, led to the evacuation of some 900 homes staggered over a five-week period. The district still has a shopping centre, with a selection of independent shops and restaurants and is a popular destination for jet-skiers and kite surfers. A bypass was built around the time of the Cherque Farm development to link up the B3385 and the B3333 and forms a bypass to Lee-on-the-Solent. The train has long since gone from the seafront, clearing the seafront for walking, leisure and parking. The seafront is interrupted by the former railway station buildings, the war memorial and the seafront bus stop/parking area opposite the end of Pier Street.