Statement by Green Councillors at Wealden District Council regarding Crowborough Army Camp

You will be aware that the Home Office is considering placing 600 asylum seekers in Crowborough Army Camp.

We are aware of misinformation being spread by our MP Nus Ghani which suggests that Wealden District Council deliberately failed to consult residents on this decision. We have made no decision, because we have no power to do so, and been involved in no negotiations. The decision to use the camp to house asylum seekers is one made entirely by the Home Office by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Migration, Mike Tapp MP.

We do not think this is a satisfactory situation at all. Our asylum system is utterly broken. People should be allowed, as they used to be, to seek asylum from their home countries to prevent this appalling and unhelpful backlog. The system is so shambolic that it results in hundreds of people unable to work needing accommodation at pace – this isn’t good for anyone and it did not have to be this way. The Green Party constantly petitions the government to create a new asylum system that works for all of us.

East Sussex County Council (Conservative administration) and the Police & Crime Commissioner (Conservative) of course have a much greater role to play in the delivery of services and in keeping our communities safe; and they were briefed by the Home Office at the same time that Wealden District Council was. We will work alongside them as always, in service of all our communities.

The training camp is Ministry of Defence Land (part of the Crown Estate) and therefore decisions over its use are for the Government (General Permitted Development, Order 2015). There is no planning legislation that Wealden can apply to object to a change of use. The suggestion by Nusrat Ghani et al that Wealden "should swiftly reject any planning application" shows either profound ignorance of planning laws or a mendacious distortion of reality.

All the information we have managed to get from the home office, including the letter we sent to the Minister, is on our website

Cllr Rachel Millward, Green Party Councillor for Hartfield Ward, Deputy Leader - Wealden District Council (Alliance for Wealden) said: “The Home Office has unilaterally made a decision to house 600 asylum seekers at the Crowborough Army Camp. ESCC, the PCC and WDC were confidentially informed of the possibility but not of the decision. Our asylum system is broken. It appals me that the government allows such dysfunction to continue, as if community tensions weren’t high enough already. Thankfully Crowborough has a wonderful, welcoming community and has welcomed Ukrainian and Afgan refugees in the past. I am sure we will all do our best to make this work for all our communities.”