The news that the Home Office apparently intends to turn Crowborough Training Camp into a holding site for around 600 men has shocked residents.
As Chair of Wealden’s Scrutiny and Performance Committee, I share resident concerns. This has been sprung on the community without consultation, explanation, or preparation. No member of a local authority, emergency service, or resident should first hear of such a major decision through the media.
Even more troubling is the fact that the Green, Liberal Democrat and Labour leadership of the Council have known about this since 10 October, more than two weeks, and chose to say nothing. The Green Party Councillor in whose ward the camp is situated was told selectively this past Saturday with other members (including me as a Crowborough Councillor kept in the dark). They offered no reassurance, no information, and no plan. That silence and lack of transparency has undermined public trust.
Crowborough is being treated as an afterthought in a Whitehall experiment. The town’s (and Wealden’s) infrastructure, policing and health services were never designed to absorb a sudden influx on this scale. Residents are asking obvious questions about safety, resourcing and accountability, and they deserve straight answers.
I have written to the CEO of the District Council to call an emergency meeting of the Scrutiny and Performance Committee to demand those answers from the Police, Fire and Rescue, NHS Sussex, and the Home Office itself. The first duty of any council is to protect and be open with its residents.
Crowborough is a welcoming place, but it will not tolerate secrecy or incompetence. The people here deserve honesty, planning and respect, not decisions imposed behind closed doors.
Wealden District Council has a website to keep residents up to date. Residents should keep an eye on this for updates: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/crowborough-army-camp/