The Home Office has admitted it wants to use Crowborough Army Training camp for another four years – despite its initial promise it would only be 12 months.
The U-turn was announced by the Home Office last night (Thursday, 25 June) as the Govt also outlined plans to bring more military sites into use as housing for asylum seekers.
Last month we reported that Wealden District Council had unearthed information in court papers revealing the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had agreed the camp could be used until 2030.
The Home Office, which has been criticised for not sharing information or engaging with the Crowborough community, told us that “no decision has been made”. But clearly it had.
Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris, who admitted the Govt had “failed” Crowborough and “the failure is mine” was less apologetic when he announced the new plans. He said: “We are moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last government left us with. This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done.”
The decision has been blasted by Sussex Weald MP, Nusrat Ghani, she said: “The Home Office have announced they will now seek planning permission to continue using it until 2030. They have not confirmed the process they will use to do this but made clear they have no plans for any public consultation on their decision.
“The announcement confirms what were the Home Office’s true intentions at Crowborough all along, despite previous attempts to deny it. Freedom of Information requests had already forced the Home Office to reveal it was spending £3m on establishing the site as asylum accommodation, an amount too high to simply be for 1 year of use.”
Ms Ghani said she would continue to fight the plans. “This is yet another blow for Crowborough residents, especially the Cadets and blue light services who are now being displaced from the site not for months, but for years. I will fight it all the way.”