Wealden District Council has accused the Government of failing to keep its promise to engage with the community over plans to accommodate asylum seekers at the Crowborough Army Training Camp.
Describing the Home Office’s lack of presence and communication as “lamentable” the council is demanding the decision to house 600 asylum seekers at the camp is reversed.
And responding to a question on social media this morning (Tuesday, 4 Nov), the council said it was taking legal advice about seeking judicial review of the situation.
In a letter to Home Office minister, Alex Norris, the leaders of the district council said it was told about the plans on 10 October in a strictly confidential briefing with Home Office officials and it had raised significant concerns about the use of the site – but was told the decision was for the minister and the minister alone.
The letter from Cllr James Partridge and Cllr Rachel Millward said it had kept the information confidential, as requested, because the Government had promised it would put in place a proper plan for communicating with the community to provide information and reassurance.
The angry letter says the failure of the Home Office to communicate and consult despite the assurances it gave was “an act of bad faith”.
“Your team assured us that all of this would happen and that a proper plan for community engagement would be shared prior to any decision being taken by you or any announcement made…Local stakeholders are angered by the complete lack of communication or consultation.”
The letter in full:
We are writing to state our strong objection to the decision you have taken to use
Crowborough Army Camp as a temporary location for 600 asylum seekers, because the dire mismanagement of the situation is already causing major problems, and because we simply do not have information to reassure us that the wellbeing and safety of both asylum seekers and local communities will be properly safeguarded.
As you know, our council was not told that you had made this decision until after the news was leaked to the press. Along with East Sussex County Council we received a strictly confidential briefing on 10th October in which our officers learned that you were considering using the Camp. We raised significant concerns about the suitability of the site, but we were told that any decision about its use was a matter for you, and you alone, as Minister.
Following that briefing we wrote to you and highlighted various concerns – quite clearly accommodating 600 men on one site with no right to work brings significant risks. We had concerns about staffing resource at the camp, about police provision and about the additional strain on already over-stretched public services. Crucially, we clarified that it would be essential for the Home Office to communicate any plans properly and meaningfully with local residents. We requested you engage with all relevant public sector partners, eg with the Town Council, relevant stakeholder groups, local MPs, the voluntary sector and the local community itself. We were assured this would happen. We were told we would be able to meet you on site so that, as local leaders, we could discuss concerns ahead of your decision.
Your team assured us that all of this would happen and that a proper plan for community engagement would be shared prior to any decision being taken by you or any announcement made. Yet you announced your decision on Monday without having met any of those commitments. This is an act of bad faith.
Since your unilateral decision was unceremoniously leaked, worried residents have inundated the council and individual councillors with letters and emails raising significant and valid points of concern. We take no account of any racist or politically motivated communications that have also been received. Local MPs are outraged that you chose not to tell them in advance, and are repeatedly sharing misinformation about our involvement. Local stakeholders are angered by the complete lack of communication or consultation.
We note your position that you can use the relevant provision in the General Permitted Development Order 2015 to circumvent the need to make a formal planning application to this council. Your commitment to public engagement is an acknowledgement that consultation was necessary in practice despite not being required in law. It is therefore regrettable – putting it mildly – that you reneged on that commitment.
We observed your request for confidentiality only to see this breached by a leak to the media which we trust is being investigated. Did it come from within the Home Office? The leak resulted in an increase in community tensions, and the spread of misinformation. This has escalated to threats to personal wellbeing of council leadership. These tensions will only continue to rise as we get nearer the proposed opening of the site.
Please do not underestimate the gravity of the situation here. The Home Office’s lack of presence locally is lamentable. Given your and your team’s total failure to keep the promises made and the now obvious consequences of that failure, it is essential that you reverse your decision.
Yours sincerely
Cllr James Partridge, Leader of the Council and Governance, Waste and Local Economy Portfolio Holder
Cllr Rachel Millward, Deputy Leader of the Council and Culture, Community and Communications Portfolio Holder