Wealden District Council has called on the Government to minimise the impact housing asylum seekers at the army training camp will have on the Crowborough community.
Council leader, Cllr James Partridge, speaking after the council was told the Home Office plans to use the training camp to house 600 asylum seekers, said the local community would be “rightly concerned”.
He said the Home Office had informed the council and other local service providers that it intends to use the camp as a temporary asylum accommodation centre for up to 12 months from the end of November 2025.
He added: “I have written to the Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship to make it clear that local people will be rightly concerned about the effect using Crowborough camp as asylum accommodation will have on them and the wider area and to urge him to plan accordingly.
“I believe we should work with the Home Office to ensure their plans are as effective as possible and there is as little impact on the community as possible.
“We will continue to discuss the situation with other local service providers and to press the Home Office to make sure that the site runs well within our local community, as it did in 2023, when we welcomed people from Afghanistan”.
It is not the first time Crowborough Army Camp has been used as a temporary solution. In recent years it provided accommodation for Afghan nationals who had assisted the UK Govt during the Afghan conflict and had to be moved out of the country for their safety.
The Home Office has not yet provided any details of what services or infrastructure will be provided to support the hundreds of male asylum seekers who will be moved into Crowborough. However, asylum seekers with an active application are entitled to access NHS services. Most, though, do not have the right to work.
Concerns have been raised about the standard of accommodation on the site and its suitability for housing large groups of people. But the Ministry of Defence has said that while the site “is not “luxury accommodation by any means” it is “adequate for what is required”. The Government says it meets health and safety standards.
The camp, in Pippingford Park and on land owned by the Ministry of Defence, is used mainly as a temporary training camp, especially by cadet forces from various parts of the country. It contains barrack accommodation for up to 1,200 people and also includes various firing ranges, and training facilities. It is not secure.
For more information visit: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/crowborough-army-camp/