Revelations of a backroom deal to use Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation until 2030 have been described as a “wake up call” to Wealden District Council’s Green/Lib Dem/Labour Leadership.
Sussex Weald’s Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani has been an outspoken critic of the Home Office using Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation since the plans were first announced late last year.
Home Office Ministers had claimed the use of Crowborough Training Camp would be for a 12-month period. Yet Freedom of Information requests revealing the Home Office was spending £3m on the site rang alarm bells about plans for a much longer period of use than what Ministers were publicly claiming. Nusrat Ghani MP wrote to the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris MP, in March demanding answers about the Home Office’s true intentions.
Nusrat Ghani MP has constantly warned that Green/Lib Dem led Wealden District Council failing to act as the Local Planning Authority, would make it easier for the Home Office to use Crowborough Training Camp for a much longer period.
Lib Dem & Green Councillors have refused to act or support the legal action being taken against the Home Office by Crowborough Shield CIC, with Green Party Council Leader Cllr Rachel Millward insultingly accusing Crowborough Shield of offering “false hope”.
Details contained in court papers have now revealed two government departments have already agreed between themselves to allow the “option” for Crowborough Training Camp to remain open as asylum accommodation until 2030. This week, Wealden District Council Leaders are describing themselves as “deeply dismayed” at this news, yet campaigners are saying they should have known this was coming.
Commenting Nusrat Ghani MP (Conservative, Sussex Weald) said: “Wealden District Council’s Green Party leadership have finally woken up to the threat of Crowborough Training Camp being used by the Home Office for a lot longer than 12 months. Having refused to engage with local MPs and to support Crowborough Shield’s legal action, they now act surprised as the Government’s intentions are revealed.
“Spending £3m on Crowborough Training Camp made it clear that the Home Office planned to use it for a lot longer than 12 months, displacing local blue light services and our Cadets from the site. Instead of waking up to the threat early on, Wealden District Council’s Green/Lib Dem leadership have been busy playing politics and swapping positions of power, and not done their due diligence and hard work in investigating Ministers. They have wasted time by refusing to take legal action themselves and insulting those who were highlighting this threat, which is why the Home Office does not take them seriously.
"Now the legal action taken by residents, which I have been proud to support, has revealed the truth: a backroom deal to occupy the site until 2030. Instead of offering excuses for not acting against the Government and attacking local MPs, it’s time for the Wealden District Council Leadership to finally take the side of the residents which the Council is meant to represent.”
