A Crowborough campaigner and the MP for Sussex Weald are calling for Wealden District Council (WDC) to get behind an effort to stop the Home Office from using Crowborough Training Camp for asylum seeker accommodation.

The call comes after Crowborough Shield Community Interest Company (CIC) was told by the High Court that it could proceed with a fresh application for judicial review of the Home Office’s decision.

The group’s first application for judicial review was refused by a High Court judge on February 27.

But Crowborough Shield chair Kim Bailey shared the recent ‘very positive news’ in a Facebook video message on Tuesday, April 21.

Sussex Weald MP Nusrat Ghani is calling for the leaders of Wealden District Council to back an effort to stop the Home Office from using Crowborough Training Camp to house asylum seekers. Photo: Nusrat Ghani

placeholder image — Sussex Weald MP Nusrat Ghani is calling for the leaders of Wealden District Council to back an effort to stop the Home Office from using Crowborough Training Camp to house asylum seekers. Photo: Nusrat Ghani

In the video, she said: “I hope that this proves to them (WDC) that this case is not hopeless and that if they genuinely have the community’s best interests at heart, as well as the asylum seekers’, that they will step up, do the right thing and take a full and active part in this case.”

On March 3, following the rejection of the first application for judicial review, WDC had announced it would not pursue or support any further legal action. WDC said it had been receiving ongoing legal advice from its King’s Counsel team.

On Thursday, April 23, Sussex Weald MP Nusrat Ghani urged WDC’s leadership to ‘think again’.

She said: “I am delighted to hear that Crowborough Shield have got permission to proceed with their judicial review. Their action is a vital part of standing up for our community and I have been pleased to support them in their work. It’s now time for the Green and Lib Dem leaders of Wealden District Council to put their political ideology to one side and back this action for the sake of local residents.”

Crowborough Shield chair Kim Bailey is calling for WDC to 'take a full and active part' in the group's legal case. Photo: Eddie Mitchell

When asked about Ms Ghani and Mrs Bailey’s comments, WDC directed this newspaper to its March 3 announcement at www.wealden.gov.uk/crowborough-army-camp, saying this outlines the reasons it will not pursue further legal action.

WDC said on March 3 that its King’s Counsel team had advised that pursuing a new judicial review against the Home Office would be ‘unlikely to achieve anything of practical value’, adding that a claim ‘could potentially be counterproductive’.

Leader of the council, Councillor James Partridge, said: “While this comes as a major disappointment to us all, it would be wrong of the council to remain silent about its legal advice. We all wanted to stop the Home Office as this camp is good for no-one. The Home Office has failed Crowborough. But to keep fighting a legal challenge that is doomed to fail helps nobody. Throwing good money after bad is simply wrong. We must all now turn our attention to making sure that everyone feels safe and secure. We will continue to press the Home Office to do their job properly and to engage better with us all.”

In a video message, Rachel Millward, Lead Councillor for Community, Culture and Communications, said: “Our view is that it’s morally wrong to raise false hopes or to waste taxpayers’ money and we have good reason to trust our lawyers – they’ve been right so far.”

Rachel Milward, Lead Councillor for Community, Culture and Communications, said it would be wrong 'to raise false hopes or to waste taxpayers' money'. Photo: HR26041103, Hollie Robards, Iconic Media Group

Cllr Millward, the deputy leader of the Green Party, said WDC had always been against the Home Office’s plans for the site, adding that WDC took part in Crowborough Shield’s initial court case. She said WDC provided supporting evidence before the first claim was rejected, which she said was because the group had ‘jumped the gun’.

Cllr Millward continued: “The judge did say that the decision was open to challenge around habitat and environmental regulations. But our lawyers are clear that the technical errors that we’ve identified are easily corrected by the Home Office.”

She said: “Worse still, even if we won, the Government would be allowed to retake its decision and start the 12 month clock again. So the camp would be open for even longer.”

Cllr Millward said: “The reality is that while we disagree with the Government’s plans we do not have the powers to stop it and we don’t serve our residents by pretending that we can. We must all now turn our attention to making sure that everyone feels safe and secure and that this works as well as possible. And we will continue to press the Home Office to do their job and to engage better with us all.”

WDC said it would work with the Home Office and other partners to ‘minimise any further impacts on the community’.