Home Office notifies council of its planned temporary use of Crowborough army camp for asylum accommodation centre

The Home Office has told Wealden District 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.

The Home Office indicates that they intend to accommodate up to 600 single adults.

Wealden District Council understands that the aim is to utilise the site in order to help reduce the number of asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels.

Councillor James Partridge, leader of Wealden District Council and lives in Crowborough said, "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 which 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".

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