The Home Office bid to house up to 540 asylum seekers at the camp to January 2030 went public on 30 October. Residents get no formal window to comment.
The Home Office’s application to keep using Crowborough Army Camp as asylum accommodation until January 2030 has been published. The government validated it on Friday 30 October.
There will be no public representation period. The government’s letters to Wealden District Council and to Sussex Weald MP Nusrat Ghani both say so in the same words: “There will be no public representation period for this Urgent Crown Development application.” (MHCLG, notification to Wealden District Council, 30 October 2026)
The reference is PCU/RARE/C1435/3379159. The application, its plans and 20 supporting documents are on one government page. (GOV.UK, Urgent Crown Development application: Crowborough Training Camp)
What the Home Office is asking for
The application seeks full planning permission for the camp’s continued use as non-detained asylum accommodation for up to 540 residents. The permission would be temporary, running to 22 January 2030.
It would also keep the equipment installed under the current emergency permission:
- the mounted floodlights and mobile lighting towers
- the CCTV cameras
- the temporary generators
- the modular shower and toilet blocks
- the temporary kitchen units
- the security fencing, adjusted to separate off building 19
The Home Office says no new building is proposed. Its statement on national importance says “no additional construction activities, engineering works, utilities upgrades or groundworks are required”. (Home Office, Statement on National Importance and Urgency)
The camp has housed asylum seekers since 22 January 2026 under a 12-month emergency permission for Crown development. That permission expires on 22 January 2027. (Planning application cover letter, 3 September 2026)
How the site would be run
The application documents describe the camp as it operates now, and say that would continue.
- Who stays: mainly newly arrived male asylum seekers. Residents usually stay up to 90 days before moving to longer-term accommodation. (Statement on National Importance and Urgency)
- Staffing: the site is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with a site manager always present. (Operational Management Plan)
- Healthcare: the NHS commissions on-site healthcare, including health screening for new arrivals. (Operational Management Plan, section 34)
- Trips out: the operator runs regular shuttle buses to Crawley. The Home Office says this reduces pressure on Crowborough. (Engagement Report, October 2026)
- Traffic: a July 2026 count found a peak of 336 vehicle movements a day, 168 in and 168 out. The transport statement says the plan would not change that. (Transport Statement)
The government ruled on 14 September that the scheme is not “EIA development”, meaning it is not likely to have significant effects on the environment. That ruling matters for residents. Under the 2025 rules, EIA development would have required a site notice for at least 30 days. (MHCLG, EIA screening direction, 14 September 2026)
The council wants to know why it is “urgent”
Wealden was told on 7 October that the Secretary of State had accepted the application as nationally important and urgent. The letter added that this “is not the final determination”. (MHCLG letter to Wealden, 7 October 2026)
The council’s reply of 12 October said no reasons had been given. It argued the expiry of the current permission “had been foreseeable for some considerable time”. It asked why the ordinary Crown development route could not have been used. That route requires at least 21 days for public comment. (Planning practice guidance, paragraph 049)
The council set a deadline of 5pm on 19 October for an answer. It said it had taken “high level specialist legal advice” and “expressly reserves its position concerning the lawfulness” of the decision. (Wealden District Council, statements and correspondence)
Wealden has not published a reply from the government. Its most recent camp update, posted on 19 October, says the next is due in mid-November. (Wealden District Council, Crowborough Army Camp)
The council still gets a formal say. The government’s letter says Wealden can submit its own comments, and it will be told the deadline for them “in due course”.
The MP: “marking its own homework”
Nusrat Ghani, MP for Sussex Weald, said on Friday that the government “is marking its own homework and is avoiding full and proper scrutiny through the usual channels”. One government department has applied, and another will decide.
She said the Home Office’s spending on the camp showed it “would be a long term project”, as she had warned last year. She urged residents to read the application and to share their views with their councillors and Wealden District Council. (Nusrat Ghani MP, 30 October 2026)
What it means for you
There is no deadline to meet, because there is no public comment window. But there are still ways to be heard.
- Write to the council. The government’s letter tells Wealden that any representations it receives about the application “must be forwarded to the Crown Casework Team at MHCLG as soon as is reasonably practicable”.
- Or write to the government directly at CrownCasework@communities.gov.uk, quoting PCU/RARE/C1435/3379159.
- Stick to planning points. Under this procedure, matters such as traffic, noise, drainage, lighting, ecology and pressure on local services are planning considerations. Objections to asylum policy itself are not.
- Read the documents in person. The government says they will “shortly” be available to inspect at Wealden’s offices in Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, and on request at MHCLG’s Birmingham office.
- Contact your MP. The government has notified Nusrat Ghani, whose Sussex Weald constituency includes the camp.
Some documents are published with redactions. The Secretary of State has ruled that parts contain “sensitive information” under section 293B(11) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
We explained how the urgent Crown route works in September. Our story on Wealden’s £450,000 grant plan linked to the camp and our roundup of planning decisions across the district have more background.
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