The Government is pressing ahead with plans to accommodate 540 male asylum seekers at Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex within weeks, despite facing legal threats and protests from local residents.
The move forms part of efforts to phase out costly hotel accommodation for illegal migrants in Britain.
Downing Street has acknowledged it cannot guarantee a reduction in Channel crossings next year, with more than 41,000 people having made the journey in small boats during 2025.
A recent surge saw 803 migrants travel across in 13 dinghies from northern France over the weekend.
The Government is pressing ahead with plans to accommodate 540 male asylum seekers at Crowborough army training camp
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PAA spokesman for the Prime Minister said there was “no single measure, no silver bullet, to a global problem that governments across Europe have been battling to take control of”.
A local campaign group called Crowborough Shield has amassed more than £70,000 to mount a High Court challenge against the proposals.
Legal representatives for the group argue the Government has proceeded unlawfully “by advancing the project without planning permission, community consultation or due consideration of the site’s proximity to the Ashdown Forest Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation”.
Kim Bailey, the group’s director, said the plans were causing “fear and uncertainty” in the town.
In October, an estimated 3,000 residents in Crowborough took to the streets in opposition to the proposals
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PAShe said: “It feels as though the government doesn’t think we matter.
“The barracks site is unsuitable for housing asylum seekers, many of whom will have fled conflict and trauma, and its location beside the Ashdown Forest risks significant environmental harm.”
Local residents have voiced concerns that existing services would struggle to cope with the influx of people, while youth cadets currently using the facility would be displaced.
There are also fears that asylum seekers, many of whom have fled conflict zones, could be traumatised by gunfire from nearby shooting ranges.
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Downing Street has acknowledged it cannot guarantee a reduction in Channel crossings next year
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GETTYWealden District Council has written to ministers seeking further details, including clarification on whether the proposals comply with housing legislation.
Council leader James Partridge and deputy leader Rachel Millward expressed “very significant concerns” in their letter.
It read: “With Christmas fast approaching we have very significant concerns around the potential for your decision and possible use of the site to take place at a time when the focus of the local community should be on coming together and having peaceful family time.”
The Home Office has defended the proposals as part of a broader strategy to eliminate asylum hotels entirely and reduce associated costs.
A spokesman for the department said the Government was “furious” at current levels of illegal migration and hotel usage, adding: “This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs.”
No10 insisted officials were collaborating closely with local authorities to prevent repeating previous errors.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said the Government would not “replicate the mistakes of the past, where rushed plans have led to unsafe and chaotic situations that impact the local communities”.
He added that Crowborough and other former military sites were an “important part of tackling illegal migration”.
