Karen#1
Well-known member
TONY ORTEGA
Excerpt:
Alex Barnes-Ross has had more time to consider the last-minute proposal Scientology submitted to the Mid Sussex District Council for major changes at Saint Hill Manor, Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead. He sent us these thoughts…
It’s official: Scientology have formally submitted an application that involves a major redevelopment of its Saint Hill compound in order to make it more suitable for hosting the annual gathering of its membership body, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).
The application includes mountains of evidence that detail how Scientology currently use, and plan to continue using, the site for their event and it’s clear they are responding to rising pressure from the local authority and residents about the impact the event has on the surrounding area. It concerns primarily two fields — Juhring field and Hobbs field — which are normally categorised as land designated for agricultural use, but are temporarily turned into sites for car parking and event facilities in conjunction with the IAS event each year.
In August 2024, the so-called Church sought pre-application advice from the Council on its proposals. This is something I was aware of and had been mentioned during the PSPO (protest ban) process. Earlier this year I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request, however pre-application requests are considered confidential and so I was unable to obtain any documents relating to it. Now, we can see that it clearly didn’t go to plan and the Council voiced “substantial concerns” about the development, which Scientology claims have now been addressed in its formal application.
One of the issues the Council had was around the hard surface proposed for a new, permanent car park in the Juhring field to the north of the property. A heritage assessment provided with the application, which looks at the proposal’s impact on the Grade-II listed Saint Hill Manor, tells us “The scheme has responded to the pre-application advice and amended the scheme by substantially reducing the amount of proposed hardstanding and introducing a geocell system which is more sympathetic towards the setting of the affected heritage assets.”
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tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
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It’s official: Scientology have formally submitted an application that involves a major redevelopment of its Saint Hill compound in order to make it more suitable for hosting the annual gathering of its membership body, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).
The application includes mountains of evidence that detail how Scientology currently use, and plan to continue using, the site for their event and it’s clear they are responding to rising pressure from the local authority and residents about the impact the event has on the surrounding area. It concerns primarily two fields — Juhring field and Hobbs field — which are normally categorised as land designated for agricultural use, but are temporarily turned into sites for car parking and event facilities in conjunction with the IAS event each year.
In August 2024, the so-called Church sought pre-application advice from the Council on its proposals. This is something I was aware of and had been mentioned during the PSPO (protest ban) process. Earlier this year I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request, however pre-application requests are considered confidential and so I was unable to obtain any documents relating to it. Now, we can see that it clearly didn’t go to plan and the Council voiced “substantial concerns” about the development, which Scientology claims have now been addressed in its formal application.
One of the issues the Council had was around the hard surface proposed for a new, permanent car park in the Juhring field to the north of the property. A heritage assessment provided with the application, which looks at the proposal’s impact on the Grade-II listed Saint Hill Manor, tells us “The scheme has responded to the pre-application advice and amended the scheme by substantially reducing the amount of proposed hardstanding and introducing a geocell system which is more sympathetic towards the setting of the affected heritage assets.”
READ MORE
A deeper look at Scientology's last-minute bid for permission to erect its big tent
Alex Barnes-Ross has had more time to consider the last-minute proposal Scientology submitted to the Mid Sussex District Council for major changes at Saint Hill Manor, Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead.
tonyortega.substack.com
