Karen#1
Well-known member
TONY ORTEGA
Excerpt:
Alex Barnes-Ross has been keeping a close eye on Scientology’s ongoing attempts to get local officials to sign off on changes at its UK headquarters, Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, England. The church has amended its application with planners, and Alex breaks it down for us.
Following a series of setbacks from various government bodies, Scientology has amended its application for a major redevelopment of the Saint Hill compound to accommodate its annual IAS gathering. The church had originally sought permission to convert a large field into a car park and install infrastructure for a 45,000-square-foot marquee, but stopped short of requesting approval for the tent itself.
Among the 38 new documents uploaded this week to the Mid Sussex District Council planning portal is an amended Planning Statement, which now includes a formal request to erect the marquee, despite local residents’ objections over the disruption caused by October’s event in East Grinstead.
Saint Hill sits within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where development is tightly restricted to protect the rural landscape. Scientology’s plans cover more than a quarter of a million square feet of land, which their architects describe as “low-key” and “would be barely perceptible.” The updated application concedes that “there would be some loss of intrinsic naturalness, sense of rurality and tranquility to the local landscape context,” while simultaneously describing the development as “only a small part of the local landscape context.”
In the new planning statement, Scientology argues that the project is justified because it will provide “long-term facilities that will benefit a wide range of community and cultural activities,” though it does not mention its intention to consolidate international events at the new L. Ron Hubbard Hall in Clearwater, Florida.
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tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
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Following a series of setbacks from various government bodies, Scientology has amended its application for a major redevelopment of the Saint Hill compound to accommodate its annual IAS gathering. The church had originally sought permission to convert a large field into a car park and install infrastructure for a 45,000-square-foot marquee, but stopped short of requesting approval for the tent itself.
Among the 38 new documents uploaded this week to the Mid Sussex District Council planning portal is an amended Planning Statement, which now includes a formal request to erect the marquee, despite local residents’ objections over the disruption caused by October’s event in East Grinstead.
Saint Hill sits within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where development is tightly restricted to protect the rural landscape. Scientology’s plans cover more than a quarter of a million square feet of land, which their architects describe as “low-key” and “would be barely perceptible.” The updated application concedes that “there would be some loss of intrinsic naturalness, sense of rurality and tranquility to the local landscape context,” while simultaneously describing the development as “only a small part of the local landscape context.”
In the new planning statement, Scientology argues that the project is justified because it will provide “long-term facilities that will benefit a wide range of community and cultural activities,” though it does not mention its intention to consolidate international events at the new L. Ron Hubbard Hall in Clearwater, Florida.
READ MORE
Scientology's new plan for Saint Hill's newts: If they die, they die
Alex Barnes-Ross has been keeping a close eye on Scientology’s ongoing attempts to get local officials to sign off on changes at its UK headquarters, Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, England.
tonyortega.substack.com
