We, the undersigned, hereby call for the removal of councillors James Partridge and Rachel Millward from their positions at Wealden District Council (WDC).   This petition also expresses a vote of no confidence of the controlling group of WDC, known as ‘Alliance for Wealden’, consisting of 11 Liberal Democrats, 11 Green and 2 Labour.

After rumours for some period of time, our greatest fears were realised on Tuesday, 28th October where we learnt, via national media, that Crowborough Army Camp is to house asylum seekers within weeks.

WDC were notified by Home Office (HO) on 10th October 2025 that the Crowborough Training Camp would be used for “transitional” accommodation for asylum seekers from late November with a capacity of 600 asylum seekers, all single males. Opposition District Councillors made up of 11 Independent and 10 Conservative, including Sussex Weald MP, Nusrat Ghani were not informed about this until the day the mainstream media publicised this on 28th October 2025.

WDC has demonstrated a lack of respect, transparency, and failed to comply with their statutory duty to consult with opposition District Councillors, Nusrat Ghani MP, Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne and the whole of the community, regarding the change of use of the Crowborough Army Camp and its consequences.  

WDC also failed to act within its own rules in accordance with their Constitution, such as ‘lawfulness’, ‘with due consultation’ and ‘openness’. The lack of accurate answers or meaningful dialogue has caused frustration, disillusionment and fear within the community.

This has not been the only incident since the Alliance took up the leadership role of WDC. In the first year, there was an incident with South East Water where some of the community had no water for 8 days and in December last year, 17,500 residents had their monthly council tax taken early in error at the most financially demanding time of the year.  

We urge that WDC to take this petition seriously and address the widespread dissatisfaction with the current leadership and the Alliance overall control. This includes a comprehensive review of council operations and the immediate removal of Cllr Partridge and Cllr Millward.

We can no longer tolerate the Council’s lack of accountability, arrogance and disregard for the voices of the people.