EXCLUSIVE: Newly obtained drone footage from the Church of Scientology’s UK headquarters near East Grinstead reveals extensive damage to the surrounding countryside following last month’s annual IAS event, despite being situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Saint Hill Manor, a sprawling country estate in the heart of rural Sussex, was once home to L. Ron Hubbard and has served as Scientology’s UK headquarters since 1959. In order to host the annual gathering of their official membership body, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) last month, the Church erected a mammoth 45,000 square foot marquee on the grounds despite lacking planning permission.
Last year, Mid-Sussex District Council issued a Planning Contravention Notice and ordered Scientology to apply for the required permits before construction starts for the 2025 event. The church subsequently applied for a ‘Lawful Development Certificate’, arguing the structure has been in place for a period exceeding 10 years and is therefore exempt from planning rules, only to be shot down due to the structure’s temporary nature.
Scientology then began constructing the marquee in early August without planning permission, angering locals who view it as a “blatant disregard for the local authority.” The IAS event went ahead regardless, taking place on the weekend of October 31st with attendees flocking from across Europe to hear reclusive leader David Miscavige speak. Residents took to social media to voice their frustration with the “chaotic” affair and hit out at the “disruption” it caused to the area… but Mid-Sussex District Council are yet to take enforcement action for the unauthorised structure.
Responding to criticism online, West Sussex County Councillor Jacquie Russell explained:
A planning contravention notice was served last year asking the church to.apply for planning. In the summer of this year the church applied for a lawful development certificate (LDC) which is a mechanism to bypass the full planning process for applications that meet a certain criteria. This was refused I believe on the grounds the 45000sqft marquee is a temporary building thus wouldn’t qualify. The church then filed an application essentially for infrastructure to support their annual event but this did not include the marquee.
Cutting a long story very short there are ongoing discussions between both sides and I believe it may have been agreed that the church would resubmit an amended application to include the infrastructure request and marquee effectively making the application retrospective in part at least as the marquee is already up for the event and will be down by the time any application is heard. I am not sure if the amended application has yet been resubmitted and would have to check, but currently as things stand the marquee is currently classed as unlawful in the absence of any formal permission which hopefully will be sorted in due course.
County Councillor Jacquie Russell
Now, drone pictures sent in by a Scientology Business reader reveals the church has begun de-constructing the structures, with significant damage to the local countryside visible across the site. The property is located in the High Weald AONB and as such, faces tougher restrictions on development in order to preserve and protect the rural landscape. Photos show, however, that the land has been decimated as a result of the event.
After seeing the photos, one local resident told us “I am outraged that the so-called ‘Church of Scientology’ is being allowed to ignore planning law in this way. The CoS have built an illegal structure and caused extensive damage to an AONB. They were told that they must get planning consent first and have simply ignored the council. It appears that because the CoS has a reputation for being very litigious, the council is reluctant to act in any meaningful way. Simply telling this cult to ‘stop’ is not enough. They need to be sanctioned. I am sure that if I broke planning law, I wouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”
Another said “The total and absolute disregard for our local environment and area of outstanding beauty is beyond devastating. The more they show a consistent lack of respect for the area I live in, the less respect I have for them and these days that is less than none. The abuse and destruction of our area needs to stop, now.”
The scale of the damage is extensive and spans across two fields with an estimated area of around 13 acres.The Juhring field, circled in red, sits on the border of a section of ancient protected woodland and was temporarily covered in hard plastic panels in order to serve as a car park for the event. Aerial photos show the panels are now being removed by heavy machinery and the underlying field has become somewhat of an eyesore against the lush, green countryside that surrounds it.
Under Section 84 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the local authority has a statutory duty to “seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty’ of the High Weald AONB3”, however Mid-Sussex District Council are yet to take enforcement action. Speaking to Scientology Business in September, an officer said “we are also considering our position in terms of enforcement action and I can advise you that one of my enforcement officers visited the site at the end of last week.”
Amid increasing press coverage of the disruption Scientology’s IAS event caused East Grinstead, pressure is mounting on the Council to take action and we’ve been hearing from several local residents who are at their wits end as a result.
“I cannot believe that this is being allowed to happen in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. What is this council/environment agency doing about this? It appears to be one law for them and another for local residents.”
Meanwhile local Councillors appear to be overlooking residents’ concerns and Scientology’s flagrant disregard for planning rules in return for charity donations. We saw East Grinstead Town Councillor Tony Scott arriving at the IAS event last month, laughing at protestors as he drove past and Mayor John Belsey has announced he will be visiting Saint Hill to switch on their Christmas lights on 29th November after his charity – Age UK – received a £50,000 cheque from the Church.
Belsey also serves as Vice President of the UK Conservative party and is responsible for organising their national party conference. Despite committing several hours of his time to attend Scientology’s event, he has so far refused to meet with local residents and survivors of abuse within the Church who wish to voice their concerns. Local MP Mims Davies on the other hand appeared to try and distance herself from Scientology after hearing two survivors’ stories of abuse within the Church.
In an email, she said “I am very sorry to hear of your concern and experiences” and clarified her attendance at the 2023 IAS event “does not convey in any way my direct personal support” of the organisation.
2025 was the third consecutive year Scientology hosted their annual gathering in East Grinstead after a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now people appear to be losing their patience with the disruption. Speaking to The Argus, one local resident explained “For six to eight weeks they were laying down pallets in the field to make a carpark, so we had the disruption and noise of that, with lorry after lorry coming. Then they made all the neighbours listen to bagpipe music on a loop all day.”
“I’m tolerant – I don’t have religion but don’t object to others having it. Scientology say they’ve cleaned up their act, but they still have the same boss, and I don’t really believe they have changed their spots.”
Another resident told us “There are so many hoops you have to jump through if you want to have any sort of planning permission in this part of Sussex. Reason for it is to ensure you can protect the environment and green field sites, so I understand the scrutiny. Yet for an organisation like Scientology to blatantly disregard those rules – harm the environment – and have local officials attend the event that does so, just makes me feel insignificant and disempowered.”
In a statement to SheKnows, the Church of Scientology denied any wrongdoing and claimed that all planning rules for the 45,000 square-foot marquee were followed.
