Careful analysis of past planning applications made by the Church of Scientology’s UK headquarters near East Grinstead, Sussex has revealed their current plans to redevelop huge swathes of land into a giant car park appears to extend beyond their property boundaries.
Last year, Mid-Sussex District Council issued a Planning Contravention Notice for the unauthorised construction of three mammoth marquees at the Saint Hill compound, built to host the annual gathering of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS). The church subsequently filed an application for a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC), claiming the structures had been in use for a period exceeding 10 years and as such were exempt from planning rules. The Council rejected that notion on the basis the giant tents weren’t permanent but larger and in situ for longer than rules allow for temporary structures.
Scientology started construction work on this year’s event marquees in August and filed a planning application in September, although the initial proposals sought permission for a large car park, new out-buildings and “infrastructure to support the erection of temporary structures” – falling short of asking for permission to build the structures themselves.
Earlier this month the church amended their application to include the mammoth marquees, which measure a staggering 80,000 sq ft, as part of the wider redevelopment of over 5 hectares (half a million sq ft) of their base – all within a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The plans centre around two fields that form part of their UK headquarters collectively known as Saint Hill. Juhring field, which is located to the north of Saint Hill Manor – a Grade-II listed building which was once home to founder L. Ron Hubbard – is to be permanently converted into a car park with spaces for over 900 vehicles and the Hobbs field, situated directly behind a faux castle-styled building erected in the 1960s in order to serve as training and management facilities, will be the site of their annual event marquees.
A careful look into past applications made by the church, Scientology Business has found that similar plans to convert the Juhring field into a car park were submitted in 2016 and subsequently rejected in 2017. As with their LDC application earlier this year, the application sought permission based on the site’s continued use as the home to the annual IAS event however planning officers noted the temporary nature of the change of use constituted a “breach of planning control”.
In its final report, the Council concluded “It is therefore considered that the applicant has not established on the balance of probabilities that the development consisting of the use of a field for vehicle parking, has carried on continuously for 10 years from the date of the application and therefore a certificate for lawful use cannot be issued and the application is refused.”
Included in the representations opposing the development was a letter from local farmer Tony Hobbs, who noted that at the time, Scientology didn’t even own the Juhring field.
Shortly after the planning dispute, Land Registry documents show the Church of Scientology purchased the field from Mr. Hobbs at a value of between £200,001 and £500,000. A restriction was then placed on the plot by Land Registry preventing Scientology from selling or disposing of the field due to their status as an overseas entity.
The Hobbs field was acquired by the church for £2.5 million in 2022 and is also subject to a similar restriction.
However, despite the church now rightfully owning the fields, it appears their latest development once again includes plans to transform areas of land beyond their property boundary.
The map below shows the outline (red) of Scientology’s planned development, with dark shaded areas indicating land not owned by the Church. Their property boundary is shown by the blue line, which borders Saint Hill Road to the east of the complex.
Connecting the Juhring (car park) and Hobbs (event) fields is a short strip of land which appears to still fall under the ownership of Mr. Hobbs, a local farmer and substantial land owner in the area. Scientology’s plans include the creation of a new access route allowing heavy goods vehicles and staff to access the rear of the event site, despite it not being their land.
The Juhring and Hobbs fields are already directly connected, however a strip of protected ancient woodland prevents them from building a new connecting path between them.
The church also plans to redesign the entrance to the north of Juhring field to allow for better traffic flow in and out of the property during the large IAS gathering, however once again documents obtained from Land Registry show this part of the development falls on land that doesn’t belong to Scientology.
In the ‘Design and Access Statement’ submitted along with their updated planning application, Scientology’s architects state “A new access route will connect Juhring Field and Hobbs Field. This route will link the two sites. Its path is not currently in the ownership of COSRECI. The field owner has been notified regarding the changes to this land. The part of the access road avoids the neighbouring ancient woodlands.”
COSRECI stands for Church of Scientology Religious Education College, Inc., the Australian-registered entity through which Scientology’s UK operations are run.
Under the National Planning Policy Framework, major developments within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty should only be accepted if there are “exceptional circumstances” and it is demonstrated that they are in “the public interest”.
The planning application is currently open to public consultation, with comments accepted through the Mid-Sussex District Council planning portal or via email (quoting reference DM/25/2223) until 6th January.
