Developers overseeing the Church of Scientology’s proposals for a mega car park and mammoth event marquees to host their annual IAS gala are now claiming the 5 hectare construction scheme is only a “minor development.”
Last year, Scientology submitted a planning application to Mid-Sussex District Council requesting for permission to redevelop huge swathes of their UK headquarters near East Grinstead into a car park and associated event structures required for their annual fundraising event, which takes place every October. The plans have gone through several iterations and amendments, with the current proposals seeking to reinforce an agricultural field with a plastic geo-cell grid system to make it suitable for over 600 cars to park for the three-day event. West Sussex Highways initially responded calling the plans “open ended” and countryside charity CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) denounced the proposals as “deplorable”, citing environmental concerns.
Saint Hill, which was once home to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and now serves as the controversial Church’s UK headquarters, is situated in a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), where planning rules state major developments must be in the public interest.
Now DMH Stallard, representing the Church, are trying to claim the major construction project is only a “minor development” and that it brings “substantial economic benefits” to the local community, despite the vast majority of funds raised at the annual event going into Scientology’s coffers.
The developers are claiming the IAS event brings more to the UK economy than the Eurovision Song Contest and that it is “fundamentally a community benefit proposal to allow freedom of religion and belief for members of the Church of Scientology together with a significant package of local benefits.”
The plans to date have not included any assessment as to why the event could not be held elsewhere – a crucial point in demonstrating why the development is needed in the first place. Now, they have explained their case. Here’s what the document says:
These benefits cannot be delivered on another site because:
- The Saint Hill estate in East Grinstead is the most well-known and important location for all Scientologists around the World. It is the former home of the Church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard – and for Scientologists is considered to be the home of L. Ron Hubbard. Scientologists travel to Saint Hill to not only participate in Scientology services at the largest Scientology Church in Europe, but to see and experience where Mr Hubbard lived and where many of the most important teachings of the religion were originally written and delivered by Mr Hubbard. It is due to the significance of this location to Scientologists and to the Scientology religion, that the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) was founded there in 1984, and why the annual anniversary gathering, attended by Scientologists from all over the World, is held there every October. We refer to the details contained in both the February 2026 Design and Access Statement (see pages 4, 16 & 50) and the April 2026 Design and Access Statement (see page 4, 18 & 54). For this reason, there are no other alternative venues (such as conference centres in Brighton or Ardingly Showground) or any other places within the UK which would be appropriate.
- There is a large community of Scientologists living in the East Grinstead area, for whom the Church at Saint Hill is their place of worship, and who greatly benefit from the opportunity that Saint Hill offers them to commune with other Scientologists from around the World – particularly in the context of the IAS Annual Anniversary celebration event.
- Local community benefits in terms of the provision of parking for large scale community and charity events held at Saint Hill throughout the year.
- Necessary additional parking for the East Grinstead Rugby Club and other local sports clubs, who are immediate neighbours of the Church of Scientology on Saint Hill Road.
The only “alternative” is therefore for some of these events to continue muddling through under permitted development rights, with the associated impacts to the field and the adjoining highways from parking, or to make proper provision for them by the current application.
The nature of the proposed use and the lack of any realistic alternative also gives a strong element of exceptionality. By nature, there will be few sites of global religious significance in the National Landscape. For this reason, were planning permission to be granted, there will be no precedent set for other applications in the National Landscape.
Statement submitted by DMH Stallard on behalf of the Church of Scientology (May 2026)
The new document fails to mention Scientology’s plans to build a giant events venue at their international headquarters in Clearwater, Florida named after their founder, which the IAS event is expected to move to upon completion.
Interestingly, the new position that the event has to take place at Saint Hill due to its significance to members of the Church of Scientology does not seem to align with the requirements that the development serves a public benefit, not just their closed and demographically insignificant group.
Census date shows Scientologists make up less than 1% of the local population, with two of the three days of their IAS event being closed to the public.
Is such a large development really needed in a protected AONB, for what is essentially an event only open to the public for one day a year, at which £50,000 cheques are given out to local charities?
