Scientologists in East Grinstead, Sussex have targeted a senior member of local government after she called for the removal of unauthorised structures erected by the group on public land outside the entrance to their UK headquarters.

West Sussex County Councillor Jacquie Russell, who holds a senior position as the Cabinet member for Children, Young People and Learning, had asked the local Highways department to inspect an overgrown bush, concealed fencing and wooden sleepers erected on the grass verge opposite their headquarters, known as Saint Hill. As a result, she has become the subject of a targeted campaign spearheaded by local Scientologists that question her “impartiality as a Councillor” and labelled her an “anti-Scientologist.”

Back in December, we reported that after receiving a complaint from a member of the public, West Sussex Highways officials ordered Scientology to remove the “unauthorised structures” which prevented protestors from standing on the verge directly opposite the entrance to their property. After initially refusing to comply with the order, the church subsequently filed a complaint claiming the removal request amounted to “discrimination” and threatened the Highways Authority by telling an official to be “very careful.”

Councillor Russell, who represents the area in which Saint Hill is located, explains  “I had undertaken to investigate the position with respect to the planting of the hedgerow on what is an official pedestrian refuge and that I had also taken the opportunity to observe the IAS event on its final evening for approximately an hour – both matters are within the remit of my role and responsibilities.”

As a result, she found herself the target of a petition submitted by local Scientologists which questioned her impartiality and accused her of “colluding” with protestors who gathered in the area during Scientology’s annual IAS gala last October. “Whilst I won’t go into the specifics, this was a fairly recent submission,” Russell told Scientology Business. “I can confirm that the nature of this petition reflected the concerns of some church members with respect to my impartiality as a local councillor”.

“The church members felt I was in essence colluding with the protesters and therefore anti- scientologist. The petitioner was advised that this is not the case and that as an elected member representing the residents of East Grinstead, any concern raised within my town/division/county that is within my remit to investigate and will be investigated, irrespective of who has raised the issue or where they may reside.”

“Due to the seriousness of the allegations contained within the petition, I referred the matter to the Director of Law at West Sussex for his consideration.   I then responded to the lead petitioner with respect to the elements within the petition that related solely to the remit of my role as I have no position on the matter of the dispute between protesters  and the Church of Scientology.

The attack comes amid rising tensions between Scientology and local government officials after Mid-Sussex District Council, which sits under West Sussex County Council (WSCC), voted to reject the church’s application for a protest ban around their property. Included in the evidence supplied by the Church was a dossier containing personal medical and voting-related data about some of the protestors, which was criticised by the Council Leader as a potential “data breach.” In a statement at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr. Eggleston said “we have been sent personal data which includes special category data, sensitive personal data on political affiliations and health, and data covered by article 10 of GDPR – criminal offence data. For the life of me, I cannot see what the lawful basis for the processing of these categories of data is, even in the Scientologists retaining the files or making a disclosure to a third party.”

Mid-Sussex District Council (MSDC) sits underneath West Sussex County Council (WSCC) and has responsibility for matters such as planning and licensing whereas WSCC overseas a wider geographical area and acts as the final tier of local government before matters are dealt with at the national level in Westminster.

Councillor Russell is one of the most senior politicians in Sussex and has served on the County Council since 2017, prior to which she served as the Leader of East Grinstead Town Council and Chairman of their Planning Committee. She now has responsibility for children and young people in the county and sits on the West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board as well as acting as Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel.

Although it is unclear whether the petition was filed by Scientologists acting independently or on behalf of the Church itself, Scientology has a well-documented history of going after anybody it considers to be an ‘enemy’. According to policy written by founder L. Ron Hubbard, acting against the Church’s interests in any way earns you the designation of ‘Fair Game’, meaning you “may be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed.”

Attacks on critics and former members are directed by a wing of the Church known as the ‘Office of Special Affairs’ (OSA), which conducts covert intelligence gathering operations and keeps extensive records on opinion leaders and powerful local figures. Last year we published an internal Scientology document which shows how profiles are kept on local Councillors and government workers in order to assess how easily they can be influenced through a tactic called ‘Safe Pointing‘. Similarly, records are kept on officials who do not tow the line unquestionably and who are as such considered a threat to the Church’s goal of “asserting control” over local government in order to bring about “a Scientology world”.

The petition against Cllr. Russell is the latest example of the Church’s increasingly hostile behaviour towards critics and local politicians. Last week Scientology’s lawyer withdrew their July 2024 protest ban application just days before the Council were expected to vote on it. Councillors met on Monday regardless and formally rejected the application, marking the end of a nearly year-long process during which officials assessed more than 500 pages of evidence, hours of Police bodycam and live stream footage and observations from a protest that took place at the property in October 2024. The process came at a cost to the taxpayer of £84,000.

On being targeted, Cllr Russell tells us “the petitioner has received a full response from me on the matters I am able to respond to. The petition has not been accepted by the County Council and it has not been possible for the County Council to write directly to the petitioner with any explanation as I advised that I was aware that the postal address provided was incorrect.”

In contrast to Scientology’s behaviour, MSDC officers noted at Monday’s Cabinet meeting that protests at Saint Hill had been “by and large peaceful, well organised and good natured.”

It is unclear what the Church are seeking to achieve by attacking rather than working collaboratively with their elected officials.