At the beginning of this month WDC said it is considering legal options to stop the plans, and on Wednesday, councillors unanimously backed a motion formally opposing the proposal.
Introducing the motion, WDC leader James Partridge argued the town’s public services were “barely coping with its existing population”.
He said locals are “justifiably very worried about what would happen if 540 single men arrive to stay in the town with very little to do all day”.
Wealden MP Nus Ghani is also opposed, and has criticised WDC for a perceived lack of transparency over the plans.
Ghani said she was “disgusted” that WDC had “withheld information from all of us from their ongoing negotiations with the Home Office”.
Partridge said he understood the frustration, but said the MP had resorted to publishing “all sorts of things which frankly show no leadership at all but a desire to raise the temperature”.
Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne, who attended the first protest, believes the plan has been “dumped on everybody” with “no consultation”.
The Home Office has apologised for its handling of the plans, having been criticised by WDC for creating an “information vacuum”.