The first group of migrants has been transported into a Sussex barracks overnight.
The coach, with a police escort, was driven onto the Crowborough Camp in persistent rain just before 3.30am today.
Leader of Wealden District Council James Partridge announced that they had been told the camp would open last night.
He told The Argus: “I’m really sorry to let you know that the Home Office Minister, Alex Norris, that the Home Office have decided to open the Crowborough Army Camp for use as a temporary site for asylum seekers.”
He continued: “I told the minister that we still strongly feel that’s the wrong decision for all reasons you’ll be familiar with. Despite our strong objection, the minister hasn’t listened to any of us.
“The camp is likely to open within the next few days.”
Councillor Partridge said Wealden Council has asked their legal team to see if there is any way they can challenge the decision.
The Liberal Democrat councillor for the Crowborough North ward added: “This is a message I never wanted to have to give. We still believe the decision is wrong, but we do have to make the best of it.”
The Government is pressing ahead with plans to accommodate 540 male asylum seekers at Crowborough army training camp | PA
Chair of the Crowborough Shield campaign Kim Bailey said the group were looking to get an injunction following the decision to house migrants at the camp.
In a statement, she said: “We will be considering with our legal team the possibility of obtaining an injunction to prevent occupation (or further occupation) of the site and in any event will be continuing our judicial review which the Home Secretary has shamefully failed to properly participate in.
“Most incredible of all is the Government’s statement in the Direction that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that asylum seeker accommodation results in a perceived or actual increase in crime, or fear of crime including with regards impacts on the health of people living nearby’.
“This is plainly and simply a lie. Crowborough Shield has filed multiple witness statements in its judicial review evidencing such perceptions and fears and describing their impact.”
Crowborough training camp was previously used to accommodate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 | PA