The evidence is in: Alex Barnes-Ross reflects on Scientology’s effort to ban protests

Alex Barnes-Ross brings us up to date on Scientology’s attempt to convince local politicians that protest should be banned outside the church’s UK headquarters, Saint Hill Manor…

Yesterday marked the deadline for evidence to be submitted to Mid-Sussex District Council as part of their Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) process. To provide some context, back in July Scientology submitted an application for a ban on protesting ahead of the 40th annual IAS gala. 

Due to the way the Council’s meeting schedules work, it wasn’t until 2nd October that their request was reviewed by the People & Communities Scrutiny Committee — which I attended along with fellow protestor Austen Waite. 

Although we weren’t given the opportunity to ask any questions at the meeting, it gave us an interesting opportunity to witness the proceedings and even catch the Council’s Monitoring Officer (legal counsel) Kevin Toogood afterwards. The Committee noted the “potential national and international interest” a PSPO would create and established plans for an “observation exercise” and evidence-gathering period which involved Council observers standing at the gates of Saint Hill for the duration of the three-day protest and interviewing passers-by about how the protest was impacting the local area. 

Since the protest, IAS event attendees, local residents, and protestors have been able to submit evidence for the Council to consider, and yesterday was the final day of this “evidence gathering exercise.” This means we are now entering the second phase of the PSPO process, in which Mid-Sussex District Council review the evidence gathered and determine whether they are “minded to proceed with a PSPO.” 

If they are indeed “minded to proceed,” Council officers will then recommend to the elected Councillors that the issue goes to public consultation. However, it is entirely possible this doesn’t happen and the evidence gathered does not provide sufficient proof the protest caused disruption to warrant a ban. 

In order for a Public Spaces Protection Order to be implemented, guidelines state there needs to be clear evidence of “persistent, unreasonable” behaviour that has a “detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality.” Scientology claim that our protests meet this criteria due to “harassment” and “anti-social behaviour.” However, there have only been two protests at Saint Hill in the last six years, and at neither event did Sussex Police issue any warnings, cautions, or arrests. Last year, a Police officer told me it was “the most peaceful protest” she had ever worked at, and this year I made sure to video record a debrief at the end of each day with the sergeant in charge of their response. Every day, we were told there were no concerns about the protestors, and the biggest problem for them was the disruption the IAS event itself was causing on the local area.

Poor traffic management, obstructions to the public right of way, and aggressive behaviour on the part of Saint Hill all persisted throughout the weekend. Nonetheless, we remained “uptone” and determined with our message of kindness and compassion. We offered attendees compliments on their outfits, warned them of oncoming traffic and handed out cards with details on how to contact the Aftermath Foundation if they ever need help leaving. 

Despite having a designated coach park at Saint Hill, Scientology insisted on only using the main entrance to the property to drop off guests before turning around to park at the Rugby club opposite. This, plus taxis stopping in the middle of the road to let their passengers out caused huge delays on Saint Hill Road and Turners Hill Road — one of the main arteries into East Grinstead. Remember, the IAS event is the largest gathering in the Scientology gathering in Europe, and thousands flock from across the continent to hear Captain Miscavige speak. 

To me, it is abundantly clear the event itself is what causes disruption to the local community. However, it is now down to the Council to decide whether the evidence supports Scientology’s claim that it was, in fact, due to our one-off protest with less than 20 people.

Reviewing the evidence will take some time, but my understanding is a decision will not be made until after the new year, at either the January or March Council meetings. If the Council officers recommend to proceed with public consultation, this process will likely take 6 to 8 weeks and will be an opportunity for those who weren’t physically at the event to have their say on whether our protest should be banned. 

To throw a spanner in the works, a West Sussex County Council election is scheduled for May, which means Mid-Sussex will pause any non-election related activities for around six weeks from the end of March. If this does proceed to public consultation, I expect this will further delay the process and we may not get a final decision until the summer.

However, I remain optimistic the evidence gathered so far will be sufficient for the Council to recognise that our protest was not disruptive and determine a ban would be disproportionate. But we won’t know for some time. So for now, all we can do is sit and wait.

— Alexander Barnes-Ross

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