Tom Cruise’s Annual Scientology Holiday Trips Spark Backlash

Residents of East Grinstead have expressed their frustration at the disruption caused by the Church of Scientologythe annual fundraiser.

Complaints mounted about noise and disturbances linked to the event, with the actor Tommy CruiseAnnual helicopter arrivals would have added to the disruption.

Following the last edition, citizens of the city filed a complaint, which will trigger a review of the church’s operating license.

East Grinstead is home to the UK headquarters of the Church of Scientology, which hosts an annual fundraising party that attracts thousands of visitors to the small West Sussex town.

One of the many Scientologists emerging is Tom Cruise. The actor is widely considered the organization’s poster child and also its most famous member.

However, rather than being happy to see the actor during these visits, residents are largely unhappy with the disruption his presence, and that of the other members, brings to the town, according to the Daily Mail.

According to former Scientologist Alexander Barnes-Ross, these residents are “extremely frustrated and irritated” by the sudden increase in population during this period and resent the chaos caused by Cruise’s arrival aboard his helicopter.

“It causes a lot of noise and nuisance, and it [Tom Cruise]you know, don’t stop and take pictures or anything,” added Barnes-Ross, who led a protest against the church in November.

An anonymous resident who also spoke to the outlet further described the fundraiser as “very disruptive,” right from the preparation period.

“For six to eight weeks they were putting pallets in the field to make a parking lot, so we had the disruption and noise of that, with one truck after another coming,” the individual said.

During the main event, further disruptions occur in the form of loud music from bagpipes and noise from generators used to power some infrastructure.

“Then they played bagpipe music on a loop to all the neighbors all day long. In the evening, they had two generators to power the floodlights in the parking lot, and we could only hear the generator 60 meters from our back door,” adds the angry resident.

“One of them only exploded at 1 a.m., and the second remained lit all night, so all night an empty parking lot was lit,” they added.

Some local council officials, with links to the Church, also raised concerns among some residents.

These officials reportedly attended a number of Scientology events, while, similarly, senior Church officials became involved in local civic affairs.

This includes local firefighters who use Scientology headquarters for training and Scientologists who help organize the Christmas lights lighting ceremony in East Grinstead.

Because of the ties between the Church and some city leaders, residents now feel “helpless” that anything will be done to reduce disruption in the future.

“I think over the years East Grinstead has gotten tired of this cult in their town, building inroads with local politicians, the mayor, councilors and others, going to events and saying how wonderful this organization is and when in reality they are not,” Barnes-Ross told the outlet.

“[The Church of Scientology] There are many events throughout the year that cause varying levels of disruption. And I think the simple fact that they had no respect for the local authorities or the local community really annoyed people,” added the former Scientologist.