More than 500 anti-arms campaigners have slammed plans for L3Harris to extend their Moulsecoomb factory.
The site is used to build parts including bomb racks for fighter jets being used by Israel in their conflict against Hamas.
The criticism comes after the weapons developer applied for permission to permanently keep an extension to their Brighton site built in 2018.
In total, 535 objecting comments had been received on the planning application since it was first validated in December. Campaigners say they will deliver a further 200 handwritten objections to Hove Town Hall.
One comment, purporting to be from a council employee, said: “I spend a lot of time working on how to make my work building a place of sanctuary for refugees, which we have been awarded official status for and something which the council is proud of.
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“It seems completely contradictory to celebrate this status whilst at the same time allowing a company contributing to the wars that people are fleeing to operate in the city.”
Another added: “It mocks the spirit of our city. We are a city that celebrates life. How dare we let profiteers of death thrive as our neighbour.”
Protesters outside the L3Harris factory (Image: Brighton PSC)
Two comments on the application supported L3Harris’s extension, adding that it would create jobs in the city.
The grey hangar-like building to the side of the factory was meant to be demolished after five years.
But L3Harris says the building should stay, adding that removing it would harm local employment and the environment.
A planning application states: “If the extension were to be removed, this would also cause environmental harms through the loss of the embodied carbon in the existing structure, and the loss of materials that would enter the waste stream as a result of the removal”.
L3Harris holds an export license to send bomb rack units and explosive munition release systems made in Home Farm Business Park to the United States where they are used to create F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.
F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin then say that their jets were sold to Israel through the U.S. Government’s Foreign Military Sales process from 2010.
Subcontracts from Lockheed Martin to L3Harris Release and Integrated Solutions dating back to October 2020 have been shown to be worth nearly $4.5 million.
Social media posts from the Israeli Defence Force suggest that F-35 planes are among those being used in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protesters stood outside the Moulsecoomb factory in December with banners calling for a ceasefire and “no bombs from Brighton”.
A decision on the planning application will be made next month.
L3Harris were approached for comment.
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