The September deadline is looming for councils in Sussex to submit their proposals to the national government for the future shape of local councils here in Sussex. Under these plans all existing county, district and borough councils will go and be replaced by large unitary councils with a population of around 500,000+.
East Sussex and Brighton & Hove have their own plans.
Here in West Sussex council leaders have declared that four geographical footprints are being considered. Adur & Worthing councils are working with them to explore the pros and cons of each option.
These options are:
- A super sized West Sussex council – population around 900,000.
- A Sussex west authority made up of Worthing, Arun and Chichester councils stretching north to the Surrey border (splitting Adur from Worthing) – 400,000 pop.
- A Sussex coastal authority consisting of Adur, Worthing, Arun and Chichester south (splitting Chichester DC into north and south) – 430,000 pop.
- A new council in which Adur & Worthing would join with Brighton&Hove – 450,000 pop.
Worthing Green councillors believe it’s high time that the options on the table and the factors being considered are openly and transparently shared with the public for discussion. Adur & Worthing councils are doing public engagement in a general sense through ‘Thriving Together’ about people’s ‘wishes’ for the future of their neighbourhoods and the town, but views on the groupings of places into local authorities are not currently being sought. So Claire and Ian, working together with Worthing Community Independent councillors, have launched a quick survey of their own.
Claire says, “It’s so important that residents are brought up to speed on the actual options and issues being considered and have a chance to influence before any final decision is made about which unitary Adur and Worthing will sit in. Our survey can’t go into all the complex data and evidence that the council have access to but people’s varied experiences of living, working, travelling, socialising and accessing services in Sussex may mean they have reasons to prefer one or other of the options and they deserve to be able to express that.”
Ian adds, “This Labour council claims to be a ‘Council for the Community’ yet on the most important issue of the future for our area they appear disinterested in residents’ views. What they decide will impact upon all of our futures. Should we align with Brighton or Bognor? Should Adur and Worthing be split? Should we look west to Chichester or east to Brighton & Hove? These are all questions that residents should have a say in answering. “
We are interested in your views. Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey to let us know what you think.
You might be interested in ‘Sussex and the City’,an independent and non-potical project producing regular newsletters and podcasts about Sussex evolution and local government reorganisation – https://lander.alwayspossible.co.uk/home-1