Peacehaven residents called for a referendum on proposed changes to local councils at a public meeting on the shake up of local government across Sussex.
About 200 people attended the meeting at Community House, in Peacehaven, on Tuesday 12 August.
Residents criticised the prospect of Brighton and Hove City Council absorbing Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs and East Saltdean as part of the pending local government reorganisation.
Several people called for a vote on the proposals at the meeting which was chaired by Peacehaven mayor Debbie Donovan – and several complained that they had not been asked if they wanted any change.
They were told by Jo Harper, head of business planning and performance at Lewes and Eastbourne councils, that last December the government had announced plans for all councils to become unitary councils.
East Sussex County Council has proposed a unitary council with the same boundaries as the current county but Brighton and Hove City Council has proposed expanding to its east.
Ministers want the new councils to serve a population of at least 300,000 people – ideally more like 500.000. Brighton and Hove, the only current unitary council in Sussex, has a population of about 280,000.
It is consulting people on four proposals – all to expand to the east while Lewes District Council is also asking voters about five options including keeping no change to the border with Brighton and Hove.
At several points during the meeting there were shouts from the audience for a referendum.
The audience cheered Gabrielle Barry as she said: “When Scotland wanted to separate from the UK, they had a referendum. Everybody had a vote to say yes or no. It was straightforward … Why can’t we have that here?
“Let the people (decide) – only the people who are involved so not people in Woodingdean, not people in East Brighton or anything like that – all the people that are in East Sussex.”
Nigel Southall, who has lived in Peacehaven since 1974, said that the government’s consultation document was not enshrined in law and people did not have to put up with it.
To audience applause, Mr Southall said: “I don’t believe that if we truly believe in democracy in this room, and we all stand for it supposedly, that we shouldn’t have some form of referendum.
“After all, with East Sussex, we fit in there still and are part of it already. Why shouldn’t we remain in East Sussex.”
Sussex Association of Local Councils chief executive Trevor Leggo said that town and parish councils could hold a parish poll which is a non-binding referendum that could be completed at a public meeting.
Kevin Barry was cheered when he asked why Brighton and Hove was not looking towards Shoreham. He said: “Is it because we’ve got green spaces where Shoreham hasn’t?”
Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet adviser on local government reorganisation and devolution, Councillor John Hewitt said that both the city council and West Sussex County Council had found that it would not be “financially sustainable” to expand into Adur. He faced angry shouts from the crowd.
Councillor Hewitt said: “We were asked by the government to submit a proposal on what was the ceremonial East Sussex boundaries, so that’s what we’ve set out in our consultation proposals.
“The government wrote to East Sussex and Brighton and Hove together and then they wrote to West Sussex separately so that is what the request was from the government to the councils.”
A former mayor of Peacehaven, Lucy Simon, said that Brighton and Hove and East Sussex had to show what they could offer the town because people felt that the area had been overlooked.
To rapturous applause, she said: “I’ve lived in this town for over 40 years now and I am quite astounded we are in this position purely for the fact that for so many years Peacehaven (and) Telscombe have been overlooked and the infrastructure has not changed.
“We’ve had massive growth in the town, with housing, and the services, under East Sussex, have been reduced massively.
“We’re a huge town with a huge representation, with nothing to show. We haven’t got a supermarket.”
She said that there were once four doctors’ surgeries. Now there was just one. Three of the four schools were academies and there was no sixth form for young people who had to pay premium fares to go to college.
Labour councillor Christine Robinson, the deputy leader of Lewes District Council, shared her concerns about the effect on services.
Councillor Robinson also represents Telscombe Cliffs on East Sussex County Council and is a member of Telscombe Town Council.
She said: “I’m talking about adult social care, children’s services, education. We all know what the potholes are like but they’re wherever you go.
“This is called disaggregation. At this moment, Brighton and Hove has not put costings to this disaggregation. So not only will there be a financial cost, and let’s face it, who’s going to end up paying for it, but there will be a human cost because these things will take ages to sort out.
“We’re talking about 2028. There’ll be a unitary but this will be going on for years and those people who need those services will fall through the cracks. Do we want that?”
The audience called out “no” in unison.
East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs councillor Laurence O’Connor suggested that people write to the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Bella Sankey, and the Green leader of Lewes District Council, Zoe Nicholson, to ask what was on offer.
A show of hands at the end of the meeting showed that all but a few people in the hall wanted to remain in East Sussex.
More than 1,000 people have responded to the Brighton and Hove City Council consultation, Exploring the Options for Local Government Reorganisation.
A consultation on the boundary of Lewes district from April 2028 onwards can be found on the Lewes District Council website.
Let’s quantify this. A few shouts for a referendum out of 200 is hardly the ringing endorsement the headline suggests.
Actually, given the size of the area, number of people able to get to the meeting, people that where even aware of the meeting, 200 is a significant number of people. I’ve yet to meet anyone from Telscombe or Peacehaven that want this change.
The only choice we’re going to get is what to name the student accommodation housing that will be built on the Tye.
Bella Sankey is this you?? 🙂
So what would you suggest? We’ve had this dumped on us with very little notice. I haven’t spoken to anyone who is in favour, although I’m sure there are some. We want to stay with our county town and not to be a forgotten outpost of the city of Brighton, with which we have very little in common
For me, an adult conversation.
There’s been a lot of unbalanced opinion shared, especially when we consider that LDC and ESCC do benefit from LGR, for example in tackling the upcoming cliffedge financing troubles of adult social care they are about to experience.
That affects a lot of people, and can be protected within LGR.
That’s your takeaway? God help us.
So hold a referendum Katy! Then you’ll see clearly that no one under Lewes wishes to be annexed by the poorly run Brighton & Hove Council.
The Brighton representatives could not offer any tangible benefits to the move . It is purely a numbers game and the reason looking East rather than West is land space to export its problems to.. If something beneficial is on the table let’s hear it.
The Brighton representatives could not offer any tangible benefits to the move . It is purely a numbers game and the reason looking East rather than West is land space to export its problems to.. If something beneficial is on the table let’s hear it.
Compare the roads in East vs West Saltdean, it’s obvious why they feel left behind by Lewes council: they have been.
It’s a really fair point, because I can point to several potential and actual benefits, based on how it has happened in other areas.
And it is definitely a give and take situation. LDC and ESCC get benefits from this reorganisation. Adult social care being a massive one, and it is never talked about.
Almost feels like there is a benefit of having a third party independent to objectively explain the potential pros and cons so an adult coversation can happen?
The warning signs have been there for a while that Bella and Co will bulldoze through anything they want and have no regard for residents or scrutiny!
Brighton has almost used up Hove’s land bank and is now searching for more areas to build on .
Hmmm..?? let me think about what happened last time a referendum was called..
The 2021 Assisted Dying Referendum?
Unfortunately the government have decided that this is to happen. Not the local councils, they are just doing what the government has tasked them to. The Nation voted for this government including our local MP and the debate is therefore with their policy. Reform likely to be the next government will have a different view.
Indeed, devolution has been in the manifesto over the last two elections.
Reform aren’t likely to be the next government though, closest they will get is hung, but that requires them to work with someone else – ideologically, they have no friends here. Even the Cons aren’t likely to work with them either, so we’d see a snap election with months.
Not only are these plans not necessary or wanted
according to a councillor friend it’s all going to cost
a lot of money.
A Mayoral election campaign is going to cost all the major parties a lot of money, no doubt.
Interesting piece! It seems clear that people in Peacehaven are discontent with the current council for its cuts to schools and GPs and distrust BHCC – whose councillor seemed to offer little or nothing. I would have expected the meeting to organize a working group ( or two ) to approach the existing council and BHCC and find out what they intend to do to benefit the 15,000 people that live in Peacehaven – equally if they have no plans to know that – then when thise facts are known – put it to a vote. People do need to question and stand up.
Honestly, I think the lack of easily accessible information is a big factor here. It’s possible to go out, do research, and study into what the potential benefits or downsides are; however, to be persuasive and informative, it is silly to expect the general public to do so.
There are definitely potential benefits to LGR, and there are definitely potential risks as well. Personally, I’d like to see the emotive arguments balanced out with some hard data.
For example, it is reported that BHCC conducted a financial viability study on expanding westward, which stated it wouldn’t be viable. Even creating a summarised form of this data for people to analyse and debate seems like a much more reasonable foundation. I don’t think the lack of information is helping, at all.
I moved down here from Slough about 20 years ago when my work’s company relocated to Crawley. I started out in Saltdean and have also been in East Brighton, Telscombe and Peacehaven over the years. I was amazed that the ‘boundary lines’ are so variable depending on the different service’s discretion. In some cases the boundary line was down the middle of the road! I was told that, 20 years ago, Longbridge Avenue in Saltdean was split down the middle by the traffic wardens. Park illegally on the western (Brighton) side and you would be caught and fined. Park on the eastern side of the road and you would never be ticketed as that was under Lewes and their traffic wardens never came around as it was on the edge of their area!
There won’t be a referendum as it will cost too much and the Government is hell bent over these changes.
Remember the fiasco over the building of the Saltdean Carvery and the promise of using the waste heat from the kitchen would be used to heat the Lido pool. Add in the loss of the Stagecoach bus service and the loss of the shopping centre. (Allegedly rumours are that Morrisons are in debt to some £ billions nationally and the centre is a white elephant!) . What about the future?
The NHS is ‘restructuring’ its own boundary lines and merging East Sussex with Kent to form an NHS-South-East. area Finally don’t forget the problem with the Exeat Bridge on the A259 which will cost a fortune and cause long-term problems with detours,
Peacehaven is the local ‘equivalent’ to present day Ukraine.
Heads we lose and Tails they win whatever happens. You can have your own opinion and think I’m cynical but I think I am being realistic.
Time will tell.
Speaking on Gabrielle’s question, Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum was a binding vote agreed between the UK and Scottish governments via a special legal order, which required an Act of the UK Parliament to temporarily devolve the power to hold it. LGR does not have an equivalent legal requirement for a referendum.