The proposal to bring Brighton and Hove, East Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven into a new local authority has understandably prompted a strong response.
Council boundaries are not merely lines on a map. They determine how services are delivered, where decisions are made and how communities are represented.
Brighton and Hove has gone from a fishing village on the south coast to a thriving iconic city that Time Out Magazine named the 34th best city in the world in 2025 – beating Prague, Los Angeles and Valencia.
Brighton and Hove’s present boundaries are 29 years old. The city we know today was created through repeated expansions, mergers and reorganisations.
In 1873, Queen Victoria gave royal assent to an Act of Parliament incorporating Preston into the Borough of Brighton which was formed in 1854 to deliver basic local services such as education and sanitation.
Due to Victorian Brighton’s rapid expansion beyond its older boundaries, it made sense to incorporate Prestonville and the areas around what is now Preston Park into the borough.
In 1923, King George V gave royal assent to another Act of Parliament which brought into Brighton the Parish of Patcham which at that time included land which would go on to become Moulsecoomb in the inter-war years.
In 1927, Parliament approved the Brighton Corporation Act – the largest expansion of our footprint.
The law transferred responsibility for Rottingdean, Ovingdean and Withdean to the Borough of Brighton, with the land which would go on to become Woodingdean and Bevendean also transferred from Newhaven Urban District Council which was abolished in 1974.
In that same year, Hangleton and West Blatchington become part of Hove.
In 1951, Hollingbury, Coldean and Stanmer joined Brighton as the Attlee government’s post-war house-building boom began.
The biggest shake-up of English local government in modern history happened in 1974 and it was then that Portslade and Mile Oak merged with Hove.
There was no movement from then until the seismic 1997 merger between Brighton and Hove when we left East Sussex to become a unitary authority on the footprint that we have today, stretching from Longridge Avenue, in Saltdean, to Fishersgate railway station.
These changes created the city inherited by those of us living and working here today. Incorporation did not mean that every community became the same.
Rottingdean did not lose its postcard-worthy English charm. Portslade, with its access to the port, is still an industrial hub. Hovarians are proud to point out they live in Hove, actually. Administrative unity does not require cultural uniformity.
What this history of shifting borders shows is that we are always playing catch up so that administrative boundaries reflect the geography of everyday life.
Many people travel across the existing boundary line for employment, education, healthcare, shopping and leisure. Housing, transport and infrastructure pressures do not stop at the council boundary.
It would be wrong and lazy to suggest that Peacehaven is simply an extension of Brighton or that its separate identity is a weakness rather than a strength. Peacehaven has its own history and character – and this reorganisation must respect that.
Brighton and Hove is an extraordinary city precisely because it is not one uniform place. It brings together central Brighton, Hove, Portslade, the Deans, Patcham, Whitehawk, Kemp Town, Hanover, Hangleton and so many other distinct neighbourhoods.
Local government boundaries have been shifting since the 1870s and this week the sands have moved once again.
Now our task is to work in a way that strengthens communities on both sides of the present border while tackling the issues that make life difficult for you, your family and your neighbours.
I hope the addition of East Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven will have us moving up Time Out Magazine’s “Best City in the World” list come 2028.
Councillor Jacob Allen is a Labour member of Brighton and Hove City Council and the council’s cabinet member for customer services, public realm and local government reorganisation.
This is yet again another Labour decision being forced upon us. It appears the majority do not want this but Labour do not seem to listen. Publish the residents votes on this please. If this goes ahead all Labour will do is build build build in an already severely congested area.
Honestly, I think the majority don’t really understand what it means, and default to parroting what someone else has told them how to feel. I still frequently talk to people who don’t know the difference between LGR and Devolution, and that’s a problem. Because how can someone understand the benefits and risks, when they struggle with the foundational knowledge?
Hove was independent , it had its own Townhall and mayor. When Brighton became a city it included Hove, its residents were not happy, they m knew if they became part of a bigger area services wouldn’t not be the same, and they were right, it became worse. Peacehaven has good reason to not to be part of Brighton, atm it has its own townhall and councillors which look after it. It became Peacehaven after the war when it was first named ANZAC Town. It was an area of beauty but has been built up over the years. I’m sure the residents don’t need more housing as it can’t cope with what it has now. Like Hove it voted NO to become part of Brighton, why doesn’t the council listen to the residents. !
I’m sorry to read you think Hove got worse since 1997. Before my time but stats show people living in our city are happy and frequently makes international “best cities” lists as I mention above. Bad political decisions happened along the way like the I360 and austerity but generally this is a city doing very well. Peacehaven Town Council will not change and we look forward to building a fruitful relationship with them as we have done with Rottingdean and Falmer. This reorganisation means East Saltdean, Telscombe and Peacehaven will no longer fall under a massive East Sussex council. We do not yet know where the new East Sussex unitary will be based but there are town halls in Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Hailsham and Lewes.
Please talk to the real locals who have paid for all this over decades. Of course all the incomers will like it, especially if moving from London. All residents of Portslade and Hove over 50 will say things have definitely got worse. I remember when councillors Alderman Robert Carden and the Hamilton family ran things. All accessible and local born and bred.
Definitely agree the sports infrastructure along Hove lawns is excellent, the long awaited re development of Hove Station Approache, hopefully will get going this year. Fingers crossed
It is good to hear Labour finally acknowledge that their decision to pursue the i360 back in 2006 (when your party got behind the project and championed it as being a good thing that would bring lots of money into the city), was a ‘bad political decision’.
Just one thing to pick up on in your rather rose-tinted view of the city’s changing shape and form, after Brighton and Hove city councils merged in 1997 decades of issues erupted at City Clean, and over the years the council must have wasted millions of pounds in time and energy trying to deal with the ramifications of contract disputes and issues that followed. Services are still abysmal and lag behind many other areas because council officers have had to spend so much time and resources on workforce issues and disputes, rather than focusing on service improvements. It didn’t help that Labour councillors for so long were taking significant donations from the GMB, making it harder for Labour councillors to be politically neutral when decision-making on GMB disputes and disruption.
Feels important to remember that the fall out from the 1997 is actually still felt when it comes to one of the main council services – refuse and recycling collections.
Interestingly Margaret, if Hove went independent today, it would be crushed by it’s own Adult Social Care bill, and it wouldn’t benefit from being a part of Brighton, which would mean it wouldn’t have no services, beyond the bare minimum.
No one had ever explained what benifits Peacehaven and Telsombe will see. Just this week bin collections failed 37m black hole in finances. Brightin is poorly run . Ideological and politically different. We ha refirm councilors who will be out numbered by lefties and loonies, sorry greens.
Apparently it’s extending concessionary bus services to 0900 on weekdays, Library Extra allowing libraries to open without staff, and having a council committee not listening to residents, but bragging on social media how wonderful they, and the Labour Party, are 🙄
City doing well Mr Allen? How many millions in debt? Personally I cannot wait to move out.
Are you aware of the difference between bad debt and good debt, and the difference between a forecast vs an actual?
Who says residents are happy with the enfoŕced merger with Brighton – certainly not the orinally families. Under Hove’s own afministration our streets were cleaner our bins emptied anf our Council Tax was lower than Brighton’s – under the unitary authority we are finacially & emvironmentallyvworse off. My comiserations to Peascehaven Telscombe & East Saltdean.
Very simple. No one wants Brighton because it is a financial disaster.
Dear Councillor Allen. With this land grab are you licking your lips at the prospect now of being able to close/reduce services for more libraries, reneging on manifesto promises like you did in Brighton and Hove, then producing more campaign leaflets to shore up your crumbling votes which ignore what you did ? Ignoring the views of those you are supposed to serve will be your downfall. Soon.
Also Brighton needs the land in the new areas to meet its housing targets to build houses that no one will be able to afford to buy. So the residents of the taken over areas can expect higher council tax to pay for inefficient Labour and Green councils voted for by students who don’t pay the tax and look forward to every green space being built on. Don’t complain just move out.
There is no available building land in Peacehaven – under the ‘standard method’ algorithm it contributes more to “housing need” than it provides in sites, so it will make Brighton’s situation worse!
Hove was the only council, as far as I am aware, to actually consult the residents by a referendum. The result of that confirmed that we were implacably opposed to a merger with Brighton. Numerous trips to Westminster to meet with ministers were of no avail and we were forced to join what we all knew to be the most ecenomically incompetent council on tbe south coast.
Hove had no interest in vanity projects; we wanted to run the administration in the most efficient and beneficial way for our residents.
As ever, tbe “big is beautiful and more efficient” lie was used. The result of that forced merger is plain to see. Hove streets and roadways are poorly looked after, elected members have little influence on decisions unless they are part of the cabinet. The unserviceable debt has increased exponentially and the salary and pension bills are out of all proportion to the income derived from the hard pressed council tax payer.
It should be no surprise that the neighbours to the east are reluctant to be part of this profligate authority. Their money will go down the same black hole as ours and democratic accountability will be further diminished.
Hove has no interest in vanity projects? Could you remind me about the floral clock, Peter?
How on earth can you class the floral clock as a vanity project. It was installed to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and mostly funded by private donations.
It was part of the heritage of Hove and appreciated by many. We all know that the mechanism was unreliable but any replacement should reflect Hove’s identity, perhaps the sculpture in the museum grounds would be better placed here.
Because the main argument proposed was to spend £20,000-a-year of taxpayer’s money to maintain one when low-maintenance and equally aesthetically pleasing methods are available; I can quite easily conclude that to be a profligate expenditure, and there don’t think it’s accurate to say Hove has no interest in vanity. I think we’re actually of the same mind when it comes to alternatives though!
So having spent years campaigning to keep the Meridian Centre if not also the Library, the transfer to Brighton will mean the closure of said Library – in Peacehaven – if it now comes under Brighton Council’s control.
I’ve lived here in either Brighton or Hove for 27 years. It’s potluck who moves in next door or down the street with HMOs, Hostels etc with all the ensuing issues.
Even high earners have to pay 20% minimum more than any other seaside location.
Time to go as someone once said!