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.
