Should Peacehaven become part of Brighton and Hove? The prospect was roundly rejected at a public meeting and afterwards.
Residents voiced their disapproval on Tuesday (12 August) after hearing more about the government’s plans to shake up the existing councils in Sussex and have only unitary authorities from May 2028.
About 200 Peacehaven residents went along to Community House and were overwhelmingly opposed to Brighton and Hove City Council’s proposals to absorb the town as well as Telscombe Cliffs and East Saltdean.
The city council is consulting on four options, all of which include annexing the coastal towns. It is also asking whether an enlarged Brighton and Hove should include Newhaven and Kingston.
Brighton and Hove has a population of 280,000, making it smaller than the government’s preferred size for the new unitary authorities of 300,000 to 500,000 residents.
After 90 minutes of heated debate, residents shared their views with the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Rachel Brown, 48, who has lived in Peacehaven for 37 years, is devastated at the thought of the town coming under Brighton and Hove City Council’s control.
She said: “I’ve lived in Brighton. I’ve lived in Hove. And I think the place is awful. It’s got no advantages to us.
“I’m very disappointed at the meeting tonight that the councillors were not offering us the advantages of merging with them.
“There’s nothing to offer us. They want our money from council tax and that’s it.”
Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet adviser for devolution and local government reorganisation, Labour councillor John Hewitt, attended the meeting.
Rachel Brown said that she had expected there might be more of a pitch from him to win people around.
Despite asking questions, she was disappointed that there did not seem to be any answers. She was unswayed and preferred Peacehaven to form part of a future East Sussex unitary council.
Nigel Southall, who has lived in Peacehaven for 51 years, said that there was a unanimous verdict from people attending the meeting against amalgamating with Brighton and Hove.
Mr Southall said: “There should be no boundary change. There was a consensus that there should be a referendum within this community and any other community that Brighton feels it wants to usurp and take over.
“There’s the consultation document. It’s a piece of paper. It’s not law. It’s a suggestion. It’s been looked at as if it’s a done deal and it doesn’t have to be.
“In Peacehaven, there is a single-mindedness to stand up for this town.”
Peacehaven Town Council’s sole Conservative councillor Max Rosser said that there was a completely different dynamic from Brighton and Hove, especially with a much older population.
Councillor Rosser said: “People were very concerned. It was very clear to the group coming from Brighton about the ambience of the people and the knowledge, integrity and even anger – and quite rightly so.
“We should have been consulted in depth and in detail a lot earlier than this.”
He said that, historically, even though the town had a BN postcode, Brighton was not the key town for the area. He said that Lewes, the county town, had longer links to Peacehaven which has been populated for 6,000 years.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s consultation runs until Monday 25 August on the council’s website. To see or take part in the consultation, click here.
Lewes District Council is also consulting on different proposals until the same date, with the added option of keeping Brighton and Hove to its current boundary. To see or take part in the consultation, click here.
