Observer Column 21 March 2025

I was grateful to my councillor colleagues for their passionate and considered discussion and debate on Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution at Full Council earlier this week. This is in response to the government’s desire to abolish the remaining district and borough councils as well as county councils in favour of large single tier or unitary councils. Alongside this there is also the election of a mayor for the whole of Sussex and the loss of Hastings Council as it currently exists. I will be finalising my letter to the government and sending it with our thoughts about the three current options that we have on the table. 

If the government’s plans go ahead, we will be seeking views from Hastings’ residents on the creation of a town council for Hastings. We must secure council-owned and -managed assets, such as our precious parks, green spaces, leisure centres, museums and community centres, so that they remain under the control of the community they serve, and a new town council may be the best way to do so. 

While there has been debate between political parties about the geography and population size for the new council (the government has suggested 500,000), there is consensus on what should be the most important issue: the purpose of this new council and how it can work with residents to maintain and improve local public services.  

We need a clear focus on tackling inequalities and must increase citizen engagement in the democratic process and decision making to create empowered, thriving communities. We know there are huge opportunities to come up with a better design for the delivery of public services, and we need to take the proper time to determine, together with interested residents, what that might look like.  

On Saturday 29 March at 12noon in the town centre, Hastings Assembles will be holding the first of what I hope will be a number of public meetings by different groups across the town to discuss how a new council might work best for our town. Over the coming months we will be ensuring that there are many opportunities for all our communities to influence the purpose and structure of a new council.