13 April 2022

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

Governance Review – East Grinstead

 

During 2021 the Boundary Commission consulted on changes to the East Grinstead election wards for District and Parish representation.   The proposals were to change the East Grinstead Town Council Wards to 8 and retaining the same number of Councillors, while at the same time reducing the Mid Sussex Wards to 5 and reducing their Councillors by 2.

The Town Council objected to this as the wards would no longer be aligned. We also noted that the East Grinstead Town Council at 19 Councillors across the existing 6 wards is 3 councillors more than Haywards Heath who have a slightly larger population than East Grinstead and 1 more than Burgess Hill which has 10,000 more residents than East Grinstead.

We have proposed that the Town Wards remain aligned with the District Wards so that when voters go to the polls they understand which ward they are in, we are also proposing that our 6 wards be represented by 16 Councillors rather than the existing 19.

When the Council submitted our response to the Boundary Commission, we copied this to Mid Sussex DC who came back to us and told us that they would be able to look at East Grinstead’s request separately to the Boundary Commission and this had triggered the Governance Review and therefore the consultation that Mid Sussex have launched on 4^th April and it will run to 27^th May 2022. If it is approved it will be brought in for the elections due for May 2023.

The proposal is that the wards and the number of Councillors are changed to:

Ashplats – 4 Councillors

Town  –  4 Councillors

Baldwins  – 2

Imberhorne  – 2

Herontye –  2

East Grinstead South (the new name for Worsted and the south part of current Herontye which is being amended for the District Ward following the Boundary Commission)   – 2

 

 

Effect of the Proposed Change on the Council:   The overall change will result in a small saving to the Town Council of £3,536 in Councillor allowances and there will be a reduction in election costs as 16 elections will cost less than 19.   The 2019 costs for the elections was £14,237 which when split over 19 councillors would give an approximate saving of £2,248.    The loss of three councillors will mean a little more work per councillor.   The Council has four committees each made up of 7 seats plus the Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor, meaning that 28 seats have to be covered on the committees by the 14 remaining Councillors. Currently, 12/17 Councillors sit on two committees and 5 sit on one.

The Mid Sussex Public Notice is largely a quote from the Town Councils response to the Boundary Commission and when taken out of context is somewhat confusing. The above is to clarify the proposal and the reason behind it.

Responses to the Mid Sussex consultation can be sent

via email to: communitygovernancereviews@midsussex.gov.uk

online at:  www.midsussex.gov.uk/cgr-form

by post to:         Community Governance Review – East Grinstead

Democratic Services

Mid Sussex District Council

Oaklands

Oaklands Road

Haywards Heath  RH16 1SS