Decision looms on creation of a town council for Bexhill

 Rother District Council’s cabinet is set to discuss whether to give their backing to proposals to create a town council for Bexhill with its first elections to take place in May 2021.

The recommendation follows a Community Governance Review (CGR) process – the second to take place in the district since 2017.

Cabinet members have been recommended to support the proposals by the CGR steering group, which was formed in October last year.

In a report to cabinet, a council officer said: “In light of the public support for the creation of a town council, demonstrated through both the 2017 and 2020 consultation and in line with the council’s stated objective the CGR steering group recommended that the council establish a town council for Bexhill-on-Sea. 

“The town council would be based on the current district council external boundary of Bexhill, with nine wards, each appointing two members and with the first elections taking place in May 2021.”

The 2017 CGR had seen more than 9,000 responses from Rother residents, 93 per cent of which were in favour of forming a town council.

However, the council, at that time controlled by the Conservative party, voted against the formation of a town council, citing concerns around the cost of such an action.

Following a change in political control at the May 2019 local elections, the council’s new membership – many of whom had campaigned in support of the issue – put forward proposals intended to overturn that decision. 

Due to legislation, the action could not be taken without a fresh CGR, with a consultation running between February and April 2020.

While the response was less overwhelming than in the previous consultation, the majority of respondents still backed the proposals.

In all the council received 2,208 responses, with 78 per cent of all responders supporting the creation of a town council, while 22 per cent did not.

According to council papers, the younger the age group, the less likely they were to support a town council while older people were more likely to support.

In light of this the CGR steering group has recommended that the authority looks at ways to engage with younger residents who were less likely to support a town council.

Council papers say the steering group has also sought legal advice concerning the establishment of a shadow town council formed of existing Bexhill district councillors until the date of elections.

The council’s cabinet is set to discuss the proposals at a meeting on Monday, September 7. A final decision will be made at a full council vote soon afterwards.

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