Peacehaven and East Saltdean are back on course to join Brighton & Hove

The government said on Thursday that it is minded to go ahead with local government reorganisation for Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. Under the plan, the city would take in four wards from Lewes District: East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven North, Peacehaven East and Peacehaven West.

It revives the plan ministers announced on 16 July, which was put on hold when the government reviewed the whole reorganisation programme in September. Jim McMahon, the local government minister, has now withdrawn the July decision and written to council leaders with a fresh provisional one. The review concluded that “the basis of the programme is robust”, he wrote.

The rest of the county would become a single East Sussex Council, replacing the county council and the district and borough councils for Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden. The letter puts the expanded Brighton and Hove at about 308,000 people and East Sussex at about 537,000 people.

Falmer parish, home to around 300 people, which the city had also asked for, is left out. The minister cited its mostly rural identity and the extra complexity of moving it.

Elections to the new shadow councils would be held in May 2028, and the new councils would take over in April 2029. The city’s own elections in May 2027 still go ahead on the current boundaries. The council says an update on the decision is expected before Christmas.

Nothing is final yet. The letter says it does not change any boundary or set up any council. A final decision would need an order approved by Parliament.

The plan remains contested. The minister’s letter acknowledges strong concern in the transferred areas about their sense of local identity, and describes his case for the boundary change as “a finely balanced judgement”. He has asked for more detail on how those communities would be brought into the city.

Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council¹, welcomed the decision. “Bringing our communities together reflects how people live and it will give residents living to the East of our current boundary greater say over the services they already use,” she said. She also welcomed the government’s commitment to keep the city’s status.

The council will now write to the government arguing that it should carry on as the same local authority, rather than a brand new council being set up.

Bridget Fishleigh, the Independent councillor for Rottingdean and West Saltdean, told Brighton and Hove News⁵ that the campaign to unify Saltdean goes back to 1955. She said joining the city would give the area “its own single strong voice”.

Councils and other interested parties can respond to the provisional decision for at least three weeks. The government says it will confirm the exact dates shortly.