This week, I hosted a meeting at Crawley Town Hall of council leaders from across West Sussex and their Chief Executives.

It was good to have this opportunity, and this meeting was particularly significant, because this was the first time the leaders have met since the local elections and these brought a great deal of change.  There are eight Borough, District and County leaders in West Sussex – and four of those are new.

There are big issues facing the county.  All the local councils have big financial challenges, with all but one facing a budget gap next year.  It’s a real shame the Tory Government has left local councils so deprived of funds, they will have an obligation to set a legal budget, and that means unpopular decisions are ahead.  But after 13 years, the obvious savings have long since been made.

Most councils are working on their local plans or updating them, a major planning requirement. Crawley Borough Council is ahead of the process compared to some, particularly important given  Gatwick Airport’s pending major application to bring its northern emergency runway into regular usage.

Infrastructure is a key issue – and there were many concerns over adequate supply and management of water and electricity.  The water infrastructure issues in particular are preventing virtually any new developments in Crawley, Horsham and Chichester districts.  That’s a major headache for everyone.

The rise in people being evicted and needing temporary accommodation was acknowledged, but while it had increased everywhere it wasn’t as consistent a problem across the county.  Urban areas like Crawley and Worthing are seeing the largest pressures by far, but my concern is that if they aren’t getting it as badly in the “shire” districts, the Government won’t take it as seriously as they should, or address issues of inadequate funding.  There’s more work to be done here.

With agreement on joint lobbying of the Government on several issues and looking at work to develop the local economy, there were some useful discussions – and another reminder of the large variety of issues we regularly deal with in local government.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council