This article is about the local government district. For other uses, see
Mid Sussex
.
Non-metropolitan district in England
Mid Sussex
is a
local government district
in
West Sussex
, England. The largest town is
Haywards Heath
, where the council is based. The district also contains the towns of
Burgess Hill
and
East Grinstead
plus surrounding rural areas, including many villages. The district includes part of the
South Downs National Park
and part of the designated
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
of
High Weald
, including sections of
Ashdown Forest
. The district contains most headwaters of the
River Ouse
. Its largest body of water is
Ardingly reservoir
which is used by watersports clubs. At the
2021 census
the district had a population of 152,949.
The neighbouring districts are
Crawley
,
Horsham
,
Brighton and Hove
,
Lewes
,
Wealden
and
Tandridge
.
History
[
edit
]
The name "Mid Sussex" was occasionally used for various parts of central
Sussex
prior to 1974, including as an alternative name for the
Lewes constituency
created under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
, and as a joint water district established in 1907.
[2]
The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972
as one of seven districts within West Sussex. The new district covered the whole area of three former districts and most of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time:
[3]
[4]
The new district was named Mid Sussex, reflecting its position within the historic county.
[5]
All of the areas which made up Mid Sussex were in
East Sussex
prior to 1974; as part of the reforms that year they were transferred to
West Sussex
. The change of county was not without controversy; the government's rationale for the change was that it brought the projected major economic area centred on Crawley and
Gatwick Airport
under the supervision of one county council.
[6]
Governance
[
edit
]
Mid Sussex District Council provides
district-level
services.
County-level
services are provided by
West Sussex County Council
.
[9]
The whole district is also covered by
civil parishes
, which form a third tier of local government.
[10]
In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park,
town planning
is the responsibility of the
South Downs National Park Authority
. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.
[11]
Political control
[
edit
]
The council has been under
no overall control
since the
2023 election
, being run by a minority administration of the
Liberal Democrats
and some of the independent councillors, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Robert Eggleston.
[12]
The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:
[13]
Leadership
[
edit
]
The
leaders of the council
since 2006 have been:
[14]
Composition
[
edit
]
Following the
2023 election
, the composition of the council was:
[17]
Four of the five independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats.
[18]
[12]
The next election is due in 2027.
Elections
[
edit
]
Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 48
councillors
representing 27
wards
, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.
[19]
The district straddles three parliamentary constituencies; most of the district is in the
Mid Sussex constituency
, but north-western parts of the district are in the
Horsham constituency
and southern parts of the district are in the
Arundel and South Downs constituency
.
[10]
Premises
[
edit
]
The council is based at Oaklands, in
Haywards Heath
, which was originally a large Victorian house and had served as the headquarters of the old Cuckfield Urban District Council (which had included Haywards Heath) since 1934. The building has been substantially extended.
[20]
Towns and parishes
[
edit
]
The district is divided into 24 civil parishes. The parish councils for Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". The small parish of
Newtimber
has a
parish meeting
rather than a parish council.
[21]
Hassocks is a
post town
but has a parish council rather than a town council.
Home ownership
[
edit
]
Homes owned by their occupants, with or without a loan, make up more than 85% of Mid Sussex housing. Mid Sussex's residents had the lowest burden of social housing, at 0.5% of housing stock, at the time of the census, a district which is approximately 30 minutes by its
fast railway services
from the area with the highest such proportion covering
London Bridge station
, the
London Borough of Southwark
(having 31.2% social housing) and from a creative and self-declared, progressive authority with 9.8% social housing and 28% of its housing privately rented,
Brighton and Hove
.
In terms of rented housing Mid Sussex at the 2011 census ranked 216th out of in terms of 327 local authorities in England. The proportion of homes which were rented as investments by non-occupants was higher than several other semi-rural districts of Sussex, with 11.7% of housing stock speculatively acquired in this way or to provide for those unable to obtain mortgage finance and 1.0% was let out to residents on either public or private shared ownership schemes, close to the national average. These figures are those of the 2011 census.
[22]
Media
[
edit
]
In terms of television, Mid Sussex is served by
BBC South East
and
ITV Meridian
with television signals received from the
Heathfield
TV transmitter.
[23]
Northern parts of the district around
East Grinstead
can also receive
BBC London
and
ITV London
from the
Crystal Palace
TV transmitter.
[24]
Radio stations for the area are:
Local newspapers are the
Mid Sussex Times
and
The Sussex Newspaper
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
UK Census
(2021).
"2021 Census Area Profile ? Mid Sussex Local Authority (E07000228)"
.
Nomis
.
Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
5 January
2024
.
- ^
"LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 11) BILL"
.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
. House of Commons. 14 May 1907. col. 765?765.
- ^
"The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, SI 1972/2039
, retrieved
31 May
2023
- ^
"Sussex: Diagram showing administrative boundaries, 1972"
.
National Library of Scotland
. Ordnance Survey
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
"The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, SI 1973/551
, retrieved
31 May
2023
- ^
"LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL"
.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
. House of Lords. 11 September 1972. col. 157?159.
- ^
"Council minutes, 24 May 2023"
.
Mid Sussex District Council
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
Keeling, Ruth (27 October 2010).
"Mid Sussex deputy made chief"
.
Local Government Chronicle
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
"Local Government Act 1972"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, 1972 c. 70
, retrieved
31 May
2023
- ^
a
b
"Election Maps"
. Ordnance Survey
. Retrieved
25 July
2023
.
- ^
"Members"
.
South Downs National Park Authority
. Retrieved
17 August
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Dunn, Karen (25 May 2023).
"Lib Dems team up with majority of Independents to form minority administration at Mid Sussex District Council"
.
Sussex World
. Retrieved
28 January
2024
.
- ^
"Compositions calculator"
.
The Elections Centre
. Retrieved
9 September
2022
.
- ^
"Council minutes"
.
Mid Sussex District Council
. Retrieved
22 July
2022
.
- ^
"Full Mid Sussex District Council election results - here's how it all unfolded"
.
SussexWorld
. 6 May 2023
. Retrieved
24 May
2023
.
- ^
"Joint administration confirmed for Mid Sussex District Council"
.
www.midsussex.gov.uk
. Retrieved
27 May
2023
.
- ^
"Local elections 2023: live council results for England"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
"Your Councillors by Political Grouping"
.
Mid Sussex District Council
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
"The Mid Sussex (Electoral Changes) Order 2022"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, SI 2022/812
, retrieved
29 January
2024
- ^
"Up and down the county"
.
Mid Sussex Times
. 12 June 1934. p. 7
. Retrieved
23 April
2023
.
- ^
"Parish, Town and County Councils contact details"
.
Mid Sussex District Council
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
2011 Census Key Statistics: Tenure
,
Office for National Statistics
.
- ^
"Full Freeview on the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter"
. May 2004.
- ^
"Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter"
. May 2004.
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51°1′14.4″N
0°8′14.38″W
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