Don’t miss your chance to have your say on whether the Horsham town centre area should have a Town Council.
Horsham District Council is asking your views on how you would like to see Horsham town centre managed in the future – and it is an important time to share your views.
The Government has recently proposed that local government is reorganised, which would mean that Horsham District Council (HDC) and West Sussex County Council (WSCC) would cease to exist.
Instead, a new Unitary Authority council would be formed which would be responsible for all the main services currently managed by HDC and WSCC.
Moving to a large Unitary Authority means the future of facilities such as the current HDC managed bandstands, the War Memorial, Hills Farm Cemetery, the Museum and Art Gallery, its community halls, Horsham Park, and its allotments would be decided by a large organisation possibly not based in the Horsham area.
Horsham town is unique in Horsham District, in that many services and community facilities that are otherwise managed by parish councils, are managed by HDC. A newly formed Horsham Town Council could however take over running these services.
A Horsham District Council spokesperson commented:
A new town council is one way to ensure that Horsham town services and community facilities are managed from Horsham.
A town council comprised of locally elected people would support central Horsham. The town council could represent local views to any newly-formed larger Unitary Authority so that decisions could be taken to suit local needs.
Please take the time to tell us what you think, as your opinion is important to us and will help shape our proposals for Horsham town’s future.
We welcome responses from those who live or work in the town centre area, or who have any other interest in the town centre.
For more information about the development of a town council please go to the Horsham Town Community Governance Review page
The public consultation starts on 1 May 2025 and ends on 16 June 2025 and it only takes a few minutes to complete the survey.
Please complete the survey on our Consultations page.