Arun District

History

Arun 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 parts of another two, all of which were abolished at the same time:

• Arundel Municipal Borough
• Bognor Regis Urban District
• Chichester Rural District (part, being the parishes of Aldingbourne, Barnham, Bersted, Climping, Eastergate, Ford, Madehurst, Middleton-on-Sea, Pagham, Slindon, Tortington, Walberton, and Yapton - rest went to Chichester District.)
• Littlehampton Urban District
• Worthing Rural District (except parishes of Coombes, Lancing, and Sompting, which went to Adur District) The new district was named Arun, after the River Arun which flows through the centre of the district, passing through the town of Arundel and meeting the sea at Littlehampton.

Geography

Arun District occupies the central southern area of West Sussex, and is bordered by Chichester District to the west, Horsham District to the north and Worthing borough and Adur District to the east. The district is bisected by the River Arun, and is divided between a broad rural area in the north of the district that contains Arundel and a host of small villages, part of which sits within the South Downs National Park, and an urban coastal strip that includes Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.

Governance

Labour Liberal Democrats ;Administration (30) : : Labour (8) : Green (5) : Independent (3) ;Other parties (24) : Conservative (19) : Independent (3) : Reform UK (2) Arun District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by West Sussex County Council. The district is also entirely divided into civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2023 election the Conservatives were the largest party, but a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Greens and some of the independents took control of the council, appointing a Liberal Democrat leader and Labour deputy leader of the council, to replace the previous Conservative minority administration.

The first election to the council was 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:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2002 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:

Three of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", which forms part of the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens. Another two independent councillors form the "Arun Independent Group", and the other is not part of a group. The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council has its headquarters at the Civic Centre on Maltravers Road in Littlehampton, which was purpose-built for the council in 1986. It also maintains an area office at the Town Hall on Clarence Road in Bognor Regis.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 54 councillors elected from 23 wards, with each ward electing either two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Wards

The wards are:

• Aldwick East
• Aldwick West
• Angmering & Findon
• Arundel & Walberton
• Barnham
• Beach
• Bersted
• Brookfield
• Courtwick with Toddington
• East Preston
• Felpham East
• Felpham West
• Ferring
• Hotham
• Marine
• Middleton-on-Sea
• Orchard
• Pagham
• Pevensey
• River
• Rustington East
• Rustington West
• Yapton

Civil parishes

The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". The following 31 civil parishes are located within the district:

Economy

Although set within the typically prosperous county of West Sussex, much of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton are ranked amongst the 20% most deprived areas in the UK as a whole on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The district contains a large tourism sector, attracting visitors to the South Downs in the north, and the beaches of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in the south, the latter of which holds a prestigious Blue Flag Award. Consequently, the district suffers from high amounts of seasonal employment, with the Office for National Statistics estimating that nearly 11% of the population of Arun is employed in the tourism sector, compared to 8% nationally, whilst 28% of people work in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector, compared to just 23% nationally. Arun also has a higher number of public sector workers than either the regional or national average, and a significantly smaller finance and IT sector than the rest of the South East and wider UK.

Awards

In 2008, the district council won an Ashden Award for their work on energy efficiency.

The District Council is regularly awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award which is given for excellent parks. Currently five parks in the District are recognised as meeting the requirements of Green Flag; Mewsbrook Park, Hotham Park, Norfolk Gardens, Old Rectory Gardens and Marine Park Gardens.

Football clubs

• Arundel F.C.
• Bognor Regis Town F.C.
• Clymping F.C.
• East Preston F.C.
• Littlehampton Town F.C.
• Pagham F.C.
• Rustington F.C.
• Wick F.C.

References

References

1. "Arun Local Authority".
2. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
3. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
4. "Arun" in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica. The New Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Chicago: [[Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.]], 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 609.
5. (24 May 2025). "Arun Council elects new chairman and leadership team". The Argus.
6. "Council meeting, 21 May 2025".
7. "Council announces new CEO appointment".
8. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
9. "Council meeting, 31 May 2023".
10. (1 June 2023). "Coalition of Lib Dems, Labour, Greens and Independents to run Arun District Council". Sussex World.
11. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
12. "Arun". [[BBC News Online]].
13. "Council report, 13 November 2019".
14. (8 June 2018). "Arun District Council leader Gillian Brown to be made an OBE in birthday honours list". Sussex World.
15. "Council minutes, 22 May 2019".
16. "Council minutes, 19 May 2021".
17. "Conservatives regain control of Arun District Council after two-year hiatus". Bognor Regis Observer.
18. "Council minutes, 31 May 2023".
19. "Council minutes, 15 May 2024".
20. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
21. "Your Councillors by Party".
22. "Arun". Thorncliffe.
23. (April 2009). "Littlehampton Historic Character Assessment Report". West Sussex County Council.
24. "Find us".
25. {{cite legislation UK. (2013)
26. "Ward Profiles". Arun District Council.
27. "Parish councils contact information".
28. "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish". West Sussex County Council.
29. "Index of Multiple Deprivation". West Sussex County Council.
30. "Littlehampton Coastguards". Blue Flag.
31. "District council brings energy efficiency throughout its operations". Ashden Awards.
32. Council, Arun District. "News Archive".