The Arundel Project

To understand more, the Love Arundel team met with the various councils and the elected representatives that serve Arundel – Arundel Town Council, Arun District Council, West Sussex County Council, our local MP and South Downs National Park Association.

The team learned that all these organisations have objectives, budgets and resources that could benefit Arundel more, but we are just one small town within each of their remits. For example, Arun District Council are naturally pulled to focus on Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, the two largest towns in the district, both of which face different challenges to Arundel. Yet, although Arundel only has around 3,500 residents, the town welcomes more than 500,000 visitors each year.

“So, we need to punch our weight with the regional councils, and balance the needs of residents, visitors and businesses,” explains Andy. “If Arundel can be clear about what it wants, and more proactive about engaging with all external organisations, we could see big benefits for town. The onus is on us to know what our priorities are and to proactively engage.”

Andy continues, “In any society, at any time, we can wait for things to happen or we can decide to take action. If Arundel doesn’t change its approach, then many of the issues will not get resolved and we will still be talking about them five, or even 10, years from now. We hope our Town Council will seize the opportunity to become more activist on our behalf, which they have the legal framework to do under the 2011 Localism Act.”

However, Andy stresses that the council cannot shoulder the burden for change without help. “Arundel Town Council, actually a Parish council, is made up of unpaid, volunteer councillors and a small office staff. It is unrealistic to expect them to do all the work to deliver this alone. What residents say they would like to see is only achievable with some funded paid staff, more of us volunteering to help on projects and a more assertive approach to fund raising – for example if we could raise £1 per week per household that would create a budget of around £75,000 a year, which could go a long way. The recent decision to create a new town manager role is a big step to help better represent Arundel. Arundel is full of amazing people with incredible experience, skills and interests. We all need to think, ‘If I want this done, I need to help’.”

“Remember we agree on 95% and love living here,” says Andy, “As a community we can choose to get these things done together and ensure Arundel stays special.”