The transfer of Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs and East Saltdean into Brighton and Hove is on hold, and May 2027 now means a Lewes District Council election.

The plan to move Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs and East Saltdean out of Lewes district and into Brighton and Hove has been put on hold. The government paused its whole local government reorganisation programme on 7 September, and the East Sussex decision is one of the fourteen now under review.

Lewes District Council’s leader says she still has not been told why the split was ordered in the first place.

What was decided in July

The decision came in a letter from the then Secretary of State, Steve Reed, on 16 July 2026. He chose a modified two council model for the area, set out in his letter to leaders in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove (PDF).

It would have created:

  • an East Sussex Council covering Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother, Wealden and “Lewes District Council minus four wards”
  • an expanded Brighton and Hove City Council, taking those four wards

The letter never names the four wards. It names the places: bringing “East Saltdean, Telscombe and Peacehaven into the area of the council”. Lewes District Council’s own councillor register lists exactly four wards covering those places: East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North and Peacehaven West.

Reed’s reasoning was travel to work and the shape of the coast. He wrote that those areas have “strong travel-to-work, service-use and coastal corridor links with Brighton and Hove, with the A259 forming a continuous built-up area”, and that Peacehaven and Telscombe rely “on the larger employment centre of Brighton and Hove”.

One place was pulled back out. Brighton and Hove had asked for the parish of Falmer as well. Reed refused, saying the parish, population around 300, should stay in East Sussex “given its rural identity”.

What the pause actually says

On 7 September the Minister for Local Government, Jim McMahon, wrote to council leaders with three things in it.

  • Decisions for four areas, none of them in Sussex, were withdrawn outright.
  • Everything decided in July, East Sussex included, goes into a review that McMahon will lead. Councils were told to “cease work on implementing the decisions that were announced in July”.
  • Elections already scheduled for May 2027 will go ahead to existing council boundaries.

That third line is the one that reaches residents fastest. Under the July decision, the May 2027 poll would have elected a shadow East Sussex Council, and sitting councillors would have had their terms extended. Under the pause, it is an election to Lewes District Council as it exists today.

The review has no published closing date. McMahon wrote that “now is the time to pause and reflect” and that stopping work “reduces the risk of nugatory work if, after further review, we decide to change course”.

Key dates for the Lewes district split A timeline of four dates. On 16 July 2026 the government decided that four Lewes district wards would move to Brighton and Hove. On 7 September 2026 the decision was paused and implementation work stopped. In May 2027 elections now go ahead to existing boundaries, meaning Lewes District Council and its 41 councillors. April 2028 was the implementation date and is now under review with no new date. Decided in July, paused in September, no new date Source: MHCLG decision letter, 16 July 2026, and MHCLG review and withdrawal letter, 7 September 2026. 16 Jul 2026 Government decides. Four Lewes district wards to move to Brighton and Hove. 7 Sep 2026 Decision paused and put into a review. Councils told to stop implementation work. May 2027 Elections go ahead to existing boundaries: Lewes District Council and its 41 councillors. April 2028 Was the date the new councils would start. Now under review, no new date published. The four wards, named on the council's own councillor register: East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven East, Peacehaven North, Peacehaven West Graphic by The Lewes Post
Four dates, and only one of them is still fixed.

The council says it never got an answer

Councillor Zoe Nicholson, the leader of Lewes District Council, responded on 7 September. She called the announcement “another twist in a process that has already caused a great deal of uncertainty for residents”.

On the split itself she said: “In Lewes district, we’ve been asking the Minister to explain the decision to separate East Saltdean, Peacehaven and Telscombe from the rest of our district and transfer them into Brighton and Hove, despite overwhelming opposition from local people. We have not yet received those answers.”

The council’s own pages have not caught up

Two council pages were still telling residents the old story when we checked them on 9 September.

The Upcoming Elections page lists “May 2027 - Lewes District & Parish and Shadow Authority Elections”. There is no longer a shadow authority to elect.

A news item published on 27 August, urging residents to check their voter registration, goes further. It says elections to “the new East Sussex unitary authority” are expected in May 2027, and that Lewes District Council and the county’s other councils “are set to be replaced by a single new council for East Sussex from April 2028”. Both sentences were written before the pause and neither has been amended.

The underlying advice in that article still stands. The annual canvass is running now, and the register it produces is the one used for whichever election is held.

What it means for you

If you live in Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs or East Saltdean: nothing changes today. Your bins, council tax, planning applications and housing services are still Lewes District Council’s. Nothing has moved to Brighton and Hove, and now nothing will until the review reports.

If you are checking your voter registration: keep doing it. The canvass letters going out now are about the register, not about which council you are voting for.

If you were expecting to vote for a new council in May 2027: you will be voting for Lewes District Council instead, on today’s boundaries. The council says it has 41 elected councillors, and town and parish elections are due on the same day.

If you are looking further ahead: April 2028 is no longer a fixed date for anything. Treat any council document written before 7 September that leans on it, including budget papers and service plans, as out of date on that point.

Lewes District Council still answers for council tax bands, bin collections and planning applications across the whole district, including the four wards that were due to move.

Sources