Our Mayor for the year 2025/26 is Cllr. Carolyn Kenney

I joined the Town Council in November 2021 because I believe Arundel is a wonderful and special place – and I wanted to do all I could to preserve and protect its best qualities; to improve the facilities for residents; and to enhance the experience of the town for all.

I became Mayor in May 2025, with the ambition to ensure that Arundel can develop sustainably, be enjoyed by everyone, and thrive economically.

In practice this means that the Council will be supporting and improving community cohesion, making sure there is something for everyone. We have a new working group, Together Arundel, and will be looking to take on board views from all sectors of the community, particularly young people. The youth gym at the Lido has proved very popular and we’ll look to develop more ideas like this.

Anti-social behaviour remains a concern; and we will continue to work with the police and Arun’s anti-social behaviour team on this. We are also asking Arun to include Arundel in their community wardens’ scheme, so that they have a presence in the town. And we cannot stress enough, that because policing and resource allocation is data-driven, we must, must, must, report any incidents of crime or anti-social behaviour to the police – either on-line or via 101.

Arundel is a very special place and we all have a responsibility to keep it that way. We want to encourage people, be they residents, visitors or traders to have a sense of pride in the town. We run community litter picks – but if everyone picked up one bit of litter a day, or, dare I say it, one rogue dog poo a day, what a difference that would make!

Greening Arundel are collectively performing miracles – the transformation of the area around the station is just one example of the positive difference they have made. Their plans include developing a Food Forest on the land gifted to the Town Council at Arundel Gate; and seeking to secure Nature Town accreditation for Arundel. The council will support them with these endeavours.

Our streets and spaces make a large contribution to how we feel about our town. We report damage and work with West Sussex and Arun to see that repairs are carried out. We also tackle long-running problems and have recently been successful in getting an order to ban overnight parking by campervans on Mill Road, removing an environmental issue and freeing up spaces for residents, visitors – and, most importantly, people coming to Arundel to work in shops and businesses. Our next focus will be the Friary ruins which are continuing to deteriorate. We will work with Arun District Council and Historic England to try to find a solution that means we can get rid of the ugly Heras fencing.

Another live issue is the proposal from the West Sussex contractor, who manages street lighting, to replace all our cast iron lampposts in the Conservation Area. We are working with them to ensure that the replacement columns are sympathetic to our historic street scene.

There are also strategic threats, and with the help of our flood advisor, Derek Waller, we are vigilant in talking to the Environment Agency and other authorities, to mitigate the flooding risks to Arundel as best we can.

We receive a lot of complaints about speeding and poor driver behaviour. We have set up a Speed Watch Group for Arundel – a number of residents have completed the online training and we are keen to encourage others to sign up. The initial cohort have completed the roadside training so don’t be surprised if you see them out and about around town. We are looking for someone to take on the co-ordinator role for the group, which involves booking sessions on the portal and logging results.

Arundel relies on tourism and visitors to support the businesses in the town that we all enjoy; but we are moving into an environment where we can’t rely on the fact that those businesses will be able to keep going. We’ve been successful in getting a pharmacy on the High Street – something that’s been a very long time coming – but unless that pharmacy is economically viable, it will not stay. We need to do all we can to support existing businesses, and make setting up a new venture in Arundel, an attractive and sustainable proposition.

That is why, as a council, we are looking to define an economic strategy for the town centre and produce a scope for a town manager role. We know our infrastructure is creaking at peak times – and that places a burden on residents – so this is about considered tourism and balancing the needs of everyone. We will be inviting thoughts and contributions to this work, which aims to ensure we have a thriving and attractive town centre for everyone to enjoy.

All of the priorities outlined above need to be managed against a backdrop that will see a significant shift in how local government is organised in the region over the next three years. West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and East Sussex have been selected for a fast-track route to becoming a Combined Mayoral Authority. This new authority will have devolved powers from central government, with responsibility for a suite of areas including strategic infrastructure and safety. The Mayoral election is due to be held in May 2026.

Following that, the existing counties and districts will be merged to create Unitary Authorities, with a target population of around 500,000 people. This means that West Sussex will likely have one large, or two smaller Unitary Authorities running all the services for those areas.

In terms of timing, the Counties and Districts are working up a full business case for submission to the government in September. There will be a public consultation and then the government will decide on the boundaries for the new Unitary Authorities. Shadow elections are due to be held in 2027, so that preparations can be made for a formal handover to the new Unitary Authorities in April 2028.

It is not yet clear what impact all these changes will have on us in Arundel, but there may be opportunities to take over the running of some services or to take ownership of community assets. It will be important to make sure that the town does not take on additional liabilities unless these are fully funded.

And although it is acknowledged that the new Unitary Authorities should be sensitive to local characteristics; it remains to be seen how this will work in practice. There is talk of setting up neighbourhood councils or committees, designed in partnership with town and parish councils – but there are no details yet.

One of our most important roles is in promoting the interests of the town, lobbying those with power, and making our voice heard. We will continue to do this to the best of our ability.

And if all of this has motivated you to make a difference, then there are lots of ways to get involved. You can lend a hand with the Green Team, join a litter-pick, become part of the Speed Watch group, volunteer at the Farmers Market; or keep an eye out on noticeboards and social media for vacancies, and apply to become a Councillor.

Please do contact the Town Hall; or come and find us on the Council stall at the Farmers Market and find out more!

The Town Hall and Offices are open from 9am to 1pm weekdays and you can visit in person, call us on 01903 882954 or email admin@arundeltowncouncil.gov.uk