Unremitting Rain

Everyone is fed up with the constant rain. The roads are in a dreadful state and often the potholes are covered with water, so they are more hazardous than usual.

The Highways team are inundated with problems and working hard to solve them. At the time of writing, their priority is helping people whose homes are flooded. My inbox is full of new instances of potholes, flooding and deteriorating surfaces. We will do our best to solve as many issues as possible.

I accept that we have underinvested in roads for a long time, but climate change is very real and is apparently advancing much more quickly than expected by scientists. In my view we should be changing the focus of the climate change debate. I’ve been sceptical for some time that increases in CO2 emissions, which account for 0.04% of the atmosphere, are the only or main cause of the change. What seems abundantly clear is that the UK, generating perhaps1% of the world’s emissions, cannot impact the change while China, India and The United States do little. There is no point in bankrupting our economy with the highest electricity prices in the world whilst other countries thrive.

We should change our focus to building resilience by improving drainage systems and bolstering flood defences with sensible measures to collect more rainwater.

The Wealden Local Plan.

A new Plan is going out for consultation, and it is a disaster for our villages. When first elected as a councillor in 2007, my priority was to protect the rural nature and environment of our village communities. In the Planning strategy I submitted in 2013, the aim was to build 450 houses per year and prevent any development within 7 kilometres of the Forest. The courts overturned this in 2015 although developers were required to pay contributions for environmental improvements. Now the government insists on a target of over 1500 houses per year. I fear if implemented we will become one large suburban mass.

The Wealden Plan includes the large Owlsbury scheme of 1500 homes near Little Horsted. It may be only an option, but it is there in the Plan. If it is there it gains momentum and will be difficult to stop. I accept that we need homes which local people can afford but this should not be achieved by concreting over our precious green space.

In my view, The Plan should have concentrated building near the A22/A27 junction with better transport links, infrastructure and more job opportunities.

Devolution.

There is an update on the government’s proposals for devolution. This is about creating a Mayor for Sussex. It is not the same a Local Government Reorganisation in which the County, District and Borough councils will be abolished and replaced by unitary authorities. We do not yet know the shape of this. The government currently says that it will make an announcement on this in March.

Devolution was originally based on a Sussex Mayor being elected in 2026 and the establishment then of this new unitary which would take over strategic tasks and several of the County Council responsibilities.

The government has now delayed Mayoral elections until 2028 against Conservative party wishes. We were ready to fight this election in May 2026 and had started campaigning. Despite this delay the government has insisted on the setting up of what is called a Combined County Authority. This will lay the foundations for the Mayoralty and after it is established in March will gradually be taken on the powers eventually to be held by The Mayor. In this period from 2026 to 2028, this new body will probably consist of two representatives from each of West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

Roy Galley

February 5^th 2026

cllr.roy.galley@eastsussex.gov.uk

01825 713018