Arun District

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:{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=31 May 2023}}

• 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.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|access-date=31 May 2023}}"Arun" in The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 609.

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.

{{Infobox legislature

| name = Arun District Council

| native_name =

| transcription_name =

| legislature =

| coa_pic =

| coa_res =

| logo_pic = Arun District Council logo.svg

| logo_res = 220px

| house_type = Non-metropolitan district council

| body =

| houses =

| leader1_type = Chair

| leader1 = James Walsh

| party1 =
Liberal Democrat

| election1 = 15 May 2024{{cite news |last1=Hanway |first1=Thomas |title=New Arun District Council leader elected for 2024/25 |url=https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/politics/council/new-arun-district-council-leader-elected-for-202425-4633432 |access-date=22 May 2024 |work=Sussex World |date=17 May 2024}}

| leader2_type = Leader

| leader2 = Martin Lury

| party2 =
Liberal Democrats

| election2 = 15 May 2024

| leader3_type = Chief Executive

| leader3 =

| party3 =

| election3 =

| members = 54 councillors

| house1 =

| house2 =

| structure1 = UK ARUN District Council 2023 2023.svg

| structure1_res = 260

| structure1_alt = Arun

| structure2 =

| structure2_res =

| political_groups1 =

;Administration (32)

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}|border=silver}} Liberal Democrats (14)}}

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|border=silver}} Labour (8)}}

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}|border=silver}} Green (6)}}

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Independent politician}}|border=silver}} Independents (4)}}

;Other parties (22)

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|border=silver}} Conservatives (19)}}

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Independent politician}}|border=silver}} Independents (3)}}

| committees1 =

| committees2 =

| joint_committees =

| voting_system1 =

| voting_system2 =

| last_election1 = 4 May 2023

| next_election1 = 6 May 2027

| session_room = Arun Civic Centre - geograph.org.uk - 608161.jpg

| session_res =

| meeting_place = Civic Centre, 1 Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17{{nbsp}}5LF

| website = {{URL|www.arun.gov.uk}}

| footnotes =

}}

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.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|access-date=31 May 2023}}

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.{{cite web |title=Council meeting, 31 May 2023 |url=https://democracy.arun.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=1629 |website=Arun District Council |access-date=31 May 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Dunn |first1=Karen |title=Coalition of Lib Dems, Labour, Greens and Independents to run Arun District Council |url=https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/politics/coalition-of-lib-dems-labour-greens-and-independents-to-run-arun-district-council-4165735 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=Sussex World |date=1 June 2023}}

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:{{cite web |title=Compositions Calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/composition_calc.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=The Elections Centre |publisher=University of Exeter}} (Put "Arun" in search box to see specific results.){{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2007/councils/html/45uc.stm | title = Arun | access-date = 2010-03-20 | work = BBC News Online}}

The leaders of the council since 2002 have been:

Following the 2023 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in June 2024, the composition of the council was:{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2023/may/04/elections-2023-results-live-local-council-england#le-full-results|title=Local elections 2023: live council results for England|publisher=The Guardian}}

Four 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. The other three independents do not form part of a group.{{cite web |title=Your Councillors by Party |url=https://democracy.arun.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=PARTY&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |website=Arun District Council |access-date=25 January 2024}} The next election is due in 2027.{{cite web |title=Arun |url=https://www.localcouncils.co.uk/councils/?council=arun |website=Local Councils |publisher=Thorncliffe |access-date=24 July 2024}}

File:Bognor Regis Town Hall.jpg, Arun's area office in Bognor Regis]]

The council has its headquarters at the Civic Centre on Maltravers Road in Littlehampton, which was purpose-built for the council in 1986.{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Roland B. |title=Littlehampton Historic Character Assessment Report |date=April 2009 |publisher=West Sussex County Council |page=22 |url=https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/1734/littlehampton_eus_report_and_maps.pdf |access-date=2 June 2023}} It also maintains an area office at the Town Hall on Clarence Road in Bognor Regis.{{cite web |title=Find us |url=https://www.arun.gov.uk/find-us |website=Arun District Council |access-date=31 May 2023}}

{{also|Arun District Council 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.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Arun (Electoral Changes) Order 2013|year=2013|number=2794|access-date=31 May 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.arun.gov.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?mysql=2953|title=Ward Profiles|publisher=Arun District Council|access-date=27 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728075725/http://www.arun.gov.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?mysql=2953|archive-date=28 July 2009|url-status=dead}}

The wards are:

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• 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

{{div col end}}

{{further|List of civil parishes in West Sussex}}

File:Arundel, Sussex - geograph.org.uk - 2648988.jpg, the district's third town.]]

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".{{cite web |title=Parish councils contact information |url=https://democracy.arun.gov.uk/mgParishCouncilDetailsList.aspx |website=Arun District Council |access-date=26 January 2024}} The following 31 civil parishes are located within the district:{{cite web|url=http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/communityandliving/census2001/pop_parish_summary.pdf |title=2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish |publisher=West Sussex County Council |access-date=26 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608075926/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/communityandliving/census2001/pop_parish_summary.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2011 }}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/living/social_care/information_for_professionals/health_and_social_care_needs/data_maps_and_research/index_of_multiple_deprivation.aspx |title=Index of Multiple Deprivation |publisher=West Sussex County Council |access-date=12 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318071047/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/living/social_care/information_for_professionals/health_and_social_care_needs/data_maps_and_research/index_of_multiple_deprivation.aspx |archive-date=18 March 2012 }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.blueflag.org/Menu/Blue+Flag+beaches%2fmarinas/2010/Northern+Hemisphere/England/SouthEast/Littlehampton+Coastguards |title=Littlehampton Coastguards |publisher=Blue Flag |access-date=12 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927090908/http://www.blueflag.org/Menu/Blue+Flag+beaches%2fmarinas/2010/Northern+Hemisphere/England/SouthEast/Littlehampton+Coastguards |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} 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.

In 2008, the district council won an Ashden Award for their work on energy efficiency.{{cite web|url=http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/arun08|title=District council brings energy efficiency throughout its operations|publisher=Ashden Awards|access-date=22 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615175659/http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/arun08|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=dead}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.arun.gov.uk/news-archive|title=News Archive|last=Council|first=Arun District|website=Arun District Council|language=en|access-date=26 December 2018}}

• 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.

• List of places of worship in Arun

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{{Arun}}

{{West Sussex}}

{{SE England}}

{{Coord|50|48|29.7|N|0|32|18.6|W|display=title|region:GB_type:adm3rd}}

Category:Non-metropolitan districts of West Sussex