Bognor Regis Civic Society

Bognor Regis Civic Society was born in 1998 as a direct result of the Kiosks disaster and because of the founders’ concern that Arun District Council was not paying proper attention to the Town Centre in Bognor Regis Regeneration matters. It was felt that not only was a non-political ‘watchdog’ needed to ensure that nothing like the Kiosks ever happened again, but the group of concerned residents that had come together as a result of that event were well placed to be able to ensure that the people of the Town would have a proper say in future decisions.

Founder members came from a number of local groups, notably Bognor Environment and Amenities Movement (BEAM), Aldwick Preservation Society, and the Anti-Kiosks Campaign (AKC). Valuable assistance and advice came from Angela Bayley of Littlehampton Civic Society, who has recently died and is much missed. Similarly we will always be indebted to the late Jim Briggs, then Chairman of Aldwick Preservation Society, who felt that the town should have a Civic Society affiliated to the national body. He was instrumental in bringing us all together to form the original core members of the Civic Society.

The Society has met every month for almost 20 years(click on public meetings), but now meets only when there is something important to discuss – but the Committee still meets monthly. Members take part in the meetings, receive regular updating emails, and pay attention to a wide range of matters around the district. To see more about this, click on News.

The short answer is we take an interest in anything and everything that happens (or doesn’t happen!) in and around our town, from Pagham to Elmer, which is likely to affect residents and visitors. And we seek to preserve those aspects of the area which are good, and to improve those aspects which aren’t!

To do this may involve representation to (and, if necessary, pressure on) the responsible authorities, involvement in local groups and committees, working with business and property owners, organising and publicising public meetings, consulting the public on their views and preferences. This last is very special to us, as the views we represent are not our own; they are the views of the public and we go to great lengths to establish this. Hence “Voice of the People” on our logo, and the more people join us, the stronger this will be.

In 2019 the situation in Bognor Regis had become pretty dire. In the name of so-called “regeneration” the controlling Conservative Cabinet in Arun District Council was planning to pursue some highly controversial projects in the town which were not seen as beneficial, see here and here. This was worrying a great many people, and nobody at Arun was listening. They were ignoring us all.

After much discussion, and with some reluctance, it was decided that the only course to try and change matters was to take part in the coming Arun elections to get some forceful voices on the council itself. And even more importantly, to remove the perceived ringleaders by defeating them at the election.

To cut a long story short, this is what we did. The Society’s Deputy Chairman Hugh Coster, and Treasurer Tony Dixon were elected as Arun District Councillors (Independent) in the Aldwick East Ward, ousting Arun Leader Gillian Brown and her colleague Trevor Bence.

BALANCE OF POWER

It turned out to be a bigger task than expected because the previous Conservative majority evaporated, and with five other Independents we found ourselves holding the balance of power in a hung council between the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems. And working with the Lib-Dems we were able to put a stop to the damaging Conservative proposals. Plus, we were able to restore the more democratic committee system, replacing the previous Cabinet system which concentrated too much power into very few hands.

None of this was easy though, and quite stressful because there was a lot of (metaphorical) infighting, and the Conservatives were keen to snatch power back by almost any means. It took a great deal of time-consuming and energy-sapping work which left little time for running CiViC. So it was decided that the committee should continue to meet regularly, but the previous functions of CiViC would be temporarily suspended.

POLICIES

In those early days we formulated 21 policy objectives. The idea was that the other parties would do the same, we could all debate the issues and come to a consensus view on the programme to go forward. That didn’t happen, the other parties never came up with policies, and neither did they want to listen to anybody else’s. Some of the Lib-Dems were not particularly loyal to their leadership and actively tried to undermine what they perceived as our ‘influence’.

The Conservatives exploited this, and were able to persuade certain Lib-Dems and one independent to side with them in important votes – and as a result, after two years, took back control. And still, nobody had any policies except us! They were all too busy with the politics and the infighting.

BEACH HUTS

A prime example was beach huts. Arun has a long waiting list for these, so an easy source of income. More were needed and we instigated this as soon as we could. Surely no problem with this, it takes no time at all to erect a few sheds? The Conservatives blocked it at every turn, for purely political reasons, so nothing happened. When they regained control we continued to push them on this but still nothing happened and to date (2023) nothing has changed. On our last calculation this inability to build a few sheds has cost the council (and hence all of us) in excess of £100,000.

This is just a small example (and there are many others) to show why we came to the conclusion, at the end of our four-year term as councillors, not to stand for election again. If you do it properly, being a councillor involves a lot of energy-sapping and time consuming work. But, after all that, if there is no real satisfactory result achieved, what is the point?

So here we are, awakening CiViC from its temporary slumbers, glad to be released from the shackles of the council, and keen to continue representing the residents of Bognor Regis, which almost nobody else is doing. But folks, please be aware that we are not getting any younger. We would appreciate help from new people keen to protect our town from ill-advised projects by the Councils and others. If you would like to help, you would be very welcome. Please contact us here.