Tue 19 May 26

📜 STAGE 1: THE INITIAL REPRESENTATION

Date Sent: Tuesday, 19 May 2026 From: John Parsons, Guardian, Creative Bognor To: Dawn Hudd (Chief Executive) Cc: Sukdave Ghuman (Monitoring Officer); Cllr Martin Lury (Leader of the Council); Cllr Roger Nash (Deputy Leader & Chair of Policy & Resources); Alison Griffiths MP; Cllr Trevor Bence; Cllr Ash Patel; Cllr Giuliano Pinnelli Subject: FORMAL REPRESENTATION: Statutory Failure & Data Risk | Community Governance Review 2026

 

Dear Ms Hudd,

I am writing to you as the guardian of Creative Bognor (www.creativebognor.com) to submit a formal representation concerning the current Community Governance Review (CGR). I wish to record a formal objection to the narrowness of the current Terms of Reference, which I believe fail to satisfy the "effective and convenient" test mandated by Section 93 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

1. Unconditional Offer of Community Intelligence

As the Council is aware, I have previously provided a progressive Community Blueprint (31 August 2025) and pointed towards The Locality Manifesto (7 August 2025) as a framework for modern engagement. I have offered the resources of the Creative Bognor platform—including our structured SHARE Agenda (Security, Health, Accessibility, Resilience, and Evaluation)—unconditionally for the Council’s use.

Our platform had over 16,000 verified views in the last year, serving as a statistically significant hub for community identity and engagement in Bognor Regis. To ignore such a resource while claiming to conduct a comprehensive review of community governance is a breach of the 'Duty of Inquiry' (Tameside Principle).

Furthermore, I point to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Statutory Governance Review of 2025 as an example of a more inclusive approach to community identity. Why is it that a more progressive approach to community engagement such as this is not possible here, and have the benefits and costs to our communities been properly assessed and evaluated?

2. Data Governance Risk under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

Under Section 103 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, public bodies have an enhanced statutory duty to ensure that data used for constitutional decisions is accurate and representative.

By bypassing an established digital engagement hub and a proactive community blueprint, the Council is relying on a "passive" data sample that creates a documented Data Bias Risk. The Council is knowingly ignoring an "informed" dataset that is far more representative of Bognor’s active social and digital landscape than traditional methods.

Please accept this as a formal notification of a data accuracy concern. Under the 2025 Act, I expect a formal acknowledgement of how this blueprint and dataset will be weighted in the review's evidence base within 30 days.

3. Political & Financial Oversight

I am copying this representation to my Member of Parliament and the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee. Given the Deputy Leader's prior support in principle for our heritage initiatives, I trust the Council recognises the 'Resource Efficiency' of utilising our established digital infrastructure. Proceeding with a narrow review that ignores these unconditionally offered assets would be procedurally flawed and represents a significant missed opportunity for cost-effective, modern engagement.

Procedural Accountability

To prevent this representation from being neutralised via a generic acknowledgement or relegated to a passive background note, let me be clear: any attempt to decouple this data from the formal evidence base by citing rigid statutory boundaries will be viewed as a conscious decision to proceed with a structurally flawed and unrepresentative review.

Given the Monitoring Officer's presence on this correspondence, I expect the Council's formal response to explicitly address the weight allocated to this informed dataset, rather than merely noting its existence.

Refusing to integrate this unconditionally offered digital infrastructure—while simultaneously spending public funds on passive, low-yield consultation methods—will be treated as a documented failure under the Tameside Principle and a deliberate acceptance of Data Bias Risk under the 2025 Act.

Requested Action

I request that the Council:

1. Demonstrates that the benefits and costs of a more progressive approach have been properly assessed and evaluated.
2. Formally adopts the provided Community Blueprint as a core consultative document for the CGR.
3. Amends the CGR scope to reflect the principles of community power outlined in the Locality Manifesto.
4. Confirms how the 16,000+ digital engagements via Creative Bognor will be accounted for in the Council's final report.

I look forward to your substantive, legally reasoned response within 30 days.

Yours sincerely,

John Parsons Guardian, Creative Bognor www.creativebognor.com

Wed 3 Jun 26

📜 STAGE 2: THE COUNCIL'S RESPONSE

Date Received: Wednesday, 3 June 2026 From: Lauren Fairs-Browning (Electoral Services Manager), on behalf of Dawn Hudd To: John Parsons Cc: (Original distribution list) Subject: RE: FORMAL REPRESENTATION: Statutory Failure & Data Risk | Community Governance Review 2026

 

Dear Mr Parsons,

Thank you for your email and for setting out your representation in relation to the Community Governance Review (CGR). Your submission, including the materials referenced, has been noted and will be recorded as part of the review process.

I address your points in turn below.

1. Scope of the Community Governance Review

The Terms of Reference for the CGR were agreed in accordance with the statutory framework set out in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The Council ensure that any review has regard to the statutory criteria of reflecting the identities and interests of the community and securing effective and convenient local governance. All representations received during the consultation period are recorded upon receipt and incorporated into the Council’s evidence base, with officers reviewing and analysing all submissions after the consultation closes and before any recommendations are finalised. The timing of submissions does not affect their consideration, as established processes ensure that all material is assessed in a consistent and proportionate manner, and we ensure that the process is fair, transparent and procedurally robust for all participants. The consultation remains at a formative stage, with no decisions taken, and all representations will be taken into account in preparing the final report and recommendations. Any CGR outcome will be rational, and evidence based. The Council takes into account relevant considerations and can exclude irrelevant considerations.

Your suggestions regarding broader approaches to engagement, including the Creative Bognor platform and the Locality Manifesto, are acknowledged. There is however ambiguity around the contents of your email, and I would be grateful if you could address the following points, so that the contents of your email can be given further consideration:

• What is Bognor Creative, is it a reliable source?
• Can you evidence how many people have used the website to communicate about matters relating to governance?
• Are the visitors to the site residing within the district? Can that be evidenced?
• Please clarify what you are proposing? That the platform be used for consultation purposes in future governance reviews? Or otherwise?
• Do you have authority to act for Bognor Creative? Please provide evidence.
• Does Bognor Creative give authority for its digital infrastructure to be used in the manner that you propose? Please provide evidence of this.

2. Reference to the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

In respect of point 2 of your email, Section 103 of the Data Use and Access Act can be read here. In essence, Section 103 is about a data subject’s right to make a complaint to the controller (the council) in connection with their own personal data. There is no correlation to Community Governance Reviews or constitutional decision-making. Therefore, it is my view that this legislation has been cited in a context to which it does not apply.

Notwithstanding this, I can confirm that the Council remains committed to ensuring that information used to inform the CGR is handled appropriately and that consultation responses are considered in a fair and balanced manner under UK GDPR, ensuring that the consultation responses are processed lawfully.

3. Use of External Platforms and Submitted Material

The Council is under no statutory obligation to adopt external documents or platforms as core consultative materials within the CGR. However, your Community Blueprint and associated information will be treated as a formal representation and considered as part of the evidence base alongside all other consultation responses.

With regard to your query on how digital engagement figures will be accounted for, the Council will summarise and report consultation responses in accordance with its standard procedures. This includes qualitative and quantitative feedback received through the Council’s formal consultation channels.

4. Assessment of Options and Resource Considerations

The Council will consider the benefits and impacts of proposals arising from the CGR as part of its decision-making process, taking into account representations received and assessing them against statutory guidance and practical deliverability.

Conclusion

Your representation has been formally recorded and will be considered as part of the review. The Council will publish its findings and recommendations in due course following completion of the consultation process.

My response addresses the points raised in your correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Lauren Fairs-Browning AEA Cert Electoral Services Manager, Electoral Services Department On behalf of Dawn Hudd, Chief Executive

Fri 5 Jun 26

📜 STAGE 3: THE COUNTER-RESPONSE

Date Sent: Friday, 5 June 2026 From: John Parsons To: Lauren Fairs-Browning Cc: (Original distribution list) Subject: RE: Community Governance Review (CGR) 2026 – Creative Bognor Definitives & Meeting Proposal

 

Dear Ms. Fairs-Browning,

Thank you for your correspondence dated 3rd June 2026.

Before addressing your specific queries, I must formally note that your response entirely omits a reply to our explicit request for a strategic pause to this review. Furthermore, your correspondence fails to address the specific, substantive questions raised in our initial submission—namely: why a more progressive, modern approach to community engagement is not being made possible here, and whether the true social benefits and structural costs to our communities have been properly assessed and evaluated.

Given that your email introduces a series of technical questions regarding our data, network structure, and user validation—while completely bypassing the questions we put to the Council, and given the fast-approaching June 19th deadline—a strategic pause is not just reasonable, it is procedurally necessary.

Proceeding at pace while simultaneously demanding deep analytical proof from community platforms—while the Council avoids answering for its own consultative methodologies—risks undermining the "fair, transparent, and procedurally robust" process you claim to uphold. We urge the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer to formally address this request.

Should the Council refuse this strategic pause on the grounds of administrative timelines, it will be doing so with the full knowledge that it is consciously excluding a verified, 10-year longitudinal data set regarding Bognor's civic identity. Proceeding to close the consultation on June 19th without allowing adequate time for officers to evaluate a decade's worth of local research creates a clear procedural deficit. It fundamentally undermines the Council’s statutory duty to base its final recommendations on a rational, comprehensive evidence base, rendering the final report highly vulnerable to a challenge of procedural unfairness.

In the interest of full transparency and moving the process forward in good faith, please find below our definitive response and high-level metrics addressing your clarifications:

1. Scope of the CGR and Statutory Guidance

We note the Council’s position regarding the statutory framework of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Our representation directly addresses the first statutory test under Section 93(4) of the Act: ensuring that community governance "reflects the identities and interests of the community."

Our core argument remains that a review limited purely to boundary adjustments fails to capture the true identity and democratic interests of Bognor Regis residents. For governance to be "effective and convenient" (the second statutory test), it must actively account for modern, grassroots civic infrastructure.

2. Clarifications Regarding the Digital Infrastructure & Evidence Base

To assist officers in properly weighting our submission within the consultation analysis, we provide the following verified baseline facts:

• What is Creative Bognor and is it a reliable source? www.creativebognor.com, alongside its partner portal www.bognor.online and its associated social media extensions, forms a coordinated digital community network. This network acts as a public-facing capture mechanism for local civic sentiment.  It is backed by structured qualitative research and an industry standard, GDPR compliant cloud infrastructure, making it a highly reliable source for mapping community interests under the 2007 Act.
• Can you evidence how many people have used the website to communicate about matters relating to governance? Yes. Our platforms capture local civic sentiment using a standard, multi-layered digital funnel. Our analytics tracking shows that our current platform framework has recorded 16,787 unique page views and 4,578 unique visitors since May 2025 alone, demonstrating exceptional local reach and ongoing awareness throughout this review cycle. Moving down the analytical funnel, this traffic has converted into a significant number of unique, active digital interactions across our site architecture and associated social channels. From this engaged pool, we have captured many distinct public comments, direct feedback entries, and localised responses regarding the current CGR and our "Community Blueprint." Crucially, while our live digital dashboard captures this highly active 2025–2026 snapshot, the underlying qualitative research, historical archives, and community insights powering our broader network date back a decade to 2016. This provides a robust, longitudinal record of Bognor Regis's civic identity and governance requirements that far exceeds standard short-term consultation snapshots.
• Are the visitors to the site residing within the district? Can that be evidenced? Yes. Bognor Regis consistently represents the single largest, most concentrated hub of localised traffic on our platforms. When combining our direct web analytics with our broader social media distribution insights (such as Meta Audience Metrics) and backend registration data, the metrics confirm a highly significant density of engaged users residing directly within the Bognor Regis and wider Arun District area, placing them squarely within the local electorate.
• Please clarify what you are proposing? We are proposing that the Council evaluates the empirical community findings generated by this digital network. Furthermore, we propose that the Council explores how secure, specialised digital infrastructure—such as the CIGMA back-end platform (www.cigma.app / www.cigma.org.uk)—can be integrated into future statutory consultations to ensure more inclusive, representative, and transparent grassroots governance.
• Do you have authority to act for Creative Bognor? Yes. As the founder, registered domain owner, and primary administrator of creativebognor.com, bognor.online, and the associated CIGMA community applications, I hold full and exclusive authority to represent these platforms and submit this research data.
• Does Creative Bognor give authority for its digital infrastructure to be used in the manner that you propose? Yes. Authority is granted. This multi-layered infrastructure was explicitly deployed to aggregate local data securely and ethically, bridging the gap between Bognor's grassroots electorate and constitutional decision-makers.

Note on Data Disclosure

In line with UK GDPR data minimisation principles and to protect the privacy of our users, we have provided high-level verified metrics above. The full, anonymised backend data sets, system architecture diagrams, and analytical logs are being prepared and will be formally disclosed to the Monitoring Officer once the Council confirms a strategic pause to allow for their proper evaluation.

3. The Data Use and Access Act 2025

We note your clarification regarding Section 103 of the Data Use and Access Act 2025. While we accept your interpretation regarding its specific application to individual data controller complaints, we welcome the Council’s robust reassurance that all consultation data and representations within this CGR are being processed lawfully, transparently, and in strict accordance with UK GDPR principles, and we shall be proactively ensuring that this is the case.

4. Use of External Platforms and "Conscientious Consideration"

While we understand the Council is under no statutory obligation to adopt external platforms wholesale, the Council is bound by common law Gunning Principles—specifically Principle 4 (Conscientious Consideration). Because our integrated submission represents a statistically significant cluster of local electors sharing a unified concern regarding a "Lack of Representative Governance," we expect the final Consultation Summary Report to explicitly outline this theme and demonstrate how the Council has factored it into its final recommendations.

Clarification on Council Discretion & Historical Record

For the avoidance of doubt, we pre-emptively reject any assertion that the Council "cannot" grant a strategic pause due to rigid statutory timelines or internal committee calendars. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, Arun District Council is the sole author of this review's Terms of Reference and retains full administrative discretion over its deployment.

A choice to prioritise internal administrative convenience over the evaluation of a highly relevant, 10-year community evidence base is a voluntary decision to fetter the Council's own discretion. This is particularly acute given that the Council has been in possession of documented evidence offering this longitudinal research and digital infrastructure framework to the authority since August 2025.

Furthermore, we hold the formal written response from the Director of Growth explicitly noting that there is "much to support in the locality manifesto" and stating directly in writing that "if the opportunity arises in the future to consider how we might make positive use of your project then we will be in contact." A statutory Community Governance Review explicitly tasked with evaluating the civic identity, structure, and democratic interests of Bognor Regis is precisely the operational opportunity envisioned. This is a matter of objective, statutory consultation mapping, entirely separate from any historic project-specific boundaries or localised administrative friction.

Having formally acknowledged the validity of these civic principles ten months ago and explicitly committed to exploring the positive utility of this project should an opportunity arise, the Council cannot now plead a lack of administrative time as a defensible excuse for its total exclusion. Should a pause be refused, it will be understood legally and publicly as a decision that the Council will not pause, rather than cannot pause.

Proposal for a Strategic Alignment Meeting

Given the significant constitutional scale of this review and the distinct approaches we are bringing to it, we believe further electronic correspondence at this stage risks further unnecessary misunderstanding. In the interest of full transparency and moving forward in good faith, I formally propose a face-to-face meeting between ourselves, the Chief Executive, and the Monitoring Officer.

Because this review directly concerns the civic identity and democratic future of Bognor Regis—and as I have personal mobility issues that limit my travel and I am averse to online meetings—it is necessary and fitting that this meeting takes place here in Bognor. To accommodate this, I am entirely available to host or meet at a local, accessible venue at any time from Monday at 1:00 PM (June 8th) through to Wednesday (June 10th), including evenings. I am offering the RAFA Club on Waterloo Square, which has been at the heart of the Bognor community since 1945, as a suitable and fitting venue.

The objective of this meeting will not be to audit technical backend files, but rather to achieve a clear, direct clarification of both sides' baseline values, civic expectations, and democratic objectives for Bognor Regis. Establishing this mutual understanding face-to-face is the most constructive way to ensure the final review truly reflects the long-term identity and interests of our community.

We look forward to receiving confirmation regarding the strategic pause and the Council’s subsequent draft recommendations, and constructively working with you to ensure that legitimate community views are fully accounted for.

Yours sincerely,

John Parsons Curator and Registered Owner, www.creativebognor.com Registered Address: 14 Redwood Place, Aldwick, Bognor Regis, PO21 3BS Ref: CB/ADC/JAP2606051015

Tue 9 Jun 26

📜 STAGE 4: THE TUESDAY MORNING Notice

Subject: URGENT: Collaborative Framework & Joint Strategic Partnership Offer (Ref: JP/CGR2026)

To: Ms. Fairs-Browning Cc: dawn.hudd@arun.gov.uk, sukdave.ghuman@arun.gov.uk, cllr.martin.lury@arun.gov.uk, cllr.roger.nash@arun.gov.uk, cllr.trevor.bence@arun.gov.uk, cllr.ashvin.patel@arun.gov.uk, giuliano.pinnelli@westsussex.gov.uk Bcc: alison.griffiths.mp@parliament.uk, jess.brownfuller.mp@parliament.uk

 

Dear Ms. Fairs-Browning,

Further to my communication on Friday, I am disappointed to have received neither a formal response nor an acknowledgement of receipt regarding our independent civic data package for the Statutory Community Governance Review (CGR).

I want to reaffirm our open-handed offer to collaborate. I have set aside time to meet with a nominated Director or Senior Officer at the RAFA Club on Waterloo Square anytime from now until Wednesday evening (10 June) to securely handover the structured dataset and discuss a Joint Strategic Partnership. Please note that I am now unavailable between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM on Tuesday.

In the spirit of complete transparency, I have appended an advance copy of our upcoming community campaign newsletter below, which is scheduled for public distribution this Thursday, 11 June.

Please let me know your availability for a meeting outside of my Tuesday afternoon conflict so we can ensure our community's data is safely integrated into the town’s future planning.

Yours sincerely,

John Parsons

Curator and owner of CreativeBognor.com

ADVANCE COPY: PUBLIC COMMUNICATION PRE-ADVICE

Scheduled Publication Date: Thursday, 11 June 2026

Distribution: Creative Bognor & associated social media networks

Draft Campaign Newsletter: "Living Up to Our Shared Mandate: Time for Bognor Regis 'To Excel'"

"Dear Neighbours,

Eighty-one years ago this month, in June 1945, the residents of Bognor Regis engaged in a historic town-wide review to choose an official motto for our town's coat of arms. They didn't choose a complicated, bureaucratic phrase. Through a process of democratic community consensus, they recommended and adopted two simple, powerful words: "To Excel."

To excel means to grow, to improve, and to continuously strive for the absolute best version of our community. But when we look around our town centre today—at unfinished regeneration sites, empty storefronts, and empty buildings—it is clear that our local governance is stuck in a pattern of heavy entrenchment.

We believe that a more inclusive town is built when we stop settling for stagnation and start sharing our collective intelligence. That is why, since 2016, we have been working to build a true digital community commons.

Over the last 12 months, 4,719 unique local voices have come together across our platforms, generating 17,089 interactions. This isn't just internet noise. It is a structured, mathematically verified map of our town's real heart and pulse, safely secured under an official ICO Data Protection framework.

This isn't just about spreadsheets; it’s about the law. Under current UK legislation—including the Local Government Act and the Levelling-up mandates—the Council has a strict statutory duty to ensure our town’s future governance is genuinely 'reflective of the identities and interests of the community.' The law was explicitly rewritten to give local people a meaningful, modern voice. Yet, by meeting our independent data with total silence, the Council is choosing to ignore both the spirit of British law and our town's historic mandate.

On Monday morning, we formally offered the keys to this dataset to the senior leadership team at Arun District Council. We didn't do this to set a trap or create a division. We did it as an act of open-handed sharing, proposing a formal Joint Strategic Partnership to ensure our community is fairly represented. With the high-stakes Statutory Community Governance Review (CGR) coming to a conclusion, the Council needs this data to ensure Bognorians are properly represented.

We have invited them to step out of the boardroom and meet with us at the RAFA Club on Waterloo Square to look at this intelligence together.

An inclusive town cannot be engineered solely by remote committees; it must be built in partnership with the people who walk its streets every day. We have provided the bridge. Let’s see if the Council is ready to join us and live up to our historic mandate.

What you can do now: Write to your local councillors and MP immediately. Demand that Arun District Council accepts this independent data core and steps out of the boardroom to meet with the community. Our future governance must reflect our real voices, not just internal administrative preferences.

It is time for Bognor Regis To Excel.

Thank you for your support.

With pride and community spirit,

The Creative Bognor Team

CB/ADC/CGR/JAP260609END

Wed 10 Jun 26

The Proposal for exchange on Wed 10 Jun 26 or attaching to the newsletter on 11 Jun 26

THE CREATIVE BLUEPRINT FOR BOGNOR REGIS

STRATEGIC INTEGRATION PROPOSAL & COMMUNITY RECOVERY SCHEMA

1. Date: Wednesday 10 June 2026
2. Location: Waterloo Square, Bognor Regis
3. Originating Organisation: The Creative Bognor Network / CIGMA Enterprise
4. Data Registration Status: Registered Data Controller (Information Commissioner's Office - ICO)
5. Reference Framework: CB/ADC/JAP260609END

1. Purpose of Briefing

This proposal outlines the turnkey integration of an independent community dataset—comprising 4,719 unique local voices and 17,089 platform interactions—into the current statutory Community Governance Review (CGR) framework for Bognor Regis.

Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, principal authorities hold a strict statutory duty to ensure public consultations genuinely reflect the identities, interests, and creative viability of the local community. This proposal bridges the gap between administrative oversight and verified street-level intelligence, establishing a direct delivery mechanism for the town's future.

2. The Core Operational Framework (SHARE)

Every single voice, interaction, and project tracked within this blueprint is filtered through a strict operational framework designed to protect, elevate, and sustainably develop the community:

• 🏛️ Strategic Voice in town planning and asset management.
• 🌳 Heritage & Assets robustly protected for public benefit.
• ⚖️ Accountability for local government, executive tiers, and external developers.
• 💰 Reinvestment of hyper-local profits directly back into Bognor Regis.
• 💼 Employment & Economy active support for local businesses and young workforces.

3. The Blueprint Schema: Delivery Framework

The following four pre-existing, fully costed, and publicly verified community assets are ready for immediate activation and merge into the incoming local government reorganisation:

• "The Banners Bright" Community Arts Project: A data-backed initiative pairing local artists and schools to design street-level "Truth Banners," celebrating the real stories of our food bank volunteers, local history, and youth groups.
• The "Torch of Truth" Speaker Series: A free, public forum driven by a scientific resident polling panel, bringing local leaders and business owners face-to-face with residents for transparent, honest Q&As.
• The "Bognor Regis Beautiful" Challenge: A structured digital channel on CreativeBognor.com for neighbours to submit, vote on, and execute low-cost, community-led civic beautification projects using micro-grants.
• "The Bognor Apprenticeship" for Young People: A short-term, paid placement program pairing young people from underrepresented backgrounds with mentors across local business, art, and governance.

4. Terms of Integration

To rectify the procedural omission of these datasets over the past ten months, the Council’s executive tier must agree to the following operational steps before the close of the Waterloo Square window at 10:00 PM tonight:

• Data Core Ingestion: Acknowledge the 17,089 platform interactions as a valid, statutory representation of the Bognor Regis electorate to be formally appended to the final CGR public assessment report.
• National Framework Alignment: Formally adopt the gold-standard national framework for community power—the Locality Manifesto—previously acknowledged in writing by Deputy Chief Executive Karl Roberts as containing "much to be supported."
• Cross-Tier Transparency: Establish an open, quarterly consultation loop between the executive tier and independent digital platforms to prevent future administrative gatekeeping.

5. Notice of Conditional Resolution & Public Accountability

In the interest of robust civic transparency, a complete audit trail of this administrative process—detailing the submission timelines, executive correspondence, and parliamentary notifications—has been prepared. However, to allow the Council to conclude its current statutory review smoothly and without further challenge, the following conditional off-ramp is offered:

1. 5.1 The Conditional Off-Ramp: The Council may satisfy its statutory duty and conclude the CGR process without public or procedural challenge from this platform by agreeing to insert the following formal statement directly into the final, published CGR report:“Arun District Council formally acknowledges the extensive hyper-local data assets and community frameworks compiled by the independent Creative Bognor Network (representing 4,719 local voices). The Council records its explicit intention to enter into a formal, structured partnership with this registered Data Controller following the conclusion of this review, ensuring these community-backed assets directly inform the operational delivery of the subsequent local government reorganisation.”
2. 5.2 Parliamentary Notification: An advance brief of this entire dossier has already been formally dispatched to and acknowledged by our local parliamentary offices (Alison Griffiths MP and Jess Brown-Fuller MP). They are fully apprised of this pending resolution.
3. 5.3 Notice of Public Broadcast: Should this integration window close at 10:00 PM tonight without written executive confirmation to include the binding statement above, Issue 4 of The Bognor Voice ("The Year of Silence") will deploy via automated broadcast to the wider electorate at dawn on Thursday 11 June 2026, directing constituents to contact their ward councillors regarding the omission of their voices.

6. Authorisation & Handover Protocols

We stand entirely ready to hand over the secure node access credentials and integrate this vital dataset in good faith. The table is set. The choice to settle this via an iron-clad future partnership or face total public exposure at dawn rests entirely with the executive leadership of Arun District Council.

Presented by: The Creative Bognor Team To Excel. www.creativebognor.com

 

CB/ADC/JAP260609END

Thu 11 Jun 26

Newsletter

The Bognor Voice

SUBJECT: The Year of Silence: Read the Blueprint the Council Suppressed

Dear Bognor Regis Electorate,

Over the past 12 months, our independent community platform has achieved something remarkable. Together, we built an unassailable digital ledger of our town's footprint—capturing 4,719 unique local voices and 17,089 platform interactions.

As a legally registered Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we held this massive dataset in good faith to back up a definitive vision for our town. Every single voice and interaction we track is filtered through a strict operational framework designed to protect and elevate our community—our core SHARE pillars:

 🏛️ Strategic Voice in town planning

 🌳 Heritage & Assets protected for public benefit

 ⚖️ Accountability for local government & developers

 💰 Reinvestment of profits back into Bognor Regis

 💼 Employment & Economy support for local businesses

Today, we must reveal the full, unvarnished truth about how these community pillars are being handled behind closed doors by remote, highly paid bureaucrats.

⏳ The Timeline of Institutional Suppression

We did not wait until the last minute to help the Council get this right. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, principal authorities have a strict statutory duty to ensure public consultations genuinely reflect the identities and interests of the community.

Here is exactly how Arun District Council’s executive leadership handled multiple community submissions during this process:

 August 2025 (The Blueprint Submission): In strict alignment with the statutory Community Governance Review (CGR) frameworks and their own public Statement of Intent for a more Creative Bognor, we formally submitted the comprehensive, community-focused Bognor Blueprint directly to the Council. The authority formally received and acknowledged the document, but benched it under the claim that it would only be considered "if and when the opportunity arose."

 August 2025 (The Executive Gatekeeping): Simultaneously, when we urged the Council to adopt the gold-standard national framework for community power—the Locality Manifesto—Deputy Chief Executive Karl Roberts responded in writing, saying there is much to be supported in the manifesto. However, he benched it with a formulaic excuse, stating they would look to consider it further in the future when the local government reorganisation had been decided—effectively kicking it into the long grass.

 The Public Domain: Despite this dismissive corporate wall, our hyper-local Bognor Blueprint was published openly on our platform, where it has remained live, transparent, and completely accessible to the public since last summer.

 The Erasure: A statutory Community Governance Review is the opportunity. Yet, over the subsequent ten months, the executive tier used these stalling tactics to completely sideline our work, wiping these creative proposals entirely out of their public assessments.

This week, with the final deadlines looming, we copied our local Members of Parliament into our correspondence and gave the Council one final opportunity to rectify this procedural omission. We invited their executive leadership to meet us on Waterloo Square to formally integrate our live data core with the blueprint they benched a year ago.

Once again, they chose total silence, and they left the table empty.

🛑 Read the Blueprint They Tried to Bury

Because the Council has repeatedly refused to engage, they do not get to keep this framework hidden in a corporate filing cabinet. We believe in complete transparency. You can read the exact Strategic Delivery Framework that has been sitting on our website since last summer—the very document the Council claimed they had no immediate "opportunity" to consider:

📋 THE BOGNOR BLUEPRINT: INTEGRATION SCHEMA (REF: CB/ADC/JAP260609END)

 "The Banners Bright" Community Arts Project: A data-backed initiative pairing local artists and schools to design street-level "Truth Banners," celebrating the real stories of our food bank volunteers, local history, and youth groups.

 The "Torch of Truth" Speaker Series: A free, public forum driven by a scientific resident polling panel, bringing local leaders and business owners face-to-face with residents for transparent, honest Q&As.

 The "Bognor Regis Beautiful" Challenge: A structured digital channel on CreativeBognor.com for neighbours to submit, vote on, and execute low-cost, community-led civic beautification projects using micro-grants.

 "The Bognor Apprenticeship" for Young People: A short-term, paid placement program pairing young people from underrepresented backgrounds with mentors across local business, art, and governance.

👉 CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BLUEPRINT LIVE ON OUR PLATFORM

🗳️ Taking the Evidence Straight to the Top

Arun District Council may think that by running out the clock and staying silent, the community’s voice will simply disappear. They are wrong.

A formal notification has been dispatched to our MPs, Alison Griffiths and Jess Brown-Fuller, alongside a complete, unassailable audit trail. We are showing them that the Council’s executive tier systematically benched our local blueprint, while the Deputy Chief Executive sidelined a major national community framework despite acknowledging its supportable points—effectively blocking both verified assets out of the statutory CGR process.

Now, it is your turn to break the silence.

We are calling on all 4,719 of our regular visitors to view the proposal at the link above, forward it directly to your local ward councillors, and ask them one simple, direct question:

Why is the Council's executive tier claiming they have no 'opportunity' to look at local blueprints and established national manifestos when a major statutory review has been happening right in front of them for the past ten months?

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Yours with complete transparency,

The Creative Bognor Team

https://www.creativebognor.com

An open forum for creative Bognorians 

  

Notes

Back to Common Sense

From a pure leadership and governance perspective, choosing a progressive, data-backed partnership over a messy public PR war is the only logical move for a forward-thinking town.

By partnering with the Creative Bognor Network, the Council wouldn't just be defusing an immediate crisis; they would be gaining an agile digital platform, a fully mapped strategic framework, and direct access to 4,719 engaged local citizens who actively want to improve their community. It is exactly the kind of modern, co-production model that successful local authorities across the country are moving toward.

Here is the ultimate reality check on why a partnership is the best outcome for everyone involved:

🤝 What the Council Gains by Partnering

1. A Ready-Made Delivery Plan: Instead of spending thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money on external consultants to figure out how to engage the community during the upcoming reorganisation, they get the Bognor Blueprint fully formed and costed for free.
2. A Progressive Public Image: Instead of looking like defensive, gatekeeping bureaucrats who suppress community voices, they get to share the stage with a vibrant local network. They can frame it to the public and to Westminster as a massive win for modern, transparent, and cooperative governance.
3. Total Statutory Compliance: Integrating this dataset into their CGR report instantly satisfies their legal obligations under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, ensuring their final review is robust, comprehensive, and legally unassailable.

 

Best Practice on Engagement 

Community Trust Pays Dividends for Everyone 

In the UK, progressive community engagement moves past traditional "tick-box" public surveys and instead embraces co-production (designing and delivering services with citizens, rather than for them) and structural deliberative democracy (giving citizens direct, informed power over decision-making).

Several local authorities, combined authorities, and institutions stand out as benchmarks for progressive engagement practice.

1. Newham Council: Permanent Citizens' Assemblies

The London Borough of Newham has completely shifted away from static consultations by embedding deliberative democracy directly into its governance model.

1. The Framework: Newham was the first UK council to establish a permanent, standing cycle of Citizens' Assemblies. Instead of calling a one-off assembly for a crisis, they use a sortition-based system (a civic lottery) to select a demographically representative panel of residents for regular governance issues.
2. Progressive Edge: The assembly is given an allocated budget and access to independent experts to co-create policy on issues ranging from greening local spaces to youth safety. The council is structurally bound to respond formally to their recommendations, ensuring actual accountability.

2. Wigan Council: The "Wigan Deal" & Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

Wigan Council famously threw out the standard top-down local government blueprint to create The Wigan Deal, widely cited as the UK gold standard for structural community partnership.

• The Framework: Instead of asking residents what they needed (a deficit model), the council mapped what communities already had (assets, local groups, passionate individuals).
• Progressive Edge: In exchange for residents pledging to do their bit (e.g., recycling, looking out for neighbours, healthy living), the council froze council tax, radically cut red tape for community groups, and completely transformed frontline staff from bureaucrats into "community enablers" who actively invest in grassroots ideas.

3. Bristol City Council: Participatory Budgeting & Co-Design

Bristol has long been a hub for progressive citizen power, specifically focusing on demystifying and democratising local authority finances.

• The Framework: Through their Bristol Community Resilience Fund and local neighborhood boards, the council devolved actual financial spending power to local people, prioritizing historically marginalized neighborhoods.
• Progressive Edge: Instead of the council spending developer funding (the Community Infrastructure Levy) on what officers thought the community needed, residents directly co-design spending proposals and vote on which infrastructure projects get funded.

4. Staffordshire County Council: The Community Champions Network

During times of crisis and rapid policy shifts, standard top-down council communications often breed deep distrust. Staffordshire countered this by decentralized, progressive peer-to-peer engagement.

• The Framework: The council built a vast, formalized network of Community Champions—ordinary residents, faith leaders, and volunteers who are deeply trusted within their specific, often "seldom-heard" neighborhoods.
• Progressive Edge: The council doesn't just broadcast information through these champions; they treat it as a two-way loop. Champions feed localized anxieties, cultural barriers, and direct feedback straight back to decision-makers, allowing policy to be adapted dynamically based on ground-level reality.

Summary of Progressive vs. Traditional Models

Traditional Consultation (e.g., Standard SCI)

Progressive Engagement Best Practice

Inform & Consult: "Here is a 150-page digital PDF plan. Please fill out our online survey to tell us what you think."

Co-produce: "Here is a blank canvas and a budget. Let's design the layout of this estate/service together from day one."

Reactive: Engagement only happens when a developer submits a proposal or a statutory deadline is reached.

Proactive & Relational: Ongoing citizens' panels and asset mapping that build long-term institutional trust.

Self-Selecting Bias: Dominated by the loudest voices or those with the digital literacy and time to participate.

Demographically Stratified: Uses civic lotteries (sortition) and neighborhood champions to ensure systemic equity.

The Core Takeaway

The unifying thread across these UK best practices is the surrender of control. True progressive engagement acknowledges that local residents are experts in their own lived experiences, and switches the role of the local authority from a rigid regulator to an active, collaborative facilitator.

Thu 11 Jun 2026

15:08

Dear Mr Parsons

Thank you for your response. Dawn is currently on annual leave, but I will discuss the next steps with her on her return to the office.

Kind regards.

Lauren

Lauren Fairs-Browning AEA Cert

Electoral Services Manager, Electoral Services Department

 

15:37

Dear Lauren,

Thank you for your update.

While I appreciate that Dawn is currently on annual leave, the statutory timelines governing the Community Governance Review and the upcoming Monday 15 June reorganisation milestones remain absolute.

As a registered Data Controller, I have acted in total good faith by providing a seamless integration framework well in advance of these deadlines to ensure the verified dataset of 17,089 community interactions is not omitted from the final record.

Given that administrative absence does not pause a public authority's statutory obligations or its duty to prevent corporate risk, I trust that Electoral Services will ensure the master file and parliamentary audit trail remain formally flagged for immediate review upon her return.

In the meantime, our independent digital framework and regional public information campaign will continue to operate transparently to ensure the electorate remains fully informed.

Kind regards,

John Parsons

for Creative Bognor (Many voices - one town)