Surrey & Sussex Breakfast Briefing: the impact on planning and development of local government reorganisation and devolution.

On Friday, 15th May 2026, Chelgate Local and Vail Williams co-hosted a Local Government and Devolution Breakfast Briefing at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey. The event was chaired by Nick Wood- Dow, deputy lieutenant of Surrey and Chelgate deputy chairman.  

Nick Wood-Dow kickstarted the event after 45 attendees enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast buffet. He welcomed the audience to Denbies Wine Estate and introduced the four speakers: Michael Hardware, Cllr Marisa Heath, Katy Bourne OBE and Chris Wilmshurst.   

The first speaker was Michael Hardware, Chelgate Local’s director and also the cabinet member for local government reorganisation and devolution at Harlow Council. Michael provided an overview and background of local government reorganisation and devolution and briefly discussed the impact of the May 2026 local election results in Essex. He highlighted Conservative success in Harlow with the party taking all 11 wards and all five county divisions. Essex County Council overall was different with Reform UK elected to 53 seats, gaining control of the council. Reform is opposed to local government reorganisation, so the future is uncertain. Michael mentioned mayoral elections were postponed in Essex, and also local elections, although they were subsequently reinstated.   

Our second speaker was Cllr Marisa Heath, cabinet member for the environment and planning at Surrey County Council. Marisa discussed the new planning map and the two new unitary councils:  East Surrey and West Surrey. These replacing the two-tier council model with one unitary. She also highlighted the key milestones for planning teams and applicants and the importance of development teams and councillors working closely together. In addition, she discussed the changes for planning and development and the potential gains and transition risks of the spatial development strategies (SDS).  

Katy Bourne OBE, the Surrey police and crime commissioner (PCC), was the next speaker. Katy discussed what local government reorganisation looks like in Sussex and highlighted the importance of a mayor and parish councils. She suggested planning authorities would collapse with less integration and highlighted the importance of planning and development in the meetings of the ‘council of regions’, which is all the mayors and the deputy prime minister, and ‘council of the nations’, which is the Uk countries chaired by the prime minister. Katy is the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of Sussex and Brighton in the 2028 mayoral election and highlighted if she was mayor, she would ensure voices are heard from parish and town councils as a local voice is always needed. 

The final speaker was Chris Wilmshurst, partner at Vail Williams with over 35 years’ experience in both local government and private consultancy. Chris took a technical approach regarding planning and devolution and discussed spatial development strategies (SDS), highlighting the principles and do’s and don’ts. He mentioned SDS will  identify broad location for growth and development, and these should not be inconsistent with national policy. They will facilitate development and thus grow economies and improve the environment and climate resilience.

Overall, the event provided a good insight into the local government reform and devolution in Surrey and Sussex and how it is to likely impact councils. The caveat is that much of the detail has yet to be decided by the government, and a lot of arrangements will be left to the new unitary councils and new mayors once elected.