Orders made 7 October: a 25-seat Parish Council of Horsham replaces the town and North Horsham councils from 1 April 2027, with a £1,012,756 first budget.

It is decided. Horsham Town Council and North Horsham Parish Council will both be wound up on 1 April 2027. A single council, The Parish Council of Horsham, takes over the whole town that day.

Horsham District Council made the legal orders at Full Council on Wednesday 7 October. The council announced the decision on 8 October. It also confirmed boundary changes in five other parts of the district.

The merger is the option most North Horsham respondents opposed. In the second consultation, 60.5% of them backed keeping two councils. The district council’s committee report accepted that and recommended the merger anyway, as we reported before the vote.

What the Horsham order says

The text is in Reorganisation Order No. 4, one of six orders in the Full Council papers. It sets out:

  • the parishes of Horsham and North Horsham are amalgamated and “shall cease to exist”
  • the part of the Mowbray development now in Rusper parish moves into the new parish
  • the new council has 25 councillors in six wards
  • all 25 are elected together on the ordinary election day in 2027, which is Thursday 6 May
  • both councils’ staff transfer to the new council on the same terms and conditions
  • the district council’s monitoring officer calls the new council’s first meeting, within 14 days of councillors taking office

The six wards and their seats, from Schedule 1 of the order:

Ward Councillors
Denne 4
Forest 5
Holbrook 5
Mowbray 3
Roffey 5
Trafalgar 3

The first budget is already fixed

The order specifies a sum of £1,012,756 for the new parish. It is set under regulation 3 of the Local Government Finance (New Parishes) (England) Regulations 2008. That regulation exists because a new parish has no elected council when the year’s council tax is set, so the order supplies the figure instead.

The committee report described these sums as estimates that “may not reflect the precise 2027/28 budget requirements”. Once elected, the new council sets its own budget.

What that means per household is not yet published. It depends on the tax base the district council sets for the new parish this winter.

Two community centres change hands in July

Schedule 2 of the same order moves two district council buildings to the new council on 1 July 2027:

  • Park Barn, part of Horsham Park
  • the Needles Neighbourhood Centre, on land at Granary Way, Shandy’s Close, Blackbridge Lane and Arunside

Rusper Parish Council keeps one thing. Its parish gates along Rusper Road are expressly excluded from the transfer of Rusper’s assets in the Mowbray area.

Timeline of the Horsham parish changes. 7 October 2026: Full Council makes six reorganisation orders. 1 April 2027: Horsham Town Council and North Horsham Parish Council wound up, new parishes and boundaries take effect. 6 May 2027: first elections to the Parish Council of Horsham, 25 seats, and Kilnwood Vale, 12 seats. 1 July 2027: Park Barn and the Needles Neighbourhood Centre transfer to the new council.
Graphic by Horsham Daily, from Horsham District Council's reorganisation orders Nos. 1 to 6.
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The other five orders

The council’s release summarises every change. The detail below is from each order.

  • Kilnwood Vale becomes its own parish with a 12-seat council (Order No. 5, PDF). Its first-year sum is £28,222.83. Colgate is renamed Colgate and Faygate, and its council passes £12,000 to the new council on 1 April 2027.
  • Small Dole moves wholly into Upper Beeding parish, which becomes Upper Beeding and Small Dole (Order No. 3, PDF). It will have 13 councillors: 10 for Upper Beeding ward and 3 for Small Dole ward. Henfield loses its wards but keeps 15 councillors.
  • Southwater takes in the new development in the north of Shipley parish (Order No. 6, PDF). It gets three new wards: Southwater North (4 councillors), Southwater Central (6) and Southwater South (5).
  • Broadbridge Heath takes the area containing Lower Broadbridge Farm from Slinfold (Order No. 2, PDF). The council says 133 homes are planned there.
  • Bramber takes the whole of Bramber Brooks from Steyning (Order No. 1, PDF).

No other parish boundary in the district changes.

What it means for you

Nothing changes on your doorstep before April. Your current town or parish councillors stay in office until then.

  • If you live in Horsham town or North Horsham, you will vote for the new council on 6 May 2027, in one of the six wards above. The parish part of your 2027/28 council tax will be based on the £1,012,756 in the order.
  • If you want to stand, all 25 seats are open at the first election. Nomination dates have not been published yet.
  • If you live in Kilnwood Vale, Small Dole, north Shipley or Lower Broadbridge Farm, your parish changes on 1 April 2027.
  • If you use Park Barn or the Needles centre, the building changes owner on 1 July 2027. The order says nothing about bookings or charges.

The committee report said the revised boundaries would go into the electoral register by 1 February 2027, with the usual 1 December register held back to allow it. The ward maps are deposited at the district council’s offices and attached to the order PDFs.

This review sits alongside a bigger change. Horsham District Council itself is due to be replaced under West Sussex local government reorganisation. The council’s release says a single Horsham parish gives “a sustainable foundation for the future, particularly in the context of anticipated local government reorganisation”.

Sources