Meeting call as Gove to visit Sussex

MP Michael Gove – who became Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities last year – will attend a fundraising dinner for the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Conservative Association on May 13.

The local conservative association said non-party members were ‘welcome as guests’ at the event which will cost £39 per head.

But some councillors and residents have called on Mr Gove to meet with them to discuss concerns over housing.

In a letter to Mr Gove, the leader of Arun District Council’s Independent group, Tony Dixon, invited him to ‘name a time and place’ for a meeting.

The letter reads: “We wrote to you on 7 February 2022 to outline some of the problems our district is currently facing.

“The response, sent on your behalf, failed to address these concerns and so we remain concerned that some of the more local issues are not yet fully understood by government.”

When asked if Mr Gove would meet with councillors and residents, a spokesman from his constituency office said: “The dinner on 13 May is a private event for his old friend and colleague Nick Gibb, and it would not be appropriate to discuss planning matters.”

The West Sussex Gazette has been campaigning on housing issues for many months, joining its sister titles across Sussex in calling for action over unsustainable housing numbers – largely as a result of the influence of central government calculations.

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