Statement from the Chairman

Rother Association of Local Councils (RALC) is an association representing Local Councils in the Rother District of East Sussex.

The purpose of the association is to encourage, represent and advise its member councils and ensure that their voices are heard at District and County level. We meet quarterly with 30 of the 31 Parish and Town Councils in Rother being RALC members.

We work closely with Rother District Council, and lobby East Sussex County Council, and Sussex Police to draw attention to issues and problems affecting residents of our Rother District.

Over the next two years Local Government Reorganisation will see the replacement of both District and County Councils by a new Unitary Authority, and Devolution (A Mayor will control of the strategic direction of Sussex and work with the new Unitary Authority). These changes will redefine both the role of RALC and how we interact with the new Unitary and Mayor to give Parish and Town Councils a voice.

Legislation enabling these changes is not yet clear about the role of Parish and Town Councils in the new structure. To understand the impact of these changes we have set up a working group to assess how we will best able to represent residents in the future when the new Unitary Authority begins. We will also work with other District Associations in East Sussex to do this. Information on the progress of this working group can be found here on this website.

RALC’s affiliation to the East Sussex Association of Local Council (ESALC) gives members access to the wide range of services offered by this organisation and the National Association of Local Councils (NALC). It also enables issues raised at our meetings to be represented at Sussex and National Levels.

Keith Robertson, Chairman Rother Association of Local Councils

To contact RALC please email the RALC Secretary, Vicki Rutt at ralcsecretary@outlook.com