August 22nd, 2019.


At a recent Seaford Town Council meeting there was an agenda item for the Council to consider forming a working party to research and report back to the full Council later in the year in relation to Lewes District Council’s proposal for a Seaford Health Hub at The Downs Leisure Centre.

Unfortunately, this item was misinterpreted as being a public debate about the Health Hub decision itself. This led to a large number of members of the public wishing to attend the meeting, but the Town Council was not able to accommodate them all, due to fire regulations. However, the maximum number of members of the public - 24 - were allowed in.

To defer the item to a later date would have been counterproductive, as the Town Council needed to act quickly in setting up the Working Party if it is to respond to Lewes District Council in line with its processes.

In light of this confusion, the Town Council would like to remind members of the public that although meetings are open to the public (on matters which are not personally or commercially sensitive), questions or statements made at meetings must be related to an item on the agenda and not general matters.

To assist members of the public with future meetings, the Town Council will ensure that meeting agendas will not only (as they are now) be published on the Town Council’s website, noticeboard, TIC and the Library, but also posted on Facebook to help members of the public to understand the items to be discussed prior to the meeting.

On the day of the meeting, the Town Council will display a notice advising on the maximum number of seats in the public gallery and when full a further notice will be displayed.