"Hard boundary" between Crawley and Reigate "makes no sense" ahead of Gatwick expansion, says council leader
Councillors are meeting today to discuss bringing the towns - which are connected by the airport - together with their own council
Last updated 7th May 2025
The leader of Crawley Borough Council says creating a "hard boundary" between the town and Reigate would make "no sense" ahead of a potential expansion of Gatwick.
It's as councillors are today meeting to discuss creating a new council to connect the town with Reigate, after concerns that if bids for devolution in both Sussex and Surrey are successful, it could have a huge impact on the local economy.
With Gatwick Airport between the two, they bring in the most money in the sub-region - around £13 billion - but it's thought each side being led by separate, elected mayors could affect the key decision making it so successful.
Crawley Borough Council leader, Michael Jones, said:
"All we're doing is attempting to answer the question that if you draw the lines for a new Council area - with the instruction from central government that it has to be significantly larger than how we're now arranged in Crawley Borough - how would you draw that new boundary in a way that best protects the existing identity of the area, but also makes sure we're going in with communities that we share more in common with and brings the best town planning that makes for successful, healthy communities?
"It makes no sense that on the brink of Gatwick expansion that in we put a hard boundary across what is one of the biggest economic areas in the region, and it also makes no sense for the public services to transport and and all the facilities that we need. "
"We need to have some grown up discussions about that and that's what we're doing."
The proposal had to be submitted by 9 May in line with the accelerated programme of Local Government Reform in Surrey, which is on a different timeline to West Sussex, where the deadline for proposals is the 26 September.