In 2025, Bognor Regis Town Council will celebrate its 40th birthday! Following the abolishment of Bognor Urban Council, which had been at the centre of local government from 1894 to 1974, the Local Government Act of 1972 brought into fruition Arun District Council, merging the urban districts of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, the municipal borough of Arundel and parts of Chichester and Worthing rural districts. Bognor Regis Town Council is one of 159 town and parish councils in West Sussex. Arun is one of seven district and borough councils in the county and West Sussex County Council the other principal council providing services to Bognor Regis.
Bognor Regis Town Council provides local services for residents and visitors that improve the quality of life, such as floral displays, events, allotments and improved street-care services. It endeavours to advocate for the town to other statutory providers, such as the District and County Councils and Sussex Police. It does this by commenting on planning applications, consultations or perhaps taking other authorities to task on matters of concern.
The first Mayor of Bognor Regis Town Council in 1985 was the late Alderman, Mrs Pat Stinchcombe, who was a driving force behind the formation of Bognor Regis Neighbourhood Council, the forerunner of our present Bognor Regis Town Council today. Unlike the year long term in the Mayoral office today, Mrs Stinchcombe served in the Chair for the first two years of Bognor Regis Town Council’s formation, with Cllr Tom Boothman taking over the reins for the following four years.
In 1992, the Town Council, still in its infancy, ‘lead the way in enhancing local democracy’, being the first Town to consult with their electorate and abide by the outcome of such consultation, through a town poll also known as a referendum. Not only was this a great example of democracy, but Bognor Regis Town Council made history, with this having been the first time electronic polling machines had been used in Britain. This information was reported to the general public, through the Town Council’s 1993 newsletter, by then Mayor and current Town Councillor, Cllr Francis Oppler.
The Town Council has always championed the maintaining of important community assets in Bognor Regis, from the referendum to save The Regis Centre, Museum, weather station and public toilets in the 1990’s to the purchasing of the Picturedrome Cinema in 2010.
Our coat of arms which celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2025, features the six martlets of Sussex with the arms of Sir Richard Hotham, the founder of Bognor as a seaside resort. In 1929, Bognor was granted the Royal Suffix of “Regis” by King George V and in 1935, Bognor Regis was granted a genuine coat of arms. The official grant of arms is housed in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall and kept covered to protect it from light but traditionally uncovered during official Council Meetings. In 1944, the residents of Bognor Regis had the opportunity to choose their own motto and on 25th June 1945 it was recommended that the chosen motto “To Excel” should be adopted.