Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Planning is meant to turn housebuilding into liveable places, but across Sussex & Surrey it often feels like we are pouring concrete first and asking awkward questions later. We sit down with Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Matt Brewin (Green), James Tidy (Reform UK), Iqbal Khan and Paul Taylor-Burr to unpack why housing development planning keeps producing the same result: new estates without the shops, GP access, school places, roads, drainage and water capacity that make a community work. 

The Sussex & Surrey Soapbox Podcast digs into the structural problem: approvals sit with one council, roads and schools with another, health commissioning with the NHS, and water and sewage with private utility companies. That fragmentation makes “joined-up thinking” hard and accountability even harder. From Poundbury’s reputation for community-led design to frustrations around Haywards Heath, Copthorne, Oxted, Forgewood and Kilnwood Vale, we test what good development looks like in practice, including the promises that slip, the management fees residents end up paying, and how flooding and drainage decisions can come back to bite. 

We also tackle affordability head-on: what counts as a starter home, why “affordable housing” at 80% of market value still fails, and why empty homes and social housing supply matter. Then the debate widens to second homes, Airbnb-style holiday lets, immigration and the politics of demand. We finish with hope and practical routes forward, from stronger local plans and better long-term infrastructure funding to community campaigns like Save West of Ifield. 

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Special Guest:
– Matt Brewin, Primary School Teacher in Haywards Heath and Chair of Mid Sussex Green Party
– Paul Taylor-Burr, Community Volunteer and Parent of two children with ASD/ADHD 
Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Iqbal Khan (Tess’ Kitchen) & James Tidy (Reform UK). Host: Clive Hilton. 

The SEND system was built to protect vulnerable children, so why do so many parents across Sussex & Surrey describe it as a fight for basic understanding? We bring together a primary school teacher, councillors and parents with lived experience of ADHD and autism to talk plainly about what is happening on the ground: long waits, overstretched schools, and an EHCP process that can feel like a second full-time job.

We break down the jargon so you can follow the real choices families face: SEND, EHCNAs, EHCPs, ISP/ILPs, and the proposed move towards Individual Support Plans in the 2026 SEND white paper. From the classroom, we hear how inclusion is meant to work and why it so often collapses under funding gaps, fewer teaching assistants and rising need. We also get into the uncomfortable questions people avoid, including whether diagnosis is being underused or overused, what labels do to a child’s confidence, and how to make “reasonable adjustments” without leaving children unprepared for the real world.

The conversation goes beyond paperwork into what a fair education system should value. Are league tables and Ofsted driving better outcomes, or driving burnout and pushing schools away from flexibility? What would it take to make mainstream education genuinely accessible, and when is specialist provision the right answer? We finish with practical reflections for parents about coping, advocacy, and why some families feel pushed towards home education.

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

A slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to SPOTlight a Charity or in this case a local arts festival – Reigate Summer Festival with Tim Glynne-Jones. 

A rock set in the mouth of a tunnel, choirs in a church, an art exhibition, and a pop-up photo show inside an estate agent. Reigate Summer Festival is the kind of bold, creative and friendly idea that makes you look at your own town differently, and we’re joined by one of the organisers Tim Glynne-Jones to explain how it all comes together.

We talk through the festival weekend (19 to 21 June) and why the team describe it as a mini Edinburgh in Surrey: music, dance, drama, poetry, literature, film, photography, fashion and more, much of it free to enjoy. Tim shares the longer story too, from launching New Music Nights in 2013 as a platform for original songwriters, to building New Music Fest, and then widening the collaboration so multiple arts organisations can help shape a true general arts festival right in the centre of Reigate.

You’ll get a clear guide to the layout with four key venues and stages, plus a fast-growing fringe of 30+ locations across cafés, bars, shops and community spaces. We also cover the festival’s charity partners, how donations raised around £5,000 last year, and what’s new this year including an upcycled-friendly fashion show at Ivory Lounge, more photography, more art, and low-cost workshops that make it easy to learn something new with friends or kids.

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Special Guest: Keith Collyer, Crawley Combat Academy and Shariff Boolaky, Menshare Listening Group. Plus Roundtable Featuring: Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Abigail Chapman-Miller & Iqbal Khan. Host: Clive Hilton. 

A knife doesn’t just threaten one person, it detonates consequences across families, schools, and whole streets. We sit down to talk honestly about knife crime, why the fear of being attacked pushes some young people to carry blades, and why places like Crawley feel the pressure so sharply. Along the way we challenge the comforting myths, including the idea that it is only “gang stuff” or that it can be solved with one slogan.

Keith Collyer from Crawley Combat Academy explains what real-world knife awareness looks like: spotting pre-attack indicators, managing distance, moving with purpose, and escaping rather than trying to win a fight. We also hear personal stories of being stabbed, surviving threats, and the numb shock that hits even when you think you know what to do. The conversation keeps returning to trauma and the ripple effect, and why counselling and support are vital for victims and families who are left carrying it for years.

We then zoom out to prevention: county lines, youth violence, easy access to kitchen knives, parenting awareness, and the debate around policing, stop and search, and deterrence. Abigail Chapman-Miller shares what it means when youth services disappear and you only qualify for help after you’ve been convicted, while Shariff Boolaky from Menshare Listening Group talks about education, responsibility, and creating routes out for young people who feel trapped by their environment. 

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

 Special Guests: 

– Michelle Lucas, Only Dogs Ltd – an award winning Dog grooming business on Lingfield High Street.

– Sami Ella Bristow, Blossoms Brunch & Coffee – a thriving community cafe in Godstone adept at navigating the challenges of rising costs & the sinkhole!

Plus Roundtable Featuring: Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Georgie Lucas, Aga Es, Abigail Chapman-Miller, James Tidy & Magdalena Rahman. Host: Clive Hilton. 

The high street is not dying because people do not care; it is changing because online convenience, rising costs and shifting habits make old retail models hard to sustain. We hear from local business owners and residents on what is really squeezing independents and what a more service-led, community high street could look like. 

• rising costs for small businesses, from VAT and wages to commercial utilities and rates 
• the impact of disruption and access, including road closures and parking pressure 
• why taking on a shop lease feels like high-stakes risk versus reward 
• how service businesses like grooming and hospitality keep footfall local 
• the Amazon effect, price gaps, reviews and the lure of next day delivery 
• fast fashion, returns culture, waste and sustainability on the high street 
• what people miss most, from Woolworths to M&S, and what would bring them back 
• realistic optimism around quality, community spirit and younger generations