Mid Sussex & district · Local news you can trust
Lindfield Primary Academy is strong in 4 of 7 Ofsted areas and Blackthorns strong for achievement. Both met safeguarding in report cards out 9 September.
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Christmas
Burgess Hill Christmas Festival: Lights On 26 November
The four-day festival runs 26 to 29 November on Church Walk, with the lights switched on between 4pm and 7pm on the Thursday. Hours, acts and parking.
Christmas
East Grinstead Lights Switch-On: Saturday 21 November
The Big Reveal and the town council switch-on take over the High Street on Saturday 21 November, with the Christmas market on 6 December. Times to come.
Christmas
Haywards Heath Christmas Festival 2026: No Date Yet
The town council has not yet published a 2026 date. Here is what is confirmed, what 2025 looked like, and the nearby festive dates already fixed.
Business
Mid Sussex New Companies: 86 in August, Down From 117
86 companies registered a Mid Sussex address in August, down from 117 in July. Consultancy led the field, plus a Cuckfield garage and two campsite firms.
Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath to Lewes Trains Running Again From Today
Trains between Haywards Heath and Lewes restart today, 19 days after the derailment. Network Rail renewed 500 metres of track and replaced 850 sleepers.
Bins
Mid Sussex Bin Review: Recycling Up From 45% to 61%
Six months in, Mid Sussex recycling is up from 45% to 61% and residual waste down 26.6%. But 1,108 households reported problems. Scrutiny meets Wednesday.
Planning
Mid Sussex District Plan: 1,220 Extra Homes, 7 Sept Deadline
The changes add 1,220 homes on new sites at Hurstpierpoint, Sayers Common and Albourne, and lift Reed's Lane to 2,000. Comments close 11.59pm on 7 September.
Local Info
Mid Sussex Bin Collection Days: Black Bin Every 3 Weeks
Food waste weekly, recycling fortnightly, black bin every three weeks in Mid Sussex. Bank holidays do not move your collection here, and only Christmas does.
Local Info
Parking in Mid Sussex: £1.20 an Hour, Free After 6pm
Mid Sussex council car parks cost £1.20 to £1.40 an hour and nothing after 6pm. Sunday is about £1 all day, and Burgess Hill's Martlets closed in March 2026.
Local Info
Mid Sussex Council Tax Bands 2026/27: £1,587 to £5,102
Every Mid Sussex parish, band A to H, for 2026/27. Band D runs from £2,381.11 in Newtimber to £2,550.89 in Cuckfield, and 76% of it goes to the county council.
Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath to Lewes Trains Off Until 1 September
No trains between Haywards Heath and Lewes until at least 1 September. Investigators found a track fault on CCTV footage taken before the derailment.
House prices
Mid Sussex House Prices Drop £6,592 in a Single Month
The average Mid Sussex home lost £6,592 in a month to £426,441, the steepest monthly fall of the seven West Sussex districts. Crawley is up 4.5%.
Mid Sussex is three towns and a lot of countryside between the Downs and the Surrey border. Haywards Heath grew up around the railway, Burgess Hill grew faster and more recently, and East Grinstead sits away to the north east with an older high street. Around them are Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield, Cuckfield, Ardingly and the villages of the Weald.
Mid Sussex News covers all of it from the public record. Mid Sussex District Council decides planning, bins, car parks and licensing; West Sussex County Council runs the roads and the schools; and inside the South Downs National Park boundary the park authority is the planning authority instead. We name which of them made a decision, every time, and link to the record.
Every fact is linked to the document it came from.