Thursday 20 November, 2025

By David Grantham

In this issue: views are being sought on plans to create parish and town councils across the borough - and locally that could mean a Reigate Town Council and a Redhill Town Council, or a combined body. And in other news, a planning application to narrow a private road continues to attract comment.

News in brief

Gatton Community Theatre is performing Nativity, 4-13 December, at All Saints Church, South Merstham. The production has a “different, adult, perspective” compared to usual Nativity plays, with GCT saying that it “hopes to bring to life this much loved story on which our shared faith is based and hopes to involve, engage and inspire as many people as possible.” Details and tickets here (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (unsuitable for children under 8).

Free trees: Surrey County Council is giving away (Si apre in una nuova finestra) small and medium native trees species, such as crab apple and hazel, at some of its community recycling centres, including locally in Earlswood. It’s part of Surrey’s aim to plant 1.2 million trees, one for each resident, by 2030. Collection dates are 28-29 November, and 1 December, and must be booked online. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Community assets: organisations have until 2 December to formally express an interest in acquiring some of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s land and buildings, such as community halls, sports pavilions, allotments and open spaces. The scheme (Si apre in una nuova finestra) aims to ensure the assets continue to meet the needs of local people after the council is dissolved in April 2027 as part of the move to a unitary authority. Grant funding is also available for those already running, or wanting to run, community assets.

The sunken manhole cover that closed Bell Street unexpectedly for a few days at the start of this month belonged to Virgin Media, not Thames Water as originally believed by Surrey Highways, Reigate MP Rebecca Paul has said (Si apre in una nuova finestra). The road was shut southbound Fri 31 Oct (evening) - Tuesday 4 Nov (morning).

The planning inquiry into Solum’s proposed redevelopment of Redhill station, to include 255 flats, is due to resume on 24 November. Solum is appealing the earlier refusal by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. Local campaigners continue to oppose (Si apre in una nuova finestra) the scheme.

Town councils put forward for Reigate and Redhill

Residents can now make their views known on whether the centre of the borough should have a Reigate Town Council and a Redhill Town Council, or one combined town council.

The proposals are part of the Community Governance Review being run by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, which is looking at the creation of parish and town councils for all parts of the borough.

Currently the borough has only two examples of this lowest tier of local government: Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council and Horley Town Council. Other parts of Surrey have many more - such as Tandridge with 22.

Good practice says Community Governance Reviews should take place every 10-15 years, but there hasn’t been one in that timeframe.

Technically, the review is independent of Local Government Reform (LGR) which will see two new unitary authorities, East Surrey and West Surrey, replacing Surrey County Council and its 11 boroughs and districts from April 2027.

However the unitary process has, in the view of many local politicians, added urgency to look at parish and town councils throughout Reigate & Banstead, given fears that the new unitary authority of East Surrey, stretching from Elmbridge to Tandridge, will cover a large area.

Additionally, the current 45 borough and 10 county councillors in Reigate & Banstead will become just 20 East Surrey councillors, giving rise to questions about councillor accessibility and workloads.

Functions of parish and town councils vary, but typically they provide a community voice, for example as a statutory consultee on planning matters. They can also provide some services such as allotments or parks, and spend some money on improvement projects.

Parish and town councillors are usually unpaid, and there is a small impact on council tax. Currently this layer of local government adds, for a Band D property, an extra £55 a year in Horley, and £33 in Salfords & Sidlow.

Reigate and Redhill - separate or together?

Locally, in the centre of the borough, one option is a town council for each of Reigate and Redhill.

New town wards would be created, each with two or three councillors. For Reigate these would be “Reigate”, “Chartfield” and “South Park and Woodhatch”, while in Redhill there would be “Merstham”, “Redhill West”, “Redhill East”, “Meadvale and Hatchlands”, and “North Earlswood”.

Alternatively, these wards could form a combined Redhill and Reigate Town Council.

Elsewhere - north and south

In the north of the borough the proposal is for a new Banstead and The Villages Parish Council.

And in the south, the existing Horley Town Council would be kept with some adjustments.

It’s also suggested that the current Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council could be extended to include the southern part of Earlswood.

Views wanted

A consultation is now running, until 5pm on 16 January: this and more information can be found here (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Details will also be delivered to households.

A decision on the new map will be agreed by Reigate & Banstead in March, with elections to the new parish and town councils in May 2027.

The current proposals were agreed for consultation at a council meeting on 6 November (Si apre in una nuova finestra), which looked at feedback from an earlier consultation exercise.

In addition to parish and town councils, residents could benefit from the creation of Neighbourhood Area Committees (Si apre in una nuova finestra) that Surrey County Council has been trialling in four areas elsewhere in Surrey, as part of their Local Government Reform work.

Borough remembers

Civic events across the borough marked Remembrance Sunday (9 Nov), among them the annual ceremony at Shaw’s Corner.

“Led by the Mayor of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead, we came together to honour all those who served during conflict. An opportunity to remember their sacrifice in defending our freedoms and way of life,” said the borough council (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Other events included the annual poppy drop (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at the Belfry shopping centre on Armistice Day (11 Nov).

Fall in burglaries

Recorded burglaries in Surrey fell by 305 in the year to August 2025, an 11% reduction.

That’s among the figures on the data hub (Si apre in una nuova finestra) launched in 2023 by Surrey Police & Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend.

Townsend said (Si apre in una nuova finestra): “Over the past year, burglary rates have dropped in Surrey, with 305 fewer reported. Under Chief Constable Tim De Meyer’s leadership, we are seeing real results on the issues that matter most to Surrey’s residents.”

She added the recently-refreshed hub allows “users to see real results in the areas they have identified as the most important.”