In summary, once traffic surveys of the current situation have taken place and the necessary legal work has been done, the bollard will come down during the week of 28 May, and will remain down until late November.  During that period further traffic surveys will be done and there will be public consultation.  A decision on the future of the bollard will then be taken by the Local Committee on the basis of the evidence.

Councillor Rois Amiah, who has lobbied Surrey County Council to undertake this evidence based review of the bollard, said:

I am very glad that the County Council has written to residents to set out clearly the process for the trial suspension of the bollard.  They will have to collect proper evidence of how the traffic patterns are affected by the lowering of the bollard, and take into account the views of local residents.

“I will play my part to ensure that the final decision is based on this evidence.”

Full text of the letter:

Dear Resident

Frenches Road – Trial Suspension of Bus Gate

In December 2011, the Surrey County Council Reigate and Banstead Local Committee approved the suspension of the bus gate at the northern end of Frenches Road on a trial basis and that residents would be informed of the proposal before carrying out any work.  The trial will involve leaving the bollard locked in the down position for six months to permit access for all traffic through the bus gate.

There has been a delay in commencing this trial, for which I apologise, but the necessary arrangements are now being made for the trial to commence.  I am writing to inform you of the process that will be followed and the expected timescales.

It is important we have a clear understanding of traffic movements in the area before the trial commences. To this effect, traffic surveys collecting information on numbers and types of vehicles, and turning movements, will be carried out over a complete week at the following junctions:

Ormside Way/Frenches Road

Frenches Road/Trowers Way

Nutfield Road/Holmesdale Avenue

The existing arrangements at the bus gate restrict access to all traffic except buses and pedal cycles and were put in place through the legal process of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  To allow all vehicles to use the bus gate, the current TRO must be suspended on an experimental basis. This requires the publication of an advertisement in the local newspaper and the display of notices on site. The bollard can then be lowered for the trial period to commence.

There will need to be minor changes made to the road markings and signs at the bus gate.  As the road narrows to a single lane at the bus gate, priority will need to be given to traffic approaching from one direction to avoid conflict. It is proposed that priority will be given to traffic approaching the gateway from the northern (Ormside Way) end of Frenches Road, with traffic from the other direction having to give way.

Once the trial has started and a period has elapsed to allow traffic movements in the area to settle, full consultation with local residents will be carried out.  This will be in addition to the statutory six-month period given as part of the TRO process for receipt of comments.  Further traffic surveys will be carried out to enable us to quantify changes in traffic patterns.  Following the end of the trial, a further report will be taken to the Local Committee to inform Members of the outcome of the trial and to seek a decision based on the traffic data and the views of local residents, on whether to remove the bollard permanently.

The expected timetable for this work is given below.  Whilst every endeavour will be made to keep to the dates given, please note they may be subject to slight change.

‘Before’ traffic surveys                   mid May

Advertisement of TRO                    17 May

Trial start                                           week commencing 28 May

Formal consultation                       week commencing 9 July

‘After’ traffic surveys                       late September

Trial end                                           week commencing 26 November

Report to Local Committee            3 December

The trial will allow officers to quantify the changes to traffic movements in the area and enable you to base your comments on the actual impact of the opening up of Frenches Road to all traffic.

I will be working closely with your local Councillors during the trial and will write to you again later this year.

Yours faithfully

Anita Guy

Senior Engineer, South East Area Team

Officers were called shortly after 3pm to reports of a group altercation in Marketfield Car Park, in Marketfield Road, behind The Abbot pub.

A man in his forties suffered serious head injuries as a result of the incident and has been taken by ambulance to St George’s Hospital in Tooting. The air ambulance was also in attendance.  The Police have subsequently reported that the man’s condition is no longer as serious as first thought.

Three men and one woman have been arrested in connection with the incident and are currently in police custody.  The Police believe that this was an isolated incident, between people who knew each other, and therefore do not believe there is an reason to expect further incidents.

A section of Marketfield Car Park has been cordoned off while enquiries continue and the scene is forensically examined.

Safer Neighbourhood Team officers will be supporting detectives in the ongoing investigation and will increase patrols in reaction to any ongoing community concerns.

Anyone who was in Redhill town centre who may have witnessed the incident or the events leading up to it is being urged to get in touch with Surrey Police. Any information could prove vital to this ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information should call either Surrey Police on 101 or independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Operations Manager, Phil Humphrey, with the vehicles

The new easy way for residents to recycle more rubbish from their homes moved a step closer this week with the arrival of the first new refuse vehicles.

The fleet of vehicles are manufactured by Dennis Eagle and NTM-GB and the Council’s collections crews have been fully trained to drive them.

Around 80 per cent of the contents of a typical refuse bin can be recycled.  The new recycling and refuse service will help to save money and keep rubbish out of landfill.

The new service will let residents reycle:

• Food waste
• Mixed plastics (bottles, tubs, pots, plastic bags)
• Glass bottles and jars
• Mixed cans
• Tetra Paks
• Foil
• Paper and cardboard.

The new service will launch from this summer for those homes with an individual wheeled refuse bin. Homes with a communal bin area, including flats, will have a bespoke service that will be rolled out from summer 2013.

All households will receive a letter telling them when their new service starts. Residents can also read more details about the new service in the next issue of Borough News magazine, which will be delivered to every household from 21 May.

Redhill East Borough Councillor, Rois Amiah, said:

Things are moving forwards with our new recycling service, which I have supported throughout, and I am looking forwards to the launch of it this summer.  Residents have had a lot of input into the design of the service, and the feedback we have received on the plans has been very positive.

“By introducing it now, after very thorough consideration and design, it will also be a very cost effective service.

“Residents will receive details of the service soon, and once we introduce it, I hope that people will recycle as much as they possibly can.”

Collections will be spread over two weeks:

Week one: Food waste, paper/card and garden waste (for those who subscribe to the garden waste service).

Week two: Food waste, paper/card plus mixed recycling and refuse.

In addition to their existing containers, as part of the new service residents will receive new ones along with a guide of what can go in them. They will get:

• a small silver kitchen food caddy
• a larger green outdoor food container and
• a grey wheeled recycling bin for mixed recycling.

Vehicles – British built

Dennis Eagle’s vehicles are all British manufactured. Richard Taylor, Sales and Marketing Director for Dennis Eagle, said:

“We’re very pleased to have been chosen to supply new Twin-Pack refuse vehicles to Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. We pride ourselves on creating vehicles that are versatile and designed to serve the specific needs of the communities in which they operate.”

Paul Westley, NTM-GB’s Managing Director, said:

“NTM are delighted to be working with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council and being successful in our tender for supplying three 15 tonne split body vehicles to assist with the Council’s new recycling service. The smaller NTM vehicles provide the ideal solution to collecting waste and recyclates in the more rural and hard to access areas of the borough. NTM look forward to following the scheme’s progress.”

For more information about the new recycling and refuse service, call 01737 276292 or visit www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/recyclemore.

The Green Apple Awards for Built Environment & Architectural Heritage recognise and reward projects that demonstrate environmental endeavour.

Whether the project has won a Gold, Silver or Bronze award will be announced at an awards ceremony in June.

Cllr Adam De Save, Executive Member for Healthy Communities, said:

“We are thrilled that the judges have chosen Horley Leisure Centre as a winner in these prestigious awards.

“From the start, we made a real effort to ensure that the centre was not only environmentally friendly in its operation but also in its design and construction. We are keen that the building’s green credentials act as an example to other developers.

“In the same week as our Green Apple Awards success was announced, the centre has also been shortlisted in the Institute of Civil Engineers Engineering Excellence Awards.”

Horley Leisure Centre, which opened in January, is almost carbon neutral in its operation and has already received an ‘A’ energy rating.

Among the centre’s wide range of sustainability measure are:

• A biomass heating system using locally sourced wood chips to heat the air and water, supplying 75% to 100% of the buildings heating need.  It is one of the only leisure centres the country with an integrated biomass boiler
• 105 roof-mounted photovoltaic panels
• Natural light and ventilation, reducing the need for electric lighting and mechanical systems
• Natural ventilation, reducing the use of mechanical systems
• An advanced Building Management System, controlling temperature, lighting and ventilation in response to use
• A UV disinfection system to clean the pool water, greatly reducing chlorine use
• Thermal pool covers which reduce water heating costs by 30%

The centre is largely constructed from sustainable materials with wooden Glulam beams providing the main structural supports.

90% of the demolition materials from the school buildings that previously occupied the site and waste wood products generated during construction were reclaimed or recycled. Also much of the masonry was reused in the centre’s construction.

In addition a number of subcontractors used on the project were local companies, providing work for local people and reducing the impact on the environment from commuting to site.

Horley Leisure Centre features a 25 metre, six lane swimming pool, teaching pool, fitness gym with 45 exercise stations and free weights, four-court multi-use sports hall and an exercise/dance studio. It also has separate male, female, family, group and disabled changing, reception with viewing gallery, cycle parking and parking for 155 cars, shared with neighbouring Horley Town Football Club.

Notes

• Horley Leisure Centre was designed by S&P Architects, who provided technical expertise for the Olympic London 2012 Aquatic Centre.
• The centre was built by Pellikaan Construction Ltd, who have completed over 900 leisure centre projects globally.
• It is run by GLL, leisure’s most successful charitable Social Enterprise who are the first leisure trust in the UK to achieve the Carbon Trust prestigious Carbon Trust Standard Award for reducing CO2 by 2% each year.
• The International Green Apple Awards for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage were launched in 2000 by The Green Organisation and are now a major award scheme recognising and rewarding environmental endeavour in this sector both in the UK and around the world.  They recognise projects that have has made a positive contribution to our built environment, or helped to preserve the country’s architectural heritage.
• Horley Leisure Centre was entered into the awards in the local authority building project category.

We are always especially sceptical (and speak to many local residents who share this scepticism) of issues which our opponents suddenly seize upon in the few weeks before an election takes place.  In our local campaigning, which continues throughout the year, we believe in highlighting what we have done whilst in office, and the positive changes we intend to pursue in future if we are re-elected – rather than focussing on the proposals made by others and trying to pick holes in them.

We do, however, believe that we should respond to criticisms (and in some cases misrepresentations) which are levelled at us, so that residents can weigh the evidence for themselves as part of the democratic process.  That is why we have produced the list of questions and answers below.  We will add to this as we become aware of further points being made, or in response to specific questions from viewers of this site (please use the comment box below).

We have grouped the questions by the following subject areas, and will add others in response to specific questions.

• Waste and recycling
• Redhill town centre
• Borough Council finances

We hope that this is useful, and welcome your feedback and further questions.

Waste and recycling

Q:  Why has it taken longer for the Council to introduce a wider range of recycling than other councils across the country?

The main reason for this is that our existing rubbish and recycling lorries have a lifespan of about 7 years, and they were last replaced in 2005 and therefore have not needed replacing until this year.  If we had wanted to introduce a new service any time between 2005 and now, it would have involved replacing or refitting lorries which still had a lot of life left in them.  We judged it to be best to wait until we needed to buy new vehicles anyway, so that the costs of the change would be minimised.

Related to this, by waiting until now we have had longer than many other councils to examine how things like recycling technology and the market for recycled materials have evolved, and choose a way of providing the service which is more cost effective.  For example whereas many councils who started collecting mixed recycling a few years ago have to pay a company to sort it into separate materials, we have been able to secure a better arrangement, working with Guildford Borough Council, where we will receive income from the recycling mixture, which will go back into providing the service.

Q:  Why won’t all properties in the Borough get the new recycling service this year?

In order to provide the best chance of a smooth introduction of the new system, we are phasing its introduction.  We have over 55,000 properties in the Borough to collect bins from each week, so it makes sense to introduce the changes gradually, so that there is less chance of problems occurring.

In general properties with their own wheelie bins (mostly houses) will get the new service in summer 2012, and properties with communal bins (mostly flats) will get it in summer 2013.

There are two main reasons for doing it this way:

• Properties with communal bins, 11,000 in total, are all very different – different bin store sizes and locations, and ranging from 2-3 flats up to hundreds.  It has been a large job in itself to map out all of these bin stores and check which of the new bins can fit into which bin stores.  We will be in a better position to deal with these complications once we have already been running the new service for a number of months.
• Properties with communal bins tend to have their own recycling facilities, or be close to recycling centres, already, whereas the other 44,000 properties are less likely to be close to facilities.

We will also be upgrading the recycling facilities at local recycling centres to use the same mixture of materials (plastics of all types, glass bottles, tetra paks and much more) as will be collected from houses, so that as many residents as possible can start benefiting from the improvements as possible.

Q:  Are there plans to build an incinerator in Redhill?

Simply, no.  We fought hard against the last proposals for an incinerator, in 2001, by arranging a petition across the whole of Redhill and thereby ensuring that the application was turned down.  Even though the immediate threat then faded away, we continued our efforts to safeguard against a future threat, and in 2008, as a result of our pressure, the planning status of Copyhold was altered so that no incinerator (or other “thermal” treatment plant) could be put there, or elsewhere in Redhill.  That status remains in place today and we will vigorously oppose any proposals to change it.

Further detail can be found on the Surrey Waste Plan website, at:

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/environment-housing-and-planning/minerals-and-waste-policies-and-plans/surrey-waste-plan/surrey-waste-plan-adopted-plan

Redhill town centre

Q:  Why has there been a recent consultation and increase in activity on the Redhill regeneration?

There are a number of related reasons.  First, changes in planning rules have given the Council freedom to put specific planning rules in place in specific areas of the Borough.  Redhill town centre was identified as needing its own set of rules (the only area to be prioritised in this way).  Unfortunately the process we have to go through to create the plan has been changed a few times by government as we have gone along, which has meant some work needed to be repeated.

Second, the Council’s latest corporate plan has made Redhill regeneration a top priority for the Council, as a result of much persuasion of our colleagues by us over the last few years, emphasising how important the town centre is to the whole Borough.  To support this the Council has created a dedicated regeneration team, and the Council’s Leader and Chief Executive have also been focussing a lot of attention directly on the subject, leading the way for the rest of the Council.

Third, and to back up the first two, the Councillor in charge of regeneration across the Borough is now from Redhill – Councillor Natalie Bramhall.  As a result the plans for Redhill are now being driven forwards by someone who lives in Redhill and knows Redhill very well.

Q:  Why not consider other things in the town centre plan, for example a town square?

The current draft of the town centre area action plan has been worked on since 2006, and has been through three rounds of public consultation.  This has involved a number of public displays in the Belfry, public meetings, online forums and feedback sites.  This generated many hundreds of ideas, which have all been considered – but inevitably choices have to be made in order to come up with a coherent plan, which means that some ideas have not been included in the final proposals.

Conversely, many of the ideas which residents suggested most certainly have been included, or were already in the draft version – for example increasing the amount of planting in the town centre, retaining community facilities, and providing more leisure and entertainment facilities.

Q:  Does more money get spent on improving Reigate than is spent on Redhill?

It is difficult to say exactly, but over the past 10 years the answer is probably “no”.  Both town centres had a similar amount spent on them in the early 2000s, on new paving and other street works, and since then both centres have received ongoing maintenance but no major publicly funded works.  The improvements currently being done in Station Road in Redhill are fully funded by the developer of the adjacent Nobel House.

Q:  Does the Council plan to reduce the amount of parking in the town centre, for example by building on Marketfield Way, Gloucester Road and Station car parks?

The draft town centre area actin plan does provide for development on these car park sites, but it also makes provision for additional car parking which would more than compensate for the loss of these sites.

For example, the expansion of Sainsbury’s, which already has planning permission, would lead to a significant increase in the number of parking spaces on the Warwick Quadrant, and is due to happen before any of the other sites would be built on.

As an additional safeguard, any development on Gloucester Road in future could only take place if there in enough parking elsewhere at that time.

And in particular we will accept no reduction in parking for the station, if Network Rail seek permission to redevelop their land.

Q:  How do the Council’s town centre plans fit with plans for residents’ parking zones?

This is not yet clear.  The County Council is responsible for looking at residents’ parking schemes, and has now committed to doing so, but the timetable is unclear.  After a previous attempt to consider a town-wide scheme, we are now intending to look at smaller scale residents’ parking, as these should be less complicated to establish.  However the difficulties and disagreements inherent in residents’ parking cannot be glossed over – it will be a tough process and we will not be able to please all residents in coming up with solutions.

We will ensure to the best of our ability that the County Council’s work on residents’ parking joins up with the town centre area action plan.

Q:  Does the Council rely on developers to support routine maintenance?

Some people say this but they have not provided any evidence to back this up – we are not aware of any examples of this.  We routinely place conditions on new developments to force the developers to “put something back” into the area adjacent to their development, for example the developer of Nobel House (formerly Lidl) is having to pay for the area at the top of Station Road to be repaved (which is far from being “routine maintenance” – much more like a facelift).

Likewise, at our insistence the developers of RedCentral and Kingsgate House had to repave the areas adjacent to their buildings, and when Sainsbury’s proceed with the expansion of their store, they will have to repave the areas next to their site.  We believe that developers should be obliged to do this, with the Council taking over responsibility once the new paving has been put in place.

Q:  Why are there “grot spots” in the town centre?

We are perhaps victims of our own desire to highlight these untidy areas, which realistically speaking occur in every town centre (even Reigate), and have been there for many, many years.  In most cases they are areas where ownership is unclear or disputed – if they were unambiguously in the Council’s control we would not have let them become grotty in the first place.

A good example is the narrow alleyway between NatWest and the Baptist Church in Station Road.  It took a number of months to ascertain the ownership (which changed part way through the investigation), then seek the landowner’s approval for the Council to put up gates.  This take a large amount of time on the part of council staff; we are sometimes asked why we don’t just go ahead and take action without landowners’ permission, but that might cause a different set of problems, such as legal challenges.

Borough Council finances

Q:  Does the Council really get over a million pounds per year for building new homes, and if so how many of these are in Redhill?

We have only just started receiving this funding (the New Homes Bonus), as it is a scheme which the current Government has only just introduced.  The first two years’ worth of funding will be just over £1.1m (you can see the figures here:  http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/2079136.xls).

It is unfortunate that the scheme has only just come in, as it only applies to new homes built from now on – we therefore don’t get any funding for all the houses built in Redhill over the past 10 years (Water Colour and Park 25 for example).  In fact, most of the new homes which will be eligible for this funding will be built in Horley.

Q:  What will this funding be used for, and why won’t it be used for youth and community facilities?

The Council has not ringfenced this funding for any specific projects, not least because we have only just started receiving it and don’t want to commit funding we have not yet received.  An opposition party did propose that it be spent on extra housing for the homeless, but to date no proposals have been received for spending it on youth or community facilities.  However, given all the projects which are coming up on regeneration in Redhill it is very likely, once these are fully planned and costed, that some of the New Homes Bonus will be spent on these things.

Q:  Is the Council being too frugal?

That is a matter of opinion, but we don’t believe we are.  We have listened to residents when they told us that they wanted us to keep Council tax down, which is why we have frozen it for the third year in a row.  The Council’s government grant is being cut by 28% over the next few years, and our income from rents and car parking is significantly down.  Therefore we have rightly focussed on controlling our costs, and responding to the current environment – for example in a recession there are fewer planning applications, so we need fewer planning officers.

We also know that there will be another government spending review next year, and it is widely expected that local government funding will be cut further than the 28% already announced.  In fact, we are expecting in the not too distant future that councils such as ours will not receive any government support whatsoever, so we believe it is sensible to retain very close control over our budgets.

Q:  Is the Council making £700,000 savings from the new recycling service?

The new service is coming in later this summer, and will mean that glass, plastics and food will be collected from households for recycling.  Some opponents have suggested that the saving will be £700,000, but we do not know how they have derived this; the Council papers from 2011 on which the decision to go ahead with the new scheme was based cited an average of £380,000 savings per year over an 8 year period.  The additional upfront cost of the new service (in particular the new vehicles), over and above a “like for like” replacement of the existing vehicles, is £2.7m.  Therefore the 8 years’ worth of annual savings just cover the extra upfront cost – so the new service is just about self funding over the 8 years, and is therefore neither a source of huge savings which could be spent on something else, nor a drain on taxpayer funds.

Q:  Why is the Council cutting hot meals at day centres?

The cutting of subsidy for canteen cooked meals was a result of a long decline in the number of people using the service, leading to a number of cooks having to be employed to cook an ever smaller number of meals.  This would not have been justifiable even in good economic times, let alone the current situation – depending on the way of calculating it, each meal was subsidised by the taxpayer by nearly £5.

Meanwhile, alongside the decline of the canteen meals, the cafes in the day centres had become more popular, with their own selection of hot and cold snacks.  The Council suggested to the volunteers’ committees that run the centres that it would stop the meals service, but at the same time hand over the kitchen equipment to the committees, to allow them to expand the café services – two out of the three centres agreed very quickly that this was a sensible and cost effective way of proceeding, with the third centre agreeing later.

Past article on the Gatwick Diamond Business Award:  http://www.redhillcouncillors.co.uk/2012/04/council-scoops-gatwick-diamond-business-award-for-young-worker-scheme/

Past article on the latest group of young recruits:  http://www.redhillcouncillors.co.uk/2012/01/council-gives-a-further-21-young-people-a-foot-on-the-employment-ladder/

The Belfry Management is kindly allowing us to set up a bowls carpet in the ground floor walkway next to Marks & Spencer’s entrance. Volunteers from Redhill Bowling Club will be on hand to help newcomers to the sport try it out.

Following these two days, taster sessions are planned for the following week at Redhill Bowling Club, St Anne’s Drive, with further sessions throughout May.

Find out more

Bowls is fun and can be enjoyed by men and women of all ages and abilities. Anyone interested in taking up the sport and unable to visit the Belfry can contact Ralph Wycherley on 07842 662841 or visit our website using the following link (also linked from the Local Sports Club list to the right): http://www.redhill-bowls-club.for-you.org.uk/

Event flyer

You can view and print off the event flyer here – if you have a visible space in which to display it, why not print one off and put it up?  NoticeBoard_A4

The borough is one of a hundred in the country to share the £10 million High Street Innovation Fund, which was unveiled by Housing and Local Government Minister Grant Shapps.

The fund was set up as part of the government’s ‘Portas-Plus’ package, in response to the report by “Queen Of Shops” Mary Portas on reinvigorating the country’s struggling high streets*.

Cllr Natalie Bramhall, Redhill councillor in charge of regeneration, said:

“We are really pleased to hear that we will be receiving this funding to help boost our high streets.

“We are already doing a number of the things suggested in the Portas Review, like working with businesses to help our borough prosper and working to create a more vibrant daytime and evening economy through our regeneration work in Redhill and Horley.

“We will now be looking at how we can best use this funding, working with landlords, traders and our partners to bring about improvements.”

Grant Shapps said the government was accepting “virtually all” of the report’s recommendations, which also includes a National Markets Day in June.

For more information see: Grant Shapps offers ‘Portas-Plus’ plan to revive ailing high streets - http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/2120114

* Note that The High Street Innovation Fund is separate from the “Portas pilots” fund, which is fund which councils have to submit specific local bids to in order to receive funding.

Reigate & Banstead scooped the Corporate Responsibility award for its Young Workers Scheme, which in less than a year has benefitted nearly 50 local 18-24 years olds by equipping them with the skills, confidence and experience needed for the jobs market.

Comedian Rory Bremner presented the Council with the award during a ceremony held on Thursday at the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel in Gatwick.

Councillor Ros Mill, Executive Member for Strong Communities, attended the ceremony alongside young workers and staff:

“We are very proud of our Young Workers Scheme and how it is changing people’s lives. We are overjoyed to receive this award.

“I would like to thank Steve Bevan and Jackie-Relffe Arnold in our HR team for their hard work in setting up the scheme and ensuring its success.

“During these tough financial times, it’s crucial that we create the job opportunities that so many young people are desperately seeking. Whilst other public sector organisations are making cuts, Reigate & Banstead is investing in helping young people to succeed.”

The Gatwick Diamond is home to a vast range of businesses, which span all sectors of the economy. The award winners are those businesses or people who have shown innovation and inspiration in their work, and have demonstrated a real commitment to the sub-region.

The award sponsor, Thales, commended the Council for its investment of money and time in the scheme, the drive to engage its workforce and how it has encouraged local businesses to set up similar schemes for young people.

Find out more about the Young Workers Scheme visit www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/youngworkers.

Visit the www.gatwickdiamondbusinessawards.com to see all this year’s winners.

Notes

About the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards (GDBA)

• The awards are open to public and private organisations
• The Gatwick Diamond area extends from the M25 to the south coast, taking in all the major towns in the area.
• The Awards are organised by the Gatwick Diamond Business Association
• The entrants were judged impartially by the sponsors and representatives from the Executive Council of the Gatwick Diamond Business Association
• The Gatwick Diamond Business Association was established more than 50 years ago and exists to provide a united voice for businesses and organisations to influence local and central government issues.

Easter Bank Holiday

Collections will not be changing over the Easter period. We will be working on Good Friday and Easter Monday to keep your collections on their usual days to minimise disruption to our residents.

May Bank Holiday

Recycling, refuse and garden waste collections will be collected one day later than usual.

Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday

There will be no collection on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 June. Residents will have their recycling and refuse collected the following week.

Purple week garden waste members

Monday 4 June collection day will be brought forward to Saturday 2 June.

Tuesday 5 June collection day will be moved back to Saturday 9 June.

Bin hangers

Bin hangers have been delivered to every household with the changed collections days.

Recycling, refuse and garden waste should be ready for collection from the edge of your property and visible from the road by 6am on the changed collection day.

Cllr Allen Kay, Executive Member for Clean Communities, said:

“We tend to generate lots of extra waste over holiday periods – for example at Easter packaging, cards and leftovers from family gatherings.

“You can recycle unlimited quantities of paper, card and cans through our kerbside recycling service. All your aluminium foil, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, old clothes, shoes and books at a number of recycling centres across the borough.”

Easter waste facts

• Approximately 80 million chocolate eggs are sold in the UK at Easter which generates around 4,370 tonnes of card and 160 tonnes of foil waste.
• Each year, more than 8,000 tonnes of waste is generated just from Easter egg packaging and cards alone.
• About 10 million cards are sent and received.

To reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, why not opt for an Easter egg packaged in recyclable materials.

For full information about the changes to recycling and refuse collections over the bank holidays, please look out for your bin hanger, call our Help Line on 01737 276000 or visit www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk.