Horley Town Council
Your Horley
April 2020
eNewsletter

In this edition.........

Horley Town Council goes Virtual; Balcombe Road Closure; The Harlequin transforms into a Community Support Centre; Concerned about a vulnerable resident?; A personal message from Cllr David Powell to the refuse crews; Bonfires; Refuse & Recycling; £16m paid out in business grants; Change to some parking restrictions; Scam Alerts; Horley in Bloom 2020; Metrobus announce changes to paying for tickets; HATS help out; park restrictions; Community Foundation for Surrey Coronovirus Grants; Message from Surrey Police; Great British September Clean; Essential Roadworks start again; update on the cafe in the park; River Mole Fishing; Handyman service and Safe & Secure grants from Reigate & Banstead and finally Committee Dates for your diary.
For the latest information, help, advice and support services, please see the Horley Town Council webpage here
Horley Town Council Goes Virtual

Following Government advice, essential meetings of Horley Town Council are being held virtually during the Covid-19 lockdown period and not in the Council Chamber. All papers will be published on our website and social media channels as normal.  Members of the public may join the meeting remotely by requesting a Zoom link no later than one hour before the start of the meeting. 

During the Public Forum, members of the public are invited to put questions or draw relevant matters to the Council’s attention. 

If you do not wish to speak at a meeting but have a particular matter of interest to raise, then please email us at the town clerk email address

To read more about the operation of our virtual meetings please click here
For a link to the meeting send an email to: town.clerk@horleytown.com 
Critical carriageway resurfacing
Balcombe Road
Start date: Monday 4 May 2020
Duration: For 15 days
7am – 5pm
Road closed

A personal message from the Horley Town Mayor & Council Chairman, Cllr David Powell …

To: Our magnificent Borough Council Refuse Collectors at work during this time

On behalf of Horley Town Council and residents, we thank you and salute each and every one of you for working so hard and diligently to continue with the refuse collections for Horley households during the coronavirus lockdown period.  We very much appreciate you carrying on to provide this vital service for us all.  

Please take care and stay safe, all of you !

Sincere best wishes.

David

Café Update, Horley Recreation Ground

As a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic and in line with the advice given by UK Government, the building works for the new Café at Horley Recreation Ground have been suspended since March. As such, the contractors are following social distancing guidelines by not attending the site and will continue to do so until further notice.

It is hoped that after the lockdown period concludes, the necessary works may resume by the contractors. The Town Council will provide further updates once more information on completion of the Café and external works becomes available along with the revised programme timetable.
Council pays out over £16m in business grants

As of the 20th April 2020 Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has already paid out 69% of its business grants to 1,205 out of 1,750 eligible businesses in the borough – over £16 million.

It is among one of the first local authorities to have started to make its grant payments. The Council has paid all businesses that have responded to our enquiry form so far, and is doing its best to contact the remaining businesses to complete the final payments. The total amount of business grants paid is expected to be around £24 million.

Click here to see the business grants news item in full
Harlequin theatre is transformed into Community Support Centre

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has repurposed its Harlequin Theatre in Redhill as a community support centre to co-ordinate essential assistance for its vulnerable residents.

The venue will be used to distribute food, medicines and essential supplies to high risk and vulnerable residents needing to stay at home, as well as to those in severe financial need.

The operation is being run by an army of Council staff redeployed from other roles and community volunteers. The theatre itself has been transformed with rows upon rows of shelving filled with food and essentials, ready to be sent out to those in need.

By Friday 17 April, the Community Support Centre at the Harlequin had sent out 622 food packages to vulnerable residents across the Borough

Click here to see the Harlequin news story in full
Horley Food bank

Don't forget the Horley Food Bank (run by Churches For Horley) is still operating and has various collection points across Horley for those wishing to donate. See their website for further details and for lists of what they need.
Some Parking Restrictions Relaxed

Single yellow line parking restrictions in quiet residential roads are not being enforced and council carparks will be free so that those key workers and volunteers who need to use them can do so. For more information see Changes to parking enforcement due to the Coronavirus (Surrey County Council).

Pictured right is one of the Parking Enforcement Officers delivering food from the Harlequin.
Bonfires

Reigate & Banstead are asking residents to be good neighbours by not having a bonfire at the moment.

Please hold on to your extra household waste until Community Recycling Centres reopen.
Refuse & Recycling News

As most of you are now probably aware Reigate & Banstead had to suspend Garden Waste collections at the end of March in order to ensure there were enough staff to continue to collect general waste.

There has been an increase in household recycling of 34% compared to the normal amounts. To help make things as easy as possible for the refuse & recycling crews please see the video from them.

There has also been an enormous amount of praise for the crews through this difficult time, have a peek at this second video to see the thank yous they have received.
Park Restrictions

In line with Government advice we have kept our parks and greenspaces open. The parks have overwhelmingly been used responsibly and users are following the Government advice on social distancing.

We would however like to remind people that, as well as the playgrounds, the outdoor gym equipment and skate park are also closed at the present time.

It seems such a shame when with weather is so brilliant and the parks are at their most beautiful that we have to place any restrictions but we must do what these difficult times require.

SCAM ALERTS

Unfortunately there are quite few scams doing the rounds at the moment. Here are some of the highlights (for the very latest up to date list please checkout this link to the page on our website)

*  Be aware of people offering miracle cures for coronavirus – there is no specific treatment for coronavirus (COVID-19). Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms until you recover.

*  The council DO NOT need to enter your house to do a deep clean

*  Bogus healthcare workers claiming to be offering ‘home-testing’ for coronavirus. This is a scam and these kits are not currently available to buy.

*  Emails saying that you can get a refund on taxes, utilities or similar are usually bogus and they are just after your personal and bank details.

*  There are lots of fake products available to buy online that say they can protect you or cure coronavirus. These will not help and are designed to just take your money

*  There are new mobile phone apps that claim to give you updates on the virus, instead they lock your phone and demand a ransom.

*  People offering to do your shopping and ask for money upfront and then disappear

Grants Available
The Community Foundation for Surrey has set up a fund in response to the Corona Virus to help local charities:

Fund Aim and Priorities
To support community and voluntary groups assisting in the relief effort, in easing the immediate difficulties communities are facing and to support their recovery over the coming weeks and months.
Essential Roadworks Resume

After putting in place appropriate hygiene and strict social distancing rules Surrey County Council highways teams have resumed essential roadworks to remedy safety issues. Their routine maintenance programme is still on hold.
River Mole Fishing

In line with Government requirements Horley Piscatorial Society has closed fishing of the River Mole to its members. There are daily patrols of the river but there are a couple of things which can be done by any member of the public should they come across either poaching or fishing out of season.

- Fishing out of season is a crime , if you see a crime in progress you can dial 999 and ask for the Police.

- The most helpful way of reporting an incident would be to contact the EA emergency hotline on 0800 807060 this number can be used to report any environmental issue encountered. 

HATS Help Out

Horley Association of Traders (HATS) are coming together to help those in need in Horley during the Corona Virus pandemic. If you are isolating and finding it difficult to get food delivered please contact James Baker by email jpbaker78@yahoo.co.uk or by phone on 01293 202280 and the team from HATS will try their best to help.
Horley In Bloom 2020
After much consideration and given the current situation in our country, we have sadly decided to cancel the Horley in Bloom Competitions for this year.

We may run some form of Photographic Competition later in the year, however this will be decided at a later date, so please keep photos of how your gardens, allotments etc are looking and also how you may be using outdoor spaces somewhat differently this year.
Great British September Clean

Join the Great British September Clean, from 11-27 September, when they will be bringing communities back together to clean up our streets, parks and beaches.

For more information on the British September clean click here
Reigate & Banstead are working with Millbrook Healthcare to administer their grant schemes and to provide Handy Person Services.

Handy Person Service
Millbrook Healthcare offers a subsidised handy person service for minor repairs, improvements and adaptations to the home and garden, for elderly (over 60 years) or disabled clients.

Safe and Secure Grants
This is a new grant offered by the Council, which provides up to £3,000 of handy person services free to the customer for eligible residents.

For more information on both of these click here to go to Reigate & Banstead's website
Policing as usual continues in Surrey, despite the extraordinary times we are living in. Every contact we receive is assessed and prioritised to ensure we are where we are most needed to keep the public safe.
 
Sarah Durston, Department Head of the Contact Centre said “We massively rely on the public’s help when it comes to being our eyes and ears in Surrey. We appreciate those of you who have been reporting those breaching the measures – these reports help us tackle issues that would otherwise spread Coronavirus further into our communities."
 
“Do contact us if you need us, but in this time of unprecedented demand, to help us manage and prioritise reports effectively we politely ask that you check the Government guidance before making a report. We are asking you to make the right call as to whether there has been a breach of the ‘stay at home’ measures so that we can respond effectively. This will help us to reduce demand so we can focus our resources on those who genuinely need our help. In an emergency, always call 999."
 
“Every report we get has to be individually assessed and we prioritise our response to the matters where there is most risk of harm or a crime is being committed at the time, so we may not always be able to respond immediately."
 
“If you are concerned that a neighbour is breaking the stay at home guidelines, do consider having a polite conversation with them in the first instance, while maintaining social distancing measures – there may be a legitimate reason they are going out, such as buying medical or food supplies for vulnerable members of the community."
 
“Please bear in mind we have different ways of responding to reports, not all of which will necessarily be visible to the public. We may contact individuals and businesses by phone rather than sending officers out to people’s houses."
Changes to Paying Bus Fares

Metrobus has announced its drivers will not be able to give out change to those paying by cash from Wednesday 15 April to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. 
 
The bus company would like everybody to pay using the correct money or - better still - to use contactless or mobile phones instead. 
Horley Town Council Still Operating

Although the Town Council Offices are closed at the moment Horley Town Council staff and Councillors are still working (albeit from a variety of kitchen tables and spare bedrooms.)

We can be contacted on our individual email addresses or at town.clerk@horleytown.com

If you would prefer to speak to us by phone we can be contacted Mon-Fri 10.00am to 4.00pm on 07946 055897

Please pass the information contained in this newsletter to your friends and family and we hope you stay safe and well.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Please note all meeting are currently being held virtually

19:30
19:30
28  April
12  May

Full Council Meeting
Finance Committee
For a fuller list of local events have a look at What's On In Horley
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