Newsletter - Wed 22 Jan, 2025

By David Grantham

• No GWR trains through Reigate for first 16 days of February

• Revised plans submitted for former bank

• Commitment to reinstate Harlequin moves closer

Elections 2025: the leaders of Surrey’s 11 borough and district councils, including Reigate & Banstead have called for this year’s county council elections to go ahead (Abre numa nova janela). Earlier, Surrey County Council asked the Government to postpone because of the possible merger of the county, boroughs and districts into one or more new unitary authority(ies) from 2027.

St Mary’s Church, on Reigate’s Chart Lane, was the venue for Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme on 12 January (Abre numa nova janela), as neighbouring Reigate Grammar School marks its 350th anniversary. Music from the Godfrey Searle Choir, comprising pupils from RGS and Reigate St Mary’s, included solos from an RGS pupil who recently won BBC Young Chorister of the Year.

Operation Limit: Surrey Police made 140 arrests for drug-driving and 84 for drink-driving in their month-long county-wide December crackdown (Abre numa nova janela), which saw 8,847 vehicles stopped and checked (up from 5,023 in the previous year’s initiative). “No-one has the right to endanger the lives of innocent people through this entitled, idiotic behaviour,” said Surrey’s Police & Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend.

Energy savings: Surrey County Council has released a Home Energy Improvement Guide (Abre numa nova janela) for residents wanting advice on retrofit options, ranging from draught-proofing to larger projects such as solar and heat pump systems.

Surrey History Centre in Woking is marking Holocaust Memorial Day (Abre numa nova janela) with a ceremony on 27 Jan. There’s also a live online event (29 Jan) and exhibition (throughout January) telling the stories of 13 British-born victims of Aktion T4, the Nazi extermination campaign against people with physical or mental disabilities.

No GWR trains through Reigate for first 16 days of February

• A GWR train on the North Downs line (Network Rail)

GWR trains will not run between Guildford and Gatwick, including Reigate, from Sunday 1 February to Sunday 16 February inclusive.

The break in service is due to Network Rail engineering work (Abre numa nova janela) which includes replacing wheel timbers on a bridge over the River Wey near Guildford and other improvements along the line.

GWR will be putting on replacement bus services.

Southern and Thameslink trains serving London and Gatwick are unaffected, and in particular Southern services will continue to call at Reigate.

Latest travel advice can be found on the National Rail website (Abre numa nova janela).

Revised plans submitted for former bank