News

Alongside Surrey Heartlands ICB and local hospitals, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust have declared a Critical Incident. 

Please only use our Emergency Department (ED) for serious or life-threatening emergencies. For all other urgent health needs, consider these alternatives:

- Your GP 

- NHS 111 - online or by phone, available 24/7

- Your local pharmacy – expert advice for several ailments through Pharmacy First https://bit.ly/4duHKcu  

- Urgent Treatment Centre at Crawley Hospital

- Minor Injuries Units at Caterham Dene, Horsham Hospital and Queen Victoria Hospital

Choosing the right service helps us keep ED free for those who need it most. Thank you for helping us help you. Find out more https://www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/latest-news/trust-declares-critical-incident-due-ongoing-pressure-within-surrey

Dear Customer

You may have already heard on the TV, radio or social media that Storm Goretti is on the way. The Met Office has issued a weather warning for strong winds and snow in parts of South East and East of England from Thursday into Friday.

Our electricity network is built to be resilient but bad weather can bring down trees, damaging overhead power lines and potentially causing power cuts.

As a household that is registered to our free Priority Services Register, we want to make sure you know how you can contact us in a power cut and give you some tips on how you can prepare.

We're prepared

We know that storm conditions can be a worrying time for our customers, so we have put a range of measures in place to ensure we’re ready for any impact on the electricity network.

We’ve got additional staff in our contact centre and more engineers on the ground, to help fix power cuts and keep our customers updated. Watch our video to find out more.

Tips on how you can prepare in case you have a power cut:

• Enter your postcode to search, track and report power cuts online: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut.
• Keep a torch with spare batteries. We don't recommend using candles but if you choose to, please take extra care.
• Keep a mobile phone fully charged (if you have one) so you can use it to go online for updates or call if you have a power cut.
• Have warm clothes, blankets and food which doesn't need heating accessible. You can also reduce the heat loss by closing doors on unused rooms and closing your curtains.
• If you have a mains operated stair lift, check to see if there is a manual release handle that can be used to return it safely to ground level if it stops working.

It's really important that we hold the correct information and contact details for you, including a mobile telephone number (if you have one). This will help us contact you in the event of a power cut and provide you with extra support tailored to your individual needs. Update your details here: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/psr-update-form

Enter your postcode to search, track and report power cuts online:

ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut

Fallen trees and broken branches can damage overhead power lines. Stay well away and report any damaged equipment or low lines immediately by calling us free on 105 or 0800 31 63 105.

With 2026 now here we would like to invite you to join us for a cuppa at the Whitebushes Village Hall on the dates on the attached poster.

Please note that the charge for using the drop off zone at Gatwick Airport has now increased.

Want a way to avoid the fee?

The Longstay car park allows you to park for free for up to  2 hours.

If you are using Longstay South Terminal on exiting the car park and joining the ring road you need to get over to the right lane taking the turning just before the Hilton Hotel to avoid the charging zone.

Please remember that camera enforced red routes operate on airport owned roads.

Message from Govia Thameslink Railway

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 January

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 January 

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January 

All lines closed between Gatwick Airport and Purley / East Croydon 

No trains will run on any routes between: 

•  Gatwick Airport and East Croydon / Purley 

•  Reigate and Redhill 

•  Redhill and Tonbridge  

•  Purley and Caterham on Sundays only (trains will run on Saturdays) 

•  Purley and Tattenham Corner on Sundays only (trains will run on Saturdays) 

Replacement buses will run between: 

•  East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport 

•  East Grinstead and Three Bridges 

•  Redhill to Purley 

•  Gatwick Airport to Redhill 

•  Redhill and Tonbridge 

•  Reigate and Redhill 

•  Horsham and Dorking (on Saturdays only) 

For journeys between central London and Gatwick Airport, customers should use the diverted Southern train service that will run between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport calling only at Clapham Junction.
 

Alternatively, customers travelling between central London and the Airport can use trains to East Grinstead and change there for replacement buses to/from Gatwick Airport.  

For journeys between Brighton or the Sussex Coast and London, customers should use trains to Three Bridges and change there for replacement buses to/from East Grinstead for onward train connections to/from central London.

Journey times will be extended, so customers will need to allow plenty of additional time, especially if travelling to the airport to catch a flight.

Journey Planners have been updated to include the amended service plans for these dates. 

Sunday 1 February 2026, Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 March, Sunday 3 May

All lines closed between Brighton / Lewes / Hove and Three Bridges

No trains will run between:

•  Brighton and Three Bridges

•  Hove and Three Bridges

•  Lewes and Three Bridges

Replacement buses will run between:

•  Brighton and Three Bridges

•  Lewes / Cooksbridge / Plumpton and Haywards Heath and Three Bridges

A diverted Southern train service will run between Brighton and London Victoria calling at Hove, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Angmering, Littlehampton, Horsham, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and Clapham Junction. If customers are travelling between Brighton and London, they are strongly advised to use this train service rather than the limited replacement bus service.

Journey planners are now showing the service plans for these closures up to late March. They will begin to show details for the closure on Sunday 3 May, from 12 weeks in advance.

Special Thanks to Janet Wood, an active member of the estate’s Whitebushes Residents Group Facebook page for sharing the following map for the location of grit bins across Whitebushes 

These are located:

Masons Bridge Road by the village hall

Masons Bridge Road junction with Spencer Way.

Bushfield Drive junction with Grantwood Close.

Rathgar Close (by the bend at the far end from Bushfield Drive)

Spencer Way (by the bend just past after Greenwood Close

During the cold spell please look out for any vulnerable neighbours.

Help in the bushes wishes everyone a happy and prosperous 2026

Want to get involved?

1st Saturday of the month:

Kiln Community Gardens working group and Whitebushes pond (Ambleside Close) restoration.

Please note that due to ground conditions events every January are subject to cancellation.

3rd Saturday of the month:

Whitebushes community cuppa at the Village Hall

Come and meet the team and other residents for a cuppa and chat. All welcome

It has been brought to our attention that new parking restrictions have been recently introduced on the Borough with confirmed Ringo payments required on roads like Station Approach in Horley.

Please check carefully for parking restrictions to avoid any potential fines being raised by either paper tickets or automatic number plate recognition camera enforcement. Whilst we have specified one area there is potential for other roads to also be impacted.

This January, forget the tip trip and the pine needle explosion in your car! For a suggested £20 donation, our amazing St Catherine’s Hospice volunteers will whisk your tree away – right from your doorstep. 🎄

Save time, skip the mess, and feel great knowing your tree is helping provide vital hospice care in your community. Book now and turn your festive fir into real, local support. 🧡

Visit https://just-helping.org.uk/register-tree/ or call 01293 447361 to book.

@justhelping

Whilst Thanks giving day is an American holiday it seems fit to take the opportunity to thank all the visitors to the site for their support.

Over the last 12 months we have seen the community cuppa continue to flourish at the village hall on the third Saturday of the month.

The Kiln Community Gardens team and Whitebushes pond restoration team continue their work to provide nice community spaces for us to enjoy. Don’t forget the pond restoration team will be working on the pond on Saturday 6th December so please feel free to pop by and have a chat or if you can lend a hand. We hope to also have an announcement to make about the pond shortly.

We look forward again to our Christmas Tree Lighting evening in a couple weeks time at The Brow by our community’s local shop (on 11th December - see events page).Students from Salfords Primary School will be entertaining us with Christmas Carols at this event.

We have the last of the 2025 Community Cuppa’s on Saturday 15th December at the village hall on the junction of Three Arch Road and Bushfield Drive. Thanks to support from Raven Housing Trust we have secured funding for the 2026 dates.

We secured funding for a raised flower bed just off Bushfield Drive that thanks to residents of the adjoining block of flats secured a place on the finalist list of Raven Housing Trust’s ”Raven in bloom” competition.

We called on Southern Housing to get a replacement noticeboard by the shop and are working on using these to also raise awareness of the events on the estate. We would love to see even more people in 2026 getting involved in the community. It is a great way to get to know your neighbours from across the estate and help others avoid potential social isolation. Working together our voices can be louder. On this subject we are pleased to announce the new notice board is now in place complementing the noticeboard at the junction of Bushfield Drive and Edgefield Close which Raven Housing Trust supplied.

We have behind the scenes also been calling on Metrobus to increase the frequency of buses onto the estate following the withdrawal of the 420 but ask residents to help us in this case by where possible using the bus stops on Bushfield Drive and Spencer Way to generate the data to show that Whitebushes residents support the bus service as seen with 10 passengers alighting from one rush hour service yesterday at Bushfield Way. Every time we use the hospital bus stop this counts as a hospital statistic and therefore we cannot ask them to reflect on that as potential Whitebushes residents supporting their services. We have also highlighted significant concerns on the two hourly service on Sundays and public holidays to/from Crawley asking that this is enhanced over a longer part of the day with and hourly Crawley bus during the day serving the estate to help those working at the airport. 

We are seeing a rise in catalytic converter thefts across east Surrey. This is a metal device that sits under your car near the engine and helps to clean exhaust fumes. Your car insurance isn’t valid without one, and they’re crucial to the smooth running of your vehicle. 

Catalytic converters are stolen because they contain valuable metals such as platinum, rhodium or palladium. Hybrid vehicles such as Lexus are particularly at risk because their catalytic converters are less frequently exposed to hot exhaust gases and the metals stay in better condition for longer, making them more valuable when sold on.

To deter potential thieves, park close to building entrances or the nearest road in public car parks, so that your car is more visible to passers-by and less likely to be an attractive target for thieves. Consider investing in a video doorbell, CCTV and motion sensor lighting for the front of your property that can double as a burglary deterrent.

If you see what you think is a catalytic converter theft in progress (car jacked up on the street or in car parks, loud sound of metal being cut underneath), do not approach those involved. We have previously received reports of members of the public being assaulted by thieves and seriously injured when they tried to intervene. Call 999 from a safe distance and give us as much detail as you can instead.

Whitebushes Village hall recently hosted the monthly community cuppa coffee morning (held on the third Saturday of the month between 11:00 and 12:30).

This month we were joined by Salfords & Sidlow Parrish Councillors Stephen and Jim as well as our County Councillor Catherine Baart who spoke about what a Parrish / Town Council does.

The local government reorganisation, a move that the Prime Minister and his cabinet are pushing, will see a reduction in the number of councillors we have moving forward in the new unitary East Surrey Council which will take over the services currently provided by Surrey County Council (SCC), Tandbridge District Council, Reigate & Banstead (R&BBC), Mole Valley District Council, Epsom & Ewell Borough Council and Elmbridge Borough Council provides.

Having a parish council, whose councillors do now attract any allowance, will allow us a local voice on local issues as a statutory consultant in issues such as planning and they also offer a range of other local support based on local needs. This local voice is important when the new unitary comes into place with councillors in North West Elmbridge representing areas as far away as Walton of Thames or even Weybridge not understanding the changes we face or vice versa. Yes there is a small charge for the parish or town council but this is around 60p for a band D property per week so will be less for many residents. The proposed extension of Salfords Sidlow Parish council would like to extend their area to cover Whitebushes and Royal Earlswood Park on our side of the railway and upto the recycling centre area on the western side of the railway. Upto 8 new parish Councillors for the new areas would, as present, be elected. Salfords and Sidlow Parish Councillors are pleased to announce that they have been  and still currently all independent councillors.

on Tuesday 11th November between 11:30 and 12:30 there will be an opportunity to speak to specialists about antisocial behaviour at The Brow (by the shop) on Whitebushes

We wish to highlight disruption to traffic in Reigate between the Morrisons crossroads and Priory Park where the Southbound carriageway has been closed. Local back streets are congested so it is best to avoid narrower roads/lanes until Virgin Media complete the manhole cover repairs.

As traffic is still heading past the cinema there is significant build up of traffic trying to get to Morrisons or turn right to return to the one way system.

Our last day in The Belfry is today 🚛 (27/09/2025)

Although the library here is now looking somewhat bare, please rest assured that until closing today you can still pop in to borrow, reserve and return books as usual, and until our public PCs shut down at 4.45pm, you can still use our PCs, and printing and photocopying services. At 5pm, however, we close for two weeks while we shift all our books and other items over to The Warwick Quadrant, where we will re-open on Saturday 11 October. We are very excited about being back in our old premises, which have now been completely refurbished with a new bright modern look, lots of new books, and plenty of activities and events in the coming months, and are really looking forward to seeing you there!

Before we go, however, we would like to extend a big THANK YOU to The Belfry Shopping Centre for being so welcoming and taking such good care of us during our temporary stay! 🙏 The support from The Belfry's office, maintenance and security staff has been amazing, and thoroughly appreciated.

#RedhillLibraryMove #LoveYourLibrary 

Surrey Libraries UK Belfry Shopping Centre, Redhill  Merstham Library Reigate Library What's On In Reigate & Redhill ABC Magazine

Please note this announcement relates only to the Surrey County Council owned library which has addressed the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and not the theatre where work still needs to be completed to remove the RAAC which is present in the auditorium roof.

This is a gentle reminder that a number of bus routes will see timetable changes and some route changes from today.

Routes impacted include 100,400,420,424,460 which have new timetables.

From today route 100 will see most services terminate at Redhill Bus Station instead of Park 25. Heading south it with divert after the Crossoak Lane bus stop via Hoadley Road to West Vale park before continuing to Court Lodge. Service frequencies will increase to upto 4 per hour.

New timetable on Route 400 sees this route increase to a half hourly service to compensate for the rerouted 100 service from Crossoak Lane to Brighton road with 4 buses and Hour along the A23 when timetables read in conjunction with routes 420/460.

Routes 420/460 minor timetable adjustments to improve reliability.

Route 422 withdrawn 

Route 424  major changes including some services backfilling the void for Park 25.

We are aware that the Sunday timetable on the 460 is still not covering enough of the day to facilitate days out or support shift workers at Gatwick. We accept that one bus an hour in each direction through the estate is not conducive to encouraging higher ridership and we are campaigning for better service frequencies over a wider part of the day seven days per week.

Our previous campaigning saw the 100 become a 24 hour bus route and also saw the extended hours of operation on the 460 introduced. We believe that our campaigning to Metrobus as well as representation on a bus forum group with the County Council can help us secure a better service provision including improved accessibility to public transport for those with reduced mobility in the future.

Tonight at a full council meeting one of the issues discussed was a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. Recently there have been a reduction in the number of seats held by the Conservative Party councillors and this lead to this vote of no confidence to review of whether the council should remain led by the Conservatives or a cross party team to ensure that it was best prepared for the transition to the new unitary authority which will take on the work of the Borough/District and County Councils.

A range of concerns were brought into the debate including items being sent to the executive without debate and then decisions made by the executive including one case example where a resident who had professional expertise in the field was not given the opportunity to give her statement/evidence.

Other concerns about the rate of some services which had delays in delivery were raised including the fact that some years ago there were discussions on upgrading the waste and recycling services vehicles to be either electric or biofuel. Whilst there has been a recent adoption on biofuels for these vehicles there was a feeling that more action considering the timeline should have occurred.

There was also concerns at the speed that the Harlequin Theatre works by the Borough Council have taken  especially when compared to the Surrey County Council library in the same building. It was felt that the Borough Council should have been much further down the project timeline to remove and replace the RAAC which forced its closure.

42 councillors attended the meeting with 20 voting in favour of the vote of no confidence in the leadership, 21 voted against and 1abstained. The vote of no confidence was therefore no successful.

Following the vote Cllr Biggs, leader of the council, acknowledged a lot of work needed to be done and furthermore appreciated that the vote result show that there was work that needed to be done to address the issues raised at the meeting.

Age Concern Merstham, Reigate and Redhill are looking for volunteer minibus drivers. please see the attached poster.

We want to remind you that our Community Cuppa takes place this coming Saturday at the village hall on Masons Bridge Road between 11:00 and 12:30

🤳 On Sunday, September 7, the national Emergency Alert System test will sound at 3pm.

Mobiles will emit a loud siren and vibrate - even if they're set to silent.

Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend is now sharing more on how the alerts can be disabled on “lifeline” secret phones hidden by domestic abuse survivors.

Read more here.

Preventing violence against women and girls is a key priority, both for the Commissioner and for Surrey Police.

Lisa said: “Many victims may purposefully keep a secret phone as a vital lifeline.

"I urge any abuse survivors with a hidden phone to follow the Government's instructions below.”

 👇

To opt out:

• Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
• Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’.

Depending on the manufacturer and software version of your phone, emergency alerts settings may be called different names, such as ‘wireless emergency alerts’ or ‘emergency broadcasts’.

The settings can usually be found in one of the following ways. Go to:

• ‘Message’, then ‘message settings, then ‘wireless emergency alerts’, then ‘alert’
• ‘Settings’, then ‘sounds’, then ‘advanced’, then ‘emergency broadcasts’
• ‘Settings’, then ‘general settings’, then ‘emergency alerts’

Then turn off ‘severe alerts’, ‘extreme alerts’ and ‘test alerts’.

Residents may be aware for a number of years there has been a desire of Solum (owned in a partnership between Kier Property & Network Rail) to redevelop the station and surrounding Network Rail owned land.

Planning has been applied for on multiple occasions but refused repeatedly. On the last application there were over 2,000 objections to their proposals, which caused Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s website some challenges due to the scale of the feedback. The application was refused again.

Solum have now taken this to the next step an inquiry which will be held in September. The local residents have launched a campaign to protect the station and surrounding areas. (Posters attached).

It is important to put this development into context

The developer wants to built 255 apartments on the site in tower blocks of up-to 15 storeys. The light for comparison is max 8 floors.

These blocks would be built on the station car park and forecourt including the taxi rank that also serves the town centre and bus station very well from its current location.

The new much smaller taxi rank will be on the Redstone Hillside of the station adjacent to platform 3, but the number of taxis able to fit on this rank will reduce by approximately 75% and when rail replacement bus services are operating the facility will not be available.

Solum says £6,000,000 will be spent on the station but this includes removal of redundant buildings on the Redstone Hill side of the station and a newly remodelled welcome building on the town side. There will only be machines on the side where taxis can set down yet the ticket office will be on the side of the station where taxis can not stop to help the less mobile members of the community to access it.

As a significant interchange station to the GWR services to Reading and Southern to Reigate and Tonbrdge it is amazing that this plan fails to provide for rail replacement service space for passengers to queue, space for the loading and unloading of buses potentially going in 4 directions and sufficient spaces for buses/coaches on their mandatory breaks In accordance with driving hours restrictions.

There is an alternative.

There is no disputing that we needs more homes but they need to be built in the right place to support the local community, of the right type/capacity, truly affordable and also seeing an increase in social rented accommodation that has seen stock levels decrease following years of right to buy without a need to replace the stock that was sold under that scheme.

We also need Train operators and Solum (Network Rail & Kier Properties) to work closer together to promote rail better. This station serves a large urban and rural area so the station car park is not just another car park and taxi rank but a critical part to the intermodal methods of travel that people including those in rural areas without public transport, therefore we need to be raising the game for encouraging more people to use active travel and public transport where it is practical.

On the current town side forecourt there is the space for a bus station similar in design to the proposed on in Crawley with 10-11 stops to be constructed allowing more buses to use their dedicated stop (a massive help for those less mobile residents  or those with shopping, pushchairs etc) or alternatively a nose in set up on one side like Horsham and the same angled bays seen at East Surrey Hospital to support the operation of dual door buses as seen on route 405. There is potential for this site to also be able to handle the bus stand need of scheduled services and some rail replacement capacity without additional access onto the local road network to get to and from the stands on Marketfield Way.  There is no reason why an elevated car park could not be constructed above the new bus station to serve the needs of those from rural areas connecting to national rail services.

The taxi rank could be retained and the facilities for active travel also improved with an enlarged pedestrian plaza by a step free access railway station ticket hall, secure cycle parking facilities and potentially even showers provided as offered at Gatwick for staff who cycle to work.

The current bus station area could be opened up as a community space, with some 20min pick up bays for the station, a couple disabled bays (complimenting the station parking and other locations around town), private hire vehicle bays to service the Roadrunners’s office and properly allocated parking area for the delivery riders that does not cause an obstruction.

Further details to follow in due course.

🚑 Learn to Save a Life! 🫀

Join St John Ambulance East Surrey at the Belfry Shopping Centre this Sunday, 27th July, for live CPR demonstrations!

🕙 Time: 10:30 - 16:30

📍 Location: The Belfry Shopping Centre, Redhill

💡 What to Expect:

✅ Hands-on CPR demos

✅ Meet our amazing volunteers

✅ Ask questions and get lifesaving tips

Whether you're a complete beginner or just need a refresher, come along and gain the confidence to act in an emergency. It only takes a few minutes to learn how to save a life!

💬 Spread the word and bring your friends and family - you never know when you might need these skills.

#StJohnAmbulance #CPRTraining #SaveALife #EastSurrey #TheBelfryRedhill #CommunityFirstAid

Please note the temporary closure for just under 2 weeks in September to allow the Hanger9 cafe to complete maintenance and improvements works.

Source Hanger 9 Facebook page

Research has found that 1 in 4 people don’t receive the palliative care and support they need at the end of life, and that can mean a lack of support, financial stress, and loss of dignity.

At Marie Curie, we believe everyone deserves the best possible care and support at the end of their life.

That’s why we have partnered with gas distribution company SGN to help those in the last year of their lives, roughly and their carers access grants to help them with rising energy and gas bills.

As part as our commitment to transforming end of life care in the UK, we have launched our service, Community Companions, in the East Surrey area.

This free service entails our trained volunteers, known as Companions, befriending individuals who are terminally ill or categorised as elderly and frail and are experiencing loneliness. Companions can meet with individuals in their own homes or out in the community at a coffee shop, the park etc. 

If you are interested in making a referral to our service to be matched up with one of our friendly companions or have any questions, please emailsouthcompanions@mariecurie.org.uk

Please note that this has also been added to the support groups pages if you or someone you know need to access this service at a later date

We’re consulting on proposed changes to how much people pay for care delivered at home or in the community, to bring us in line with national guidance and help keep services sustainable.

Find out more about the proposals and details of the remaining library drop-in sessions – including #Horley on 22 July and #Epsom on 12 August - by visiting: https://orlo.uk/YxdEO

The consultation closes on 7 September. Alternative formats are available

Help in the bushes as a community run website are keen to promote the work done by local groups and offer event organisers an opportunity to list their groups or events for free on the website.

we are aware that for a number of years our local theatre, The Harlequin in Redhill has been closures due to the presence of RAAC including in the auditorium roof. As a result we have been trying to also reach out to all the local groups that used the Harlequin prior to its closure to allow them to use the site to advertise their events here.  I am pleased to announce that YESPA the youth part of East Surrey Performing Arts has come forward in response to our offer of free listings. Their show whilst slightly outside of our normal coverage is being offered as we are keen to support those organisations that would be normally using The Harlequin. We invite you to email webmaster@helpinthebushes.co.uk  if you are running an event or group and wish to have a free mention. Flyers/posters image are appreciated ideally in Jpeg format and restricted to one page. If you want additional information please include this in the email and we will add it next to the photo.