Photo credit Tracey Franklin.  Photo shows the former Reigate Police Station building where RAAC was discovered.

Surrey Police’s Eastern Divisional headquarters will move from Reigate, after plans were approved last week for its new location in Leatherhead.  

For the past two years, the force’s Eastern Divisional HQ has been temporarily based at Wray Park in Reigate.  Officers and staff were moved there after the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in the original Reigate Police Station building. 

Mole Valley District Council’s Planning committee approved plans for the development of the site on Cleeve Road in Leatherhead on land currently owned by the Police and Crime Commissioner.  

Picture courtesy of the Department for Transport

Train passengers travelling to and from Surrey, Sussex and London will soon benefit from simpler journeys with the expansion of contactless ticketing. 

Pay as You Go technology will be extended to a further 50 stations across the South East from 14th December.  Eleven of these are in Surrey and Sussex including Reigate, Dorking and stations on the East Grinstead to London line such as Oxted and Lingfield. 

Tap-in tap-out ticketing allows passengers to use a bank card or contactless device to enter any railway station, instead of manually buying individual or return tickets. 

The expansion has been paid for by Government funding in preparation for its creation of Great British Railways.

Photo courtesy of Neil Munday

Surrey Highways says it’s now unlikely that the Godstone road collapse repairs will be completed by Christmas after all. 

The Council can’t confirm a date for the High Street to re-open at this stage as a much larger underground tunnel network was uncovered than expected following additional investigations.  It says the tunnels previously found, have extended both north along the High Street, and east into a further section on Salisbury Road. The area has taken longer to stabilise due to the soft sand around the mine workings which has also delayed the works to relay the eight inch water main affected by the original collapse.

The High Street has been closed to traffic since two sinkholes appeared in February although parts of the pavement have reopened to pedestrians.

Photo credit:  Crawley Borough Council

A new extension to the bus lanes in Manor Royal has been officially opened, completing the improvement works started in 2021 via West Sussex County Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.

The new lanes enable services to bypass congestion during peak hours to improve journey times and reliability.

Tandridge District Council is asking Council tenants to be vigilant if someone visits or calls their home offering to check for repairs. 

It said many tenants report they are being repeatedly called by pushy companies to make housing disrepair claims.  They are then promised quick compensation.

Warning signs include no official Council ID or letter of authority, and pressure to sign up with a sense of urgency. 

The Council’s official surveyors are Savills, Corgi Technical and Delco Fire; none of these require a signature from tenants.  Residents are advised to call the Council before letting surveyors or other contractors into their home.