Council to debate final recommendations for town and parish councils following borough-wide community governance review

This will complete our community governance review (CGR) which began in June 2025 and gave local people and organisations an opportunity to have their say on the most suitable ways to represent the identities and interests of their communities. The final recommendations, put forward by a cross-party working group of councillors, are for the creation of three new parish or town councils (Redhill Town Council, Reigate Town Council and Banstead and The Villages Council) as well as minor changes to Horley Town Council.

Cllr Richard Biggs, Leader of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council says: “I want to thank every resident and local organisation who took the time to share their views. It is important to consider how local communities are represented; and the upcoming reorganisation of local government in Surrey made this particularly relevant.

“Careful reflection on all the feedback received has helped us to refine these final recommendations for town and parish councils, which I’m confident would give our communities a strong local voice in the years to come.

“This is a significant moment for local democracy in our borough. Should the recommendations be agreed next week, we are committed to supporting the new East Surrey Council with everything they need to implement these changes.”

If the final recommendations are agreed, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council will prepare a draft legal Community Governance Order to provide to its successor authority, East Surrey Council, which will have the legal power to implement them.

Recommendations shaped by local feedback

The final recommendations to be considered by Full Council are:

• To increase the number of town councillors in Horley Town Council from 18 to 20, along with minor changes to the wards to better reflect local communities and new development
• Creation of a new Banstead and The Villages Council in the north of the borough
• Creation of a new Redhill Town Council that includes the areas of Merstham, South Earlswood and Whitebushes
• Creation of a new Reigate Town Council

These have been shaped by two rounds of public consultation, during which local residents and organisations were invited to consider whether current parish and town councils (namely Horley Town Council and Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council) remained fit for purpose; and whether people living elsewhere in the borough might be better represented in the future with similar arrangements.

Suggestions received during the first round of consultation helped to inform the council’s draft recommendations that were subject to further consultation between 7 November 2025 and 16 January 2026. The final recommendations include several changes made following the second round of consultation, for example:

• no expansion of Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council, following strong community opposition
• revision of ward names and councillor numbers for the new Banstead & The Villages Council
• two separate town councils for Redhill and Reigate after consultation showed strong support for town councils but mixed views on combining them.

The report to Full Council is available on the council's website.