Three new councils for Reigate, Redhill and Banstead were approved on 14 September. They start on 1 April 2027 and could add £15 to £30 a year to Band D bills.
Reigate, Redhill and Banstead will each get their own town or parish council from 1 April 2027. The whole borough will then be covered by town and parish councils.
The East Surrey Shadow Authority’s Executive approved the plans on Monday 14 September. The decision had passed to it from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, which agreed the final recommendations in March but lost the legal power to make them happen when the Surrey Structural Changes Order came into force (Reigate & Banstead Borough Council).
The new councils are:
- Reigate Town Council, covering Reigate, Woodhatch and South Park
- Redhill Town Council, covering Redhill, Merstham, Earlswood and Whitebushes
- Banstead & The Villages Council, covering the north of the borough from Nork and Tattenham Corner to Chipstead, Kingswood and Hooley
Horley Town Council grows from 18 to 20 councillors on new wards. Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council is unchanged.
What it will cost
A new parish council is paid for by a new line on your council tax bill, called the precept. The borough council’s initial estimate is £15 to £30 a year for a Band D home in the new parishes, depending on how many households each one covers.
For comparison, a Band D home already pays £57.31 to Horley Town Council and £34.83 to Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council.
The Executive’s report puts a first-year budget on each new council. Those figures are written into the draft legal Orders (report to the East Surrey Shadow Executive, 14 September 2026):
| New council | Year one budget | Councillors |
|---|---|---|
| Banstead & The Villages | £350,628 | 27 |
| Redhill Town Council | £325,878 | 27 |
| Reigate Town Council | £268,283 | 19 |
The budgets cover the basics: a clerk, election costs, office rent, insurance, audit and similar running costs. The report says the estimates were benchmarked against comparable councils. It also flags a risk that they “may prove insufficient”. Once elected, each council sets its own budget and precept.
What the new councils will actually do
At first, only the basics. The new councils get the basic functions of a parish council plus any statutory allotments in their areas. No other buildings, land or services transfer to them.
Anything more, such as parks, halls or local events, would have to be agreed later with East Surrey Council. The report says that is a matter for “discussion and agreement” beyond year one.
The wards and seats
Each council is split into wards, with these seats:
- Reigate Town Council (19): Pilgrims 5, Priory 4, South Park 4, Chartfield 3, Woodhatch 3
- Redhill Town Council (27): Redhill West 5, Meadvale & Hatchlands 4, North Earlswood 4, Redhill East 3, Merstham Central 3, South Earlswood & Whitebushes 3, The Frenches 2, Merstham South 2, Merstham North 1
- Banstead & The Villages Council (27): Nork 4, Tadworth & Walton 4, Banstead Village East 3, Tattenham Corner 3, Woodmansterne & Chipstead 3, Banstead Village West 2, Preston 2, Hooley & Netherne 2, Kingswood & Burgh Heath 2, Lower Kingswood & Mugswell 2
The draft Orders still carry some drafting slips. The Reigate Order says the parish has nine wards and then names five. The Banstead Order says twelve and names ten. The Executive gave its Monitoring Officer authority to correct the Orders before signing them.
Why two councils, not one
The borough ran two public consultations and received 2,119 responses. Around 80% of respondents in the Redhill and Reigate area backed some form of town or parish council. Views were mixed on whether the two towns should share one, so the final plan gave each its own. In the north of the borough, 65% supported Banstead & The Villages Council.
Salfords & Sidlow was going to expand, but the borough dropped that after what its own page calls “strong community opposition” (Reigate & Banstead community governance review).
The Shadow Executive could only accept or reject the package, not change it. Its report warned that rejecting it would mean a fresh review taking about 12 months.
The key dates
- 1 October 2026: the borough’s Full Council is expected to conclude its review of polling districts, redrawn to fit the new wards
- 1 December 2026: the revised electoral register is published
- 1 April 2027: the new councils legally exist, and East Surrey Council replaces the county and borough councils
- 6 May 2027: the first elections to all three new councils, and to Horley Town Council on its new wards
- 10 May 2027: the elected councillors take office
Between 1 April and 10 May, the East Surrey councillors for the overlapping wards sit as temporary members. The report describes them as “custodians, not policymakers”.
What it means for you
- Expect a new line on your council tax bill from April 2027 if you live in Reigate, Redhill, Merstham, Earlswood, Banstead or the northern villages. Our council tax bands page has the current charges.
- You can stand for election. All 73 seats on the three new councils are up for election on 6 May 2027. Nomination details have not yet been published.
- Check your polling station when the new register comes out on 1 December. Our report on the polling station changes covers the review now under way.
- Horley and Salfords residents see no new council. Horley’s town council simply gains two seats.
The same Shadow Executive meeting also chose Woodhatch Place in Reigate as East Surrey Council’s first headquarters. We have covered that decision in East Surrey Council’s HQ.
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