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A £128,000 fund has been created to support independent and small shops across the borough and to pay for town centre improvement works.Eligible businesses in Â鶹´«Ã½ town centre and the neighbourhood parades will be able to bid for grants of up to £5,000 toward significant visual improvements to their frontage, or…

Owners of long-term empty properties in Â鶹´«Ã½ could have to pay double Council Tax a year sooner from April 2025.At its meeting last night (Wednesday 13 March), Â鶹´«Ã½ Borough Council’s Cabinet recommended that a premium of 100 per cent is added to Council Tax bills for homes that are unoccupied and substantially…

The Leader of the Council has written to six government departments to urge them to take decisive action to address Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s housing emergency.Councillor Michael Jones and Councillor Ian Irvine, Cabinet Member for Housing, have written to Secretaries of State and Ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing…

Twelve new sportspeople have been added to the sporting wall at K2 Â鶹´«Ã½.There are now 25 people from a wide array of sports honoured on the Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Sporting Excellence wall at the leisure centre.Each sporting hero is presented with a graphical portrait and information plaque, outlining their career highlights…

More than 250 people visited a jobs fair laid on by Â鶹´«Ã½ Borough Council last week with 21 potential employers and agencies to approach.Exhibitors included WH Smith, Cova Security Gates, Siemens and People’s Partnership, as well as One Resourcing which is recruiting for various roles at Gatwick airport.The Employ…

British Airways Holidays has signed up to be the next tenant of The Create Building.The company has signed a lease for the top (eighth) floor and will move into the building, on The Boulevard in Â鶹´«Ã½ town centre, in April.This signing follows the announcement in December that Varian Medical Systems Ltd had agreed a…

If you want to take some first steps towards a healthier lifestyle or add a social element to your exercise, the range of free Health Walks offered through Â鶹´«Ã½ Wellbeing can provide that environment.A qualified walk leader guides the group at each of the five locations, with shorter options of 45-minute walks, or…

Five grants reaching £6,400 have been made to community groups supported by Â鶹´«Ã½ Borough Council.They include awards for a new youth football club, children’s dance, and an international festival at The Hawth.Awards of up to £2,500 are available from the Small Grants scheme to help local voluntary and community…

The Leader of Â鶹´«Ã½ Borough Council has added his name to a letter urging more money to be allocated to the Household Support Fund (HSF), which has been used to sustain struggling families since 2021.The government has provided £2.5 billion across the UK but could close the funding stream at the end of March with no…

The Create Building has its second commercial tenant.A company has signed a lease for the seventh floor and will move into the building, on The Boulevard in Â鶹´«Ã½ town centre, in April.The Create Building is a nine-storey building with 5.5 floors of Grade A commercial office space. It’s owned by Â鶹´«Ã½ Borough…