Mark Brunt recived 785 votes, 380 votes ahead of second place Labour candidate.

Cllr Mark Brunt – I am very greatful to the people of Merstham for their support and for re-electing me to represent Merstham. There is still a lot of hard work ahead of us, if we want to deliver the improvements in the community that we continue to need.

Mark Brunt was first elected in 2004 and has served as a councillor for Merstham for the past 8 years.

Around 80 per cent of the contents of a typical refuse bin can be recycled.

The new recycling and refuse service will help to save money and keep rubbish out of landfill.

The new service will allow local residents to recycle from home:

• kitchen food waste every week
• Mixed plastics (with the exception of food wrap)
• Glass bottles and jars
• Mixed cans
• Tetra Paks Cartons
• Foil
• Paper and cardboard.

The new service will be launched this summer, residents will receive a letter telling them when their new service starts.

Collections will be spread over two weeks:

Week one: Food waste, paper/card and garden waste (for those who subscribe to the garden waste service).

Week two: Food waste, paper/card plus mixed recycling and non recyclables.

In addition to their existing containers, as part of the new service residents will receive new ones along with a guide of what can go in them. They will get:

• a small silver food caddy (for your Kitchen)

• a green lockable outdoor food container and

• a grey wheeled recycling bin for mixed recycling.

Merstham Councillor Mark Brunt:

The arrival of the new fleet of British built vehicles brings us closer to delivering on a promise I made to Merstham residents to collect more recycling from their homes. The new service will give local people the ability to conveniently recycle more materials from their own homes, including glass and plastics.

I’d encourage all residents to rethink their rubbish and recycle or re-use as much as they can. It will keep waste out of landfill and save money at the same time.

The new fleet of vehicles are manufactured by Dennis Eagle and NTM-GB and the Council’s own directly employed collections crews are beening fully trained to drive them.

Dennis Eagle’s vehicles are all British manufactured.

The high-speed technology will become available to homes and businesses by Spring 2013 and will take the number of South East’s homes and businesses being passed by the new super-fast network to more than 2.6 million.

Cllr Mark Brunt – Merstham Councillor
I am delighted to see Merstham’s need for super-fast broadband recognised by BT and welcome their decision to invest our community.

I lead a successful campaign in 2002 to get Merstham connected to broadband and so I am really please to see that its finally going to get the broadband boost the community needs.

I am hoping to work with BT and the Merstham Community Facility to enable this speed boost to be made available to even more local people.

Merstham’s councillors are holding their monthly open residents surgery on Saturday the 3rd March from 10 to 12 at the Merstham Community Facility, 44 Portland Drive.

The monthly surgeries are an opportunity for local residents to meet with their local councillors and discuss local issues. Surgeries take place every month on the 1st Saturday of the month.

Everybody is welcome, no appointments required just pop in for chat and a coffee.

Please contact Cllr Mark Brunt for further details cllr.brunt@reigate-banstead.gov.uk Tel: (01737) 212073

The wooden bench, which is dedicated to the local Royal British Legion, has sat happily next to the flower bed on Merstham High Street for years and was some how damaged in January. After having been inspected by councils officers and being declared as irreparable the damaged bench was about to be removed which local councillor Mark Brunt stepped in.

Cllr Mark Brunt Merstham Councillor
I noticed that the bench had been damaged and reported it to the council. Having been later told that the bench was viewed to be irreparable I decided to look at it closely myself to see what if anything I could do. On closer inspection of the bench I realised that a repair was possible and decided to take on the challenge myself.

After collecting the damaged bench parts for the High Street and following a great deal of head scratching, I managed to rebolt and repair the broken parts and successfully reconstruct the bench. After going the bench a new coat of paint, I reinstalled the bench in it rightful place on the High Street.

I wouldn’t describe myself as much of a handy-man, but I was please that I was able to restore the bench rather then see if go to waste.

The pledge marked the anniversary of the Queen coming to the throne on 6 February 1952. Her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.

Surrey County Council leader David Hodge said:
There were more than 200 street parties in Surrey for last year’s Royal wedding and we want people to come together again and show the sense of community spirit that makes the county such a wonderful place to live.

I can’t think of a better way to mark 60 years of the Queen’s reign than spending the day celebrating with neighbours or friends and I have asked our highways teams go out of their way to help make this happen.

To help people turn party plans into reality we’ve made it simpler and quicker to apply for a road closure but of course there will be some cases where the potential effect on the emergency services means we have to ensure safety is not compromised.

Applications for parties can be made to Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, who make the final decision. Surrey County Council is consulted on road closures.

Mark Brunt, Merstham Councillor:
Councillors in Merstham are keen to work with any residents looking to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with an event and will do what ever they can to ensure they are successful.

We can help with road closures requests as well as small funding requests from our community awards fund.

Residents groups looking for assistance with organising Jubilee events are urged to review the advice on the council’s website and to contact Cllr Mark Brunt (Cllr.Brunt@Reigate-Banstead.gov.uk) for any further help.

The scheme matches people with under-used gardens to gardeners. The person with the garden benefits from having someone else maintain their garden for them, while the gardener, who may not have a garden of their own, benefits too.

Cllr Mark Brunt – Merstham Councillor
This scheme offers would-be gardeners in Merstham the opportunity of a patch of ground they can make their own while helping other residents.

While we continue to see a growing in demand for allotments in Merstham, I hope that its will give frustrated gardeners another way of getting into gardening.

If you’re interested, please call Raven’s customer services centre on 01737 272400.

Raven Housing Trust are looking for Volunteers To Support Youth Activities in various youth clubs in Merstham.

If you are passionate about making a positive difference to young peoples’ lives,  have experience working with young people or would like some and have good communication skills and are able to relate well to young people, this could be a great opportunity to support your community.

Raven Housing Trust manage the youth clubs in Reigate and Banstead and are looking for a number of volunteers to support the development of the services these clubs offer to young people aged 10-19 (plus up to 24 with disabilities)

Tash Scully, Youth Inclusion Co-ordinator Raven Housing Trust
We are looking for people aged 18+ who want to work within the youth centres supporting the youth activities provided. There is a wide range of hours and activities that can be supported with flexibility to suit each individual volunteers circumstances.

All volunteers will be supported by qualified and experienced youth workers and will receive training and guidance throughout. Applicants do not need to have worked with young people before but this is obviously a plus. All applicants will be subject to enhanced CRB checks.

Main Tasks

• To support the qualified youth workers in the youth activities available at the club.
• To initiate, develop and maintain positive relationships with young people.
• To plan and facilitate project activities for young people.
• To safeguard young people’s welfare.

Benefits

• 2 full day initial Youth Work training provided free of charge including child protection.
• Guidance from experienced qualified Youth Workers and extended support network.
• Opportunities to gain further knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications in youth work.

Requirements

• Ages 18+ but options for young people aged 16-17 to develop into Young Leaders
• An Enhanced Criminal Record Bureau (E-CRB) check will need to be completed (free)
• Experience of working with young people (desired but not essential)
• Ability to create and maintain positive relationships with young people
• Good communication and team work skills and a willingness to have fun!

Applications will be accepted throughout the year. They can be found at www.ravenht.org.uk/jobs. For more info please contact: Tash Scully on 01737 272526 or youth@ravenht.org.uk

Please click here for an application form:

Youth Club Volunteers Application Form.docx

The success of the apprenticeship drive was confirmed as National Apprenticeship Week kicked off yesterday (6 February)*.

Employers have been coming forward since the end of September pledging to take on apprentices as part of the council’s push to ensure all 16 to 19-year-olds in Surrey are in education, training or employment by 2015.

Tim Hall Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, said:

Reaching the 200 target is fantastic news and a great boost for young people looking to get on the first rung of the ladder in their chosen career.

It is essential we do all we can to create jobs and opportunities for the next generation and I’m very grateful to all the employers, whether they’re in media, construction or business administration, that have helped us to rise to this challenge.

The county council is playing its part in investing in apprenticeships too. We’ve employed nearly 90 apprentices in just under three years, with more than 50 still working for us, and we’ll continue to do all we can to prepare today’s young people for a successful future.

The 200 in 100 days apprenticeship drive also included the Association of Learning Providers, Surrey Chambers of Commerce, young people’s charity Surrey SATRO and the National Apprenticeship Service.

Cllr Mark Brunt – Merstham Councillor

I know how critical apprenticeships are to giving young people the opportunity to develop skills and a career. I myself benefited from an apprenticeship scheme with local engineering company when I left school at 16, without that opportunity and the support of the scheme,  I don’t think I would be where I am today.

I am really encouraged to see the numbers of  apprenticeship places created through this latest initiative and would urge more local employers to consider creating more apprenticeship places.

The clean up day, organised jointly by Surrey Wildlife Trust and local Geocachers, attracted more than 45 volunteers, of all ages, on a very cold Saturday morning (-5c).

By the end of the mornings hard labour, the volunteers had managed  to fill a skip to overflowing with all manor of rubbish, from old mattresses to babies prams and from gas pipes to full cans of beer. So much rubbish was collected that not all of it could fit into the skip and had to be piled up for collection by the council.

Cllr Mark Brunt – Merstham Councillor
It was fantastic to see so many people turn out to help on one of the coldest days of the year.

I was shocked and astounded by the variety of rubbish that had been dumped in the woods and how much we managed to clear in just a few hours.

It goes to show what a few people can achieve with just a little effort while have a lot of fun and fresh air at the same time.

The day was also organised as a CITO – Cache In Trash Out event as part of an ongoing environmental initiative supported by the worldwide geocaching community. CITO events are organised and planned by local geocachers but can be attended by anyone willing to assist in a clean-up effort. CITO participants often include residents groups, scouts, other outdoor groups (mountain bikers, hikers, etc.) or anyone who is looking to volunteer.