Category: News

We are pleased to announce that the first stage of our renovations within Queens Road Cemetery has been completed. We aim to make this space an area of beauty within the town
whilst upholding the local wildlife and ecosystem. The area had been overgrown for some time so we felt it important to restore this fascinating historical feature within our town.

We have separated the sections within the cemetery for us to distinguish the history of Queen’s Road. This allows us to restore correctly upholding the historical element of this green space. There are several notable figures buried in these grounds that may be of interest to our residents.

Please note that all the work completed within the cemetery is done so with extreme care. Any contractors have to comply with the regulations and expectations in place for working in
such a precious piece of land. All progress is monitored via our Amenities and Tourism Committee and regular updates can be found in the reports and minutes on our website.

Below are some pictures of our current progress.

East Court Playground for children aged up to 12 has today opened its newest piece of playground equipment. The “Climber for All” is aimed at children aged 3-10 and has finally been opened for use.   The Town Council started putting money away in 2017 to replace the former multi use unit, then with the pandemic and then this year’s haulage shortages the new equipment was delayed until the end of October before it could be completed.

The unit has a climbing net, slide, bridge, fireman pole and an accessible climber for those with less mobility.

“This climber is excellent, it allows children of all abilities to join in and have fun.  It has been a long time coming but we are very proud to be updating our playpark with top of the range inclusive facilities”  said Cllr Dean Duly Vice Chair of the Town Council’s Amenities and Tourism Committee

Cllr John Dabell, Town Mayor was pleased to reopen this part of the playground and Darcie (pictured) who had helped to choose the type of play equipment and was the first user of it, claimed that it was “awesome and the colours are really pretty”.

Christmas is upon us once more, it’s time to roast those chestnuts and wrap those presents!  Sadly, the event couldn’t take place last year, so it’s great to be back and the East Grinstead town traders will be wrapping their windows, once again, in preparation for this year’s Big Reveal, which will coincide with the Christmas lights switch-on, taking place on Saturday 20th November. The Town Mayor, John Dabell, will switch on the Rotary tree of light at the same time as the Town Council Christmas lights, at 5pm.

This year town traders will unveil their windows simultaneously to avoid large gatherings in one location and voting for your favourite window may be slightly differently this year, so please look out for social media for announcements nearer the time.

London Road will be closed to traffic from 3pm until 5.30pm and the High Street will be closed to traffic from 3pm to 8pm.  It will be free to park in Mid Sussex-owned short stay car parks (Chequer Mead and Queens Road).  Look for signs by the pay machines.

So, come along, join in the festive atmosphere and kick-start your Christmas with the Big Reveal, late-night shopping and music from the East Grinstead Concert Band.

Four parks in Mid Sussex will proudly fly the prestigious Green Flag in 2021/22, a special year for the scheme as it marks its Silver Jubilee.

Beech Hurst Gardens and Victoria Park in Haywards Heath, St Johns Park in Burgess Hill and East Court and Ashplats Wood in East Grinstead are four of 2,127 green spaces across the UK celebrating success.

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for their management across the United Kingdom and around the world. When a Green Flag is flying, it is a sign to the public that a park or open space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

Research carried out by YouGov for Keep Britain Tidy over the summer shows just how important parks are to the British public.

It reveals that having access to a quality park or green space helped improve people’s mental health with almost six in ten (59%) saying they felt less stressed when using the park and 55% saying they felt more positive in general. That’s why it’s important that parks are managed to the Green Flag Award standard.

The survey also showed that more than half of people (53%) visit a park or green space at least once a week and more than nine in ten (93%) think that parks and green spaces are important to their local community.

Councillor John Belsey, Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery said:

“It’s wonderful news that Beech Hurst Gardens, Victoria Park, St Johns Park, East Court and Ashplats Wood have all retained their Green Flag status for another year.

“Parks and open spaces have always had a special place in our hearts but the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures we have experienced have made us appreciate them even more.

“Huge credit must go to our parks and open spaces team who have worked so hard over the past 12 months to manage these parks to such a high standard and ensure they are safe and accessible for everyone to enjoy.”

Councillor Helen Farren from East Grinstead Town Council said:

“It’s great news that Ashplats Wood has retained its Green Flag status. We are privileged to have such a beautiful green open space on our doorstep that we’re able to enjoy all year round.”

Commenting on the news that four parks in Mid Sussex have achieved the Green Flag Award standard, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said:

“I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making these four Mid Sussex parks worthy of a Green Flag Award.”

To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that these parks have high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.”

Despite the rain, East Grinstead sang and danced to welcome live gigs back!

East Court Live, the three times free to enter concert, hosted by East Grinstead Town Council came back after 2 years.   The events are held on the first Sunday of June July and August each year but the pandemic restrictions meant that last Sunday’s event was the first since 4 August 2019.

We wanted to have a big showcase event and the four bands who came to play had been slated to play at one of the three in 2020 or even earlier in 2021, Whereas the bands are usually smaller acts to start off, this line up of White Light, Flairz, Overdrive and The Skatonics were all capable of headlining a normal event, which meant people were dancing and having a great party from the off.

The weather forecast had predicted 10% of showers in the afternoon, but this changed during the day and the rain started as the first band hit the stage and carried on with little respite through to the end of the event. This didn’t stop the audience enjoying themselves.  They danced and sang and raised their umbrellas in time with the music.

The event ended with a 15 minute Fireworks to Music spectacular, which had been held over from the 2020 VE day 75 commemorations. Because of the fireworks the whole schedule had a later start time of 5 o’clock so that it would be dark enough.

Chairman of the Amenities and Tourism Committee, Cllr Helen Farren said “It was just a great party. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves, after all these months of lockdown it was a way of saying, we’re back.  For those who stayed all day in the rain, it just showcased the British Spirit and was brilliant to see”

The Town Council will now start planning the events for next summer, and hoping for better weather. East Court Live next year will return to an afternoon event finishing around 5pm.

The East Grinstead Dementia Action Alliance is turning East Grinstead Blue for Dementia Awareness Week 2021.

The week is aimed at raising awareness of Dementia which affects over 1 million people, and was a diagnosis in 1:4 people who have died from Covid 19, here in the UK. East Grinstead strives to be Dementia Friendly and is nationally recognised as so with the 50+ members of the dementia action alliance in the town who display a window sticker to state that it is part of their business ethos, to help people with dementia to live as normally as they can.

This Dementia action week will include a Blue Trail starting in Railway Approach and ending at the McIndoe Statue. Businesses along the route have been leafletted to ask them to put something blue in their window as part of a fun trail for individuals and families to follow as they are out and about in East Grinstead, and over 80 have replied positively. What will the blue items be?

A checklist naming the businesses that have pledged to take part is downloadable from the East Grinstead Town Council or Age UK (East Grinstead and District) websites. This is just for fun to encourage people back in to the town centre as we emerge from Covid and also to think about those who are living with Dementia. To encourage spacing times out during the Covid restrictions the trail will last for two weeks from 17th to 30th May.

There is no cost to be involved but if participants want to make a contribution they are asked to make a donation to the Alzheimers Society.

The Town Council with the help of the Sackville Lacemakers, East Grinstead Embroiderers, The Soroptimists and individual volunteers have a display in the town of knitted, crocheted and printed forget-me-nots (the emblem of Dementia Friends) hanging in trees, from lampposts and a forget me not chain border at the McIndoe Lawn, along with a display at the War Memorial.

Town Clerk Julie Holden, who Chairs the East Grinstead Dementia Friendly Community/ Action Alliance said; a huge thank you to everyone who has helped to turn the town blue for Dementia, the diseases that steal our loved ones from us need research, but most of all better understanding as to how we can support family and friends to remain independent and get the most out of life for as long as possible, kindness and patience remain the key issues, which starts with awareness.

Please see the below businesses getting involved!

The Blue Trail for Download

Our Poster:

The Town Council is introducing a new Wayfinding History Trail

Following the Station to Statue route the monoliths and heritage panels will provide historical information and walking distances to landmarks such as the Museum,  High St,  Station and Forest Way.  Each sign will have a QR code (which can be scanned by a smart phone) and link you directly to a page on the Visit East Grinstead website or the Museum to tell you more about the spot.  There is also a digital map embedded on the Visit East Grinstead website which will advise of the route and the stops along the way.

The initial phase has five monoliths  (the station,  two on London Road, the statue and the entrance to the Forest Way) and five heritage panels (St Leonards Park, Whitehall Buildings, Sackville House, Sackville College and McIndoe Statue).

If this is successful we will be looking to add more to this trail linking the Worth Way and adding more information about hidden historical treasures in East Grinstead.    As well as fun for visitors it is hoped to encourage the Bluebell Railway users to venture in to East Grinstead during their daytrips.    Councillor Helen Farren (Chairman of the Amenities and Tourism Committee) said “As we start to open up again, we hope this trail will encourage people to explore our towns diverse history.”

The links will all go through to visiteastgrinstead.com or the Museum website and will be maintained by the Town Council.   The Monoliths and panels are now in place.

Yesterday, the Town Mayor opened the new Lions Book Shop inside Martell’s department store.

The Book Shop is open on the second floor of Martell’s, Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Why not pop in and have a browse?