What does my council ever do for me?

Posters We all use public services. Some are provided by authorities covering the whole of Surrey such as policing, fire and rescue and the services provided by Surrey County Council. Others are provided by your local borough council - Surrey Heath.

We don't just collect your rubbish
You are all probably aware of some of the services provided by Surrey Heath, such as our very successful refuse and recycling scheme but there are other services that touch your lives on a daily basis that you might be surprised to learn are also provided by us.

Keeping you safe
Did you know that all of our 750 restaurants, cafes, sandwich shops and takeaways are regularly checked by our environmental health officers to make sure they are preparing and selling food safely? We also carry out around 5,000 building inspections each year to make sure that they have been built correctly and are safe to use.

Looking after older and vulnerable people
A lot of what we do enables many of our residents to continue to live in their own homes. Services such as meals-on-wheels, dial-a-ride, helpline and our Windle Valley day centre play a massive role in maintaining quality of life for many of our older and vulnerable residents.

Keeping you healthy and active
As well as keeping you safe we also want to help you to keep healthy and active. Most of you will be aware of the Arena and Lightwater Leisure Centres butdid you know that throughout the year we also work actively with schools and youth organisations to promote sport which is celebrated annually at the Surrey Heath Sports Awards. We also provide a multitude of organised walks and outdoor events for people of all ages and abilities.

What about the fun stuff?
As well as all the important stuff we also provide many services that make our lives better such as over 252 hectares of parks and open space which can be enjoyed all year round. These range from local community play areas to our award winning Frimley Lodge Park with its 'pitch and putt', Pistachios Café and family BBQ areas. In addition to the parks we also own and manage the Camberley Theatre and Surrey Heath Museum providing entertainment, education and culture for all.

All this for 50p a day!
The majority of your council tax goes to Surrey County Council which provides services such as schools and looking after the roads. The police get the second biggest share to help maintain Surrey Heath's low crime rate. Surrey Heath Borough Council receive the third biggest share - about 10% - which pays for everything mentioned above and a whole lot more (see list to the right), which works out at about 50p per day!* (*Based on a Band D Property).

Surrey Heath Borough Council

Collects recycling and refuse from more than 34,000 households
Delivers 32,000 meals on wheels annually
Provides two Leisure Centres, Camberley Theatre and the Surrey Heath Museum
Cleans 1,413 miles of Surrey Heath's streets
Provides more than 36,000 journeys by dial-a-ride bus annually
Is responsible for 750 food premises in the borough and 1,500 Health and Safety visits
Maintains 252.5 hectares of parks and open spaces
Carries out approximately 5,000 building inspections annually

We also

Collect stray dogs
Monitor air quality
Deal with noise pollution
Re-house homeless people
Manage and coordinate all current and future building and development
Play an active role in the economic development of the borough
Provide parking across the borough and control illegal parking

...plus lots more