Haslemere Town Council is the first tier of local government serving the communities of Haslemere, Grayswood, Hindhead and Beacon Hill. As the closest democratically elected body to residents, the Council works to represent local interests and provide and maintain essential assets on behalf of the community. The Council consists of 18 elected, unpaid, councillors and employs the equivalent of 3.5 full time staff. But what does this mean in practice … what does the Town Council actually do?

Local area and amenities

The Council runs and maintains much of the external green spaces in the town, including:

Three allotment sites – To join the allotment plot waiting list please visit https://haslemeretc.org/service/allotments/.

Hindhead and Beacon Hill – Grovers Garden and Woodcock Green and Memorial Garden.

Haslemere – Lion Green (including playground), St Christophers Green, Pocket Park (bottom of Shepherds Hill), Clement Corner and Town Meadow (new children’s playground being installed for 2026). As well as a large SANG site at Sturt Road.

War memorials – the council is responsible for the maintenance of the war memorials on the High Street, Grayswood, Shottermill and Beacon Hill, as well as the RAF servicemen’s memorial next to the Shottermill Club. These are regularly inspected to ensure they remain in good condition.

As part of the forthcoming local government reorganisation, it is looking to secure more sites within the parish which may be under threat from loss or neglect.

Haslemere Town Council’s planning and highways committee consider all planning applications in our administrative area. Residents are welcome to come and make representations relating to any of those applications. Where deemed necessary, councillors will attend Waverley council meetings to represent their constituents.

The Council was recently part of the “Rule 6” party, formed with Haslemere Vision, Haslemere Society, and HSRA (Haslemere South Residents’ Association). This group was formed to participate at the public inquiry into the Scotland Park Phase 2 development, objecting to the development.

Toilets – the council runs both sets of public toilets in the parish, in the High Street car park and on Lion Green. These are exceptionally well used, averaging 1,000 users per week.

Partnership and Community

In 2025-26 the town council awarded almost £75,000 in revenue grants to essential local services which support the community including Haslemere Youth Hub, Foodbank, Sport Haslemere, Three Counties Money advice, CAB, Hoppa, Weyhill in Bloom and others. We have recently launched a new project, in partnership with VASWS (Voluntary Action Southwest Surrey) to support any local organisation in finding additional external funding.

Another new initiative is to support community growth by facilitating a bi-annual local organisation meeting as an opportunity for organisations to network with each other.

Many of our councillors serve as representatives on local organisations. This helps build a strong two-way relationship – we can support each other and stay informed about what is happening in the community. Having a council representative involved is a real advantage. They understand your goals and financial position and can often point you towards useful advice or funding opportunities.

As well as chairing meetings of Full Council, the Mayor is responsible for representing and promoting the town at every opportunity. They attend numerous engagements during the year, from a resident’s 100^th birthday celebration to the opening of a new business or attending the AGM of a local organisation. If you would like the mayor to attend your event you can contact office@haslemeretc.org.

The council regularly meet with the police as well as operate CCTV cameras to ensure the protection of residents, businesses, and facilities. We work closely with the Chamber of Trade and are looking to implement a new crime reporting system, DISC, designed to speed up crime reporting and facilitate better information sharing with other towns and Surrey police.

If you would like to be involved in any of the above initiatives, please email admin@haslemeretc.org.

Climate and Biodiversity

In 2019 the council declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and set up a committee to work with the town to help to reduce carbon emissions and encourage biodiversity. It has done a huge amount of work in this area, both independently and partnering with local groups such as Haslemere Biodiversity Group.

In terms of its own land and assets, the council has installed solar panels at both public toilet sites and a sustainable heating / cooling system at the town hall. Single use plastic usage has been removed from the Town Hall and council events.

The council has also implemented a ‘green grants’ initiative which helps local organisations to fund local green projects.

The council was one of the first in the country to conduct a biodiversity audit across its land and now has a project in place to take forward projects to enhance biodiversity in the area. New, more sustainable, maintenance regimes are being implemented across the council’s land.

Local business and transport

The Council meet regularly with the local Chamber of Trade and actively supports joint initiatives that benefit local businesses. Additionally, it coordinates the installation of festive Christmas lights from the High Street down into Weyhill each year, helping to create a welcoming and vibrant atmosphere that encourages footfall and supports the local retail economy.

A Haslemere Town Council-led working group, including councillors from Haslemere, Waverley, and Surrey, has been actively lobbying for 20 mph speed limits in Beacon Hill. Following a well-supported consultation with residents in early 2025, Surrey County Council approved Beacon Hill as one of 19 “quick win” schemes for 20 mph limits to be delivered over the next year. Preliminary speed surveys and design work are now underway, and Haslemere Town Council plans to play a key role in the upcoming stakeholder consultation to help realise the vision of a 20-mph zone.

Youth

The Council has committed a minimum of £250,000 towards a partnership project with Waverley Borough Council and the Youth Hub to deliver a new, purpose-built youth centre in the town. This significant investment reflects the Council’s dedication to supporting young people and enhancing local services.

In addition, the Council continues to support community organisations such as A Place to Be Youth Club, which recently received a grant of £5,000 to help sustain its vital work with young residents.

Following sustained investment in the Lion Green playground – including surface improvements, bench refurbishments, equipment replacement and a full inspection and repair of the zip wire – the Council is now focusing its resources on the planned upgrade of the Town Meadow playground to ensure accessible and high-quality play facilities across the parish.

Grants and CIL

The town council supports the local community through a range of grants options. Small and green grants are available up to £1,000 for small projects and community events, revenue grants are awarded local organisations to help with their running costs.

In addition to this, the council holds a significant pot of money awarded from community infrastructure payments from developers and this is used to fund or part-fund large infrastructure projects where it can be demonstrated that the need for the project was caused by increased demand due to development. The Council has awarded money to a huge number of projects including improvements at the doctors’ surgery, development of the Link centre at St Bartholomew’s church, updating of the pavilion at Beacon Hill football club, stage and lighting equipment at Shottermill Junior school and resurfacing of the car park at the Golden Valley. Plenty more local projects are in the pipeline.

Events

The Town Council organises events such as Christmas Carol Service, Remembrance Sunday and Haslemere Walking Festival and contributes money and council resources to many other local events, such as the Charter Fair and Haslemere Fringe Festival.

HTC organises and pays for the Christmas lights in Haslemere and funds the Beacon Hill light brigade which provides the lights in Beacon Hill.

The Town Council also organises fundraising events throughout the year such as the dog show, car boots and quiz nights to name a few. These events raise funds for the mayor’s charities; visit our website to see what they are for this year.

And finally …

There are loads of things around that town that you have possibly never thought about but are quietly done by the council on a day-to-day basis. Maintaining benches and bus shelters, removing graffiti, assisting members of the public with many and varied questions, general grounds maintenance and small repair jobs. Some recent examples include repairing a well-used bench at a bus stop, removing graffiti from Lower Street and the cleaning of road signs. All examples of how the Council keeps our town looking as our residents would expect.

The town council’s administrative area is split into 5 wards, each with ward councillors to represent their constituents. Their details can be found at the bottom of this page. Ward councillors work hard behind the scenes on behalf of residents to help with a range of issues that are reported to them. Do contact your ward councillor directly or via the town hall office if you need assistance.

How much does all this cost the local taxpayer?

Town and Parish councils are funded by what is called the ‘precept’. This is the portion that Haslemere Town Council gets from its residents’ council tax. Haslemere Town Council’s remains one of the lowest for its size anywhere. At £58.52 a year it is significantly lower than the average national average which stands at £92.22 and equates to just over a pound a week for an average Haslemere household. We think that’s pretty good value for money.

How do I find out more?

Much of the information about who we are and what we do can be found on our website.

Committee meetings except, for staffing, are open to the public. Meetings are held on Thursdays at 7pm at the Town Hall unless otherwise stated. If you would like to attend a meeting, you can find out when the next relevant committee meetings are from The Town Council’s website meeting page: https://haslemeretc.org/meetings/.

We are just about to implement a video conferencing system so that our full council, and eventually all committee meetings, will be broadcast live for residents to access remotely.

If you would like to find out more about The Council subscribe to our electronic newsletter via the mailing list at https://haslemeretc.org/.

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