Joint statement on the death of George Floyd

The leaders of all political groups at the council united to issue a joint statement that reconfirms Basingstoke and Deane stands in solidarity with all those who reject violence and oppose racism in all its forms.

Borough’s shopping areas set to reopen next week 

We are working with Festival Place, The Malls and Basingstoke Together Business Improvement District to implement measures for the safe reopening of Basingstoke town centre next week.

On 25 May, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans for non-essential retailers to reopen stores from Monday 15 June and as part of this, the council has been awarded £150,000 to introduce measures to keep shoppers safe.

Following the announcement, the council has been working with its partners in the town centre, as well as other shopping areas across the borough, to ensure a safe and pleasant experience for shoppers and businesses will be supported to understand the measures they need to take before they can reopen.

Shoppers will be encouraged to support local businesses while ensuring the safety of other visitors, business owners and their staff.

A number of measures will be put in place including walking on the left hand side of walkways in the Basingstoke town centre area, an increased cleaning schedule of public areas and extensive signage reminding shoppers what they need to do. The council is also working with partners to provide hand sanitising stations at the Top of the Town and in council-owned car parks.

Shoppers using council-owned car parks in the town centre are being urged to make card payments using the free RingGo app which is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.

There are a number of other ways to get to the town centre, including walking, cycling and public transport, with bus passengers encouraged to follow the social distancing measures in place at Basingstoke bus station and on the buses. Plans to provide additional temporary cycle storage in the town centre are also under way.

More information on the measures Stagecoach has put in place on buses operating in the borough can be found at www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/national/covid-19-travelling-safely# 

More information about the measures being implemented at The Malls is at www.themalls.co.uk and in Festival Place is at www.festivalplace.co.uk 

Household Waste Recycling Centre bookings

The new system for residents to book slots at Hampshire County Council’s household waste recycling centre (HWRC) at Wade Road will go live on Thursday 11 June.

Residents will be able to book a 30 minute slot for Monday 15 June onwards. Bookings can be made at www.hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/recyclingcentres/book-appointment or telephone bookings, for those without access to the online system, can be made by calling 023 8017 9949.

Those wishing to book a slot will need to provide their name, car registration and, for online bookings, an email address. Bookings will be limited to one slot per household per week and people will be able to book a slot up to 48 hours in advance.

From Monday 15 June, all HWRCs will also revert to their normal summer opening hours of 9am until 6pm, seven days a week.

Garden waste service 

Garden waste collections in Basingstoke and Deane will re-start from next Monday 15 June for existing customers as staffing levels begin to stabilise following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The fortnightly garden waste service, which has over 12,000 customers signed up, is resuming as part of a plan agreed by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hart District Council, working with waste collection contractor Serco.

It follows the reintroduction of the council’s bulky waste collection service and deliveries of bins and glass containers in May.

Following the suspension of the service in March, all existing garden waste customers have been sent a letter advising them that the service is restarting. Customers are asked not to overfill their bags or bins as they will be too heavy for the crews to collect. No new customers can be accepted to the service at this time but this will be reviewed. Customers can look up their collection date at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/gardenwaste