Town Hall to reopen for appointments only

The Town Hall, on The Boulevard, has been closed since 24 March following government guidance.

It will reopen for you to pay in cash if you’re unable to pay via our other channels, drop-off or collect an item or to use a self-service terminal. Where possible, please scan documents and send them to the council electronically. Appointments to access other services aren’t currently available but this will be reviewed regularly.

Several changes have been made to the ground floor of the building and how the council operates to ensure your safety and the safety of staff. These include:

·       You must have an appointment to enter the Town Hall. Please arrive on time; if you arrive early you will have to wait outside the building

·       You will have to sanitise your hands on entering and exiting the building

·       Council officers will sanitise surfaces after every visitor

·       A one-way system will be in place to ensure social distancing

·       Only one payment kiosk will be open and there will be no cashiers’ service. Cash payments will have to be made at the kiosk. Cheque, debit and credit card payments will not be accepted; debit card and credit card payments can be made online at crawley.gov.uk/payments, over the phone by calling our automated payments line on 01293 438312 or at your bank

·       The only public entrance to the building will be the front doors on The Boulevard; there will be no access from the multi-storey car park

·       The front doors will be closed and manually opened by a Customer Service Advisor to people with booked appointments.

To book an appointment, please call 01293 438000 or email comments@crawley.gov.uk Council officers will try to help you with your enquiry or advise of other ways to access our services in the first instance.

When booking, you will be asked for your full name, address and contact information for track and trace purposes. This information will be kept for a minimum of 21 days before being destroyed. You will also be asked if you have any accessibility needs. If you’re able to, please wear a face covering.

If you are dropping off or collecting an item, or making a payment, you will be given a 15-minute appointment. Self-service appointments will be an hour long.

Councillor Peter Lamb, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, said: “Almost everything anyone ever needs to contact the council for can now be done online or over the phone; we would ask that people only come in if they have absolutely no alternative other than to make the trip. Pandemics do not spread themselves, only people spread pandemics.”

A wide range of council services, including paying bills and reporting a problem, can be accessed online through smartphones, tablets and computers.

Visit the council’s website at www.crawley.gov.uk for information and use myCrawley to access real-time information on your rubbish, recycling and garden waste collections, Council Tax account and much more. Sign up at my.crawley.gov.uk