Staines Online is an independent news and information site for Staines-upon-Thames and the towns around it. We work from public records, we link to them, and we are not connected to either council.
Two boroughs along one river
Staines-upon-Thames, Ashford, Stanwell, Sunbury-on-Thames and Shepperton are in the borough of Spelthorne. Egham, Chertsey, Addlestone, Virginia Water and Englefield Green are in Runnymede. Two authorities, two planning registers, two sets of bin arrangements, in towns that are a few minutes apart. We name the right one in every story and on every reference page, and Surrey County Council runs roads, schools and social care across both.
A piece of history explains some of the oddness: this stretch north of the Thames was part of Middlesex until 1965, which is why the geography and the county boundary do not feel like they match.
What we report
Each borough’s planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Thames, the Colne and the Bourne, and company filings in The Gazette. This is a floodplain and flooding is a standing local subject, so we report the official warnings rather than the version going round. Heathrow-related development turns up constantly in the planning papers on the Spelthorne side.
Reorganisation in 2027
Surrey’s borough and district councils are due to be abolished in 2027 and replaced by a smaller number of unitary authorities, ahead of the timetable in most of England. That will change who answers for planning, bins and council tax here, and may or may not put both of our boroughs under the same successor. We will report the detail from the published documents as it is settled.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@stainesonline.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections are made quickly and noted on the page.
Staines Online is published by Future Business Media.