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Hello Spring!
Spring is allegedly here and Easter seems to have crept up on us very early this year, but we have a number of activities planned to entice families into Oxted over the Easter holidays including an Easter Trail, Find the St Mary's Bunny and an Easter Bunny Fun Afternoon with children's craft and dance. See full run-down below.
General updates
CCTV has now been installed to cover Station Road East, West and Master Park. Please see full update below.
FY24 BID Report - You will shortly receive your BID Levy bills for 2024-25 from Tandridge District Council and this will include a BID REPORT for FY24. You can also download it here:
Master Park Roundabout - thanks to a grant from Cllr Cameron McIntosh's local fund, we are replanting the refurbished roundabout in April once the daffs have had their day! The new roundabout also has our BID funded heritage lamppost on it to ensure a nice entrance to Oxted town centre from the west.
Spring colour - the spring replanting of baskets, pots, rail tubs etc will also take place in April.
General spring clean/tidy - Keep Britain Tidy is currently running The Great British Spring Clean until the end of March. We would like to encourage all businesses to help give Oxted a bit of a spring clean/tidy by weeding outside their premises, clearing any litter from flower beds, pruning, cleaning any signage and generally tidying / cleaning up areas outside of their premises. Some of these areas are landlord/tenant owned; some are council, but we should all do our bit to help make Oxted look much more attractive... thank you.
Wayfinding - having received confirmation of a CIL grant from Tandridge District Council, we are now moving towards planning the wayfinding locations with Surrey Highways and an external consultant. Updates to follow.
Surrey Day - 11th May: This year Surrey Day is themed Surrey from the Sky. We are working with local photographers/drone pilots to get some great aerial footage. If possible, at 11AM on May 11th we are intending to stage a live aerial wave! It would be great if shop staff and customers could step outside at 11AM and wave to the drone in the sky! We will publicise this event with local media, social media and Visit Surrey and will share our footage.
We will also be collating a series of aerial photos of Oxted town centre together with historical aerial photos. We will be encouraging local residents to share any photos they have with us.
Oxted Festival 2024: A number of businesses have expressed their concern about the festival this year, having experienced a marked increase in anti-social behaviour last year. With the festival intending to be bigger than ever, and with a noticeable younger pitch this year, we are liaising with Tandridge District Council's SAG team who will be meeting with the festival organisers in April and would ask any businesses with feedback they wish to be considered to email sophie@loveoxted.co.uk or Chris Hobbs / community safety at TDC.
Other marketing activities:
- We are joining Visit Surrey and Tourism South East to promote Oxted to a wider audience.
- We now have a monthly page in Oxted Local and County Chronicle as well as producing our What's On posters. Please let us know any specific diary dates or activities you have planned as far in advance as possible so we can try to include them in the monthly updates (the deadlines for which are by second week of the preceding month).
- We are producing an online Oxted brochure which can be referred to by visitors to Oxted. This will also have links to other local attractions that bring people to Oxted as well as accommodation/AirBNB etc. We would encourage all businesses to also use this.
Hellos and Goodbyes - Please help to attract more retailers to Oxted
We finally got to say Hola to the new Bocata (by Pan y Vino) this month, and understand they are already doing a roaring trade in Spanish bocadillos and deli produce. We are also very happy that Kinjo's new takeaway business, Takusan is launching very soon in the former Subway and wish them all the best.
As you will know by now there are a number of sad goodbyes - Lorimers Toybox and Trimmers have now closed their doors and Lorimers will go in April. Nicky Bond at MINT has also told us that she will be going in the summer. She would be very happy to hear from anyone who would consider taking on her shop as a going concern or who would be interested in taking on the lease (for negotiation direct with the landlord).
This is very sad news and we would urge anyone who has any retail contacts to please ask them to consider Oxted. We have contacted a number of retailers ourselves to ask them to consider our town. It would help if landlords might consider offering incentives to independent retailers...
We understand that the new owners of the former Paydens bookshop are now looking for a business to lease the commercial premises (through The DBLS Partnership, Horley - 01293 218585). Please pass on this info to anyone you know. Trimmers is for let through White & Sons, Dorking 01306 308476.
NEXT BID SOCIAL
We had another lovely catch up at Pan y Vino last month. The next BID Social is scheduled for Tuesday 14th May. 5.30-7.30pm at Hammond's Wine Bar. Please pop it in your diaries. Come and meet other BID member business managers/owners in an informal situation to share thoughts and ideas or just get to know your neighbours better. Oxted is a small business community and it's great to get together outside of work.
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Initial Christmas Plans 2024
Following some feedback from businesses (but not enough!), we have taken on board your thoughts regarding Christmas activities and intend to change the late night shopping event to a Saturday afternoon/evening family event, culminating in lights switch on at dusk.
The date is provisionally set for Saturday November 23rd.
We will close both Station Road East and West for this afternoon. Please note that whilst we try to include as many businesses as possible within the closure zone, there has to be a cut off and the closure area is largely determined by Highways and needs to accommodate taxis and emergency services.
We will repeat our strategy of creating several occasions to come to Oxted in the lead-up to Christmas and will hold a Christmas market on a separate Saturday, as well as live music, carollers and other activity.
We welcome all input and suggestions from you all.
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CCTV, SHOP CRIME AND ASB
The CCTV cameras and equipment are installed with the monitoring hub also installed at TDC. TDC’s firewall is now being configured. All cameras are connected to TDC's video server by private networks and are currently recording in test mode. Only Chroma Vision have access to this. The internet connection to the video servers is there so that images can be retrieved from storage or live from the cameras.
Signage that alerts the public to the use of CCTV is in place. This will cover every route into an area that has cameras. Oxted PC hopes that all monitoring will be fully operational by April.
DISC
- Since September, 174 incidents have been uploaded to DISC, our secure online platform to report incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour in Oxted.
- Direct reporting to DISC is currently being piloted in Guildford and we are working with 10 Business Improvement Districts across Surrey to encourage the police to extend this facility to all areas. This will make it far easier for you to report crime to the police and for the police to detect repeat offenders and take action. For example, in Guilford in February, 16 individuals were charged with offences as a result of DISC reporting.
- While there is a focus on organised crime gangs, it is estimated that 95% retail crime is committed by local offenders and the majority of incidents are committed by a small number of those who have drug and other addiction issues. So reporting incidents on DISC will provide the police with evidence of regular offenders active in Oxted and help them to take action.
If you would like access to DISC to upload information on incidents in Oxted and to receive updates with information on known and suspected offenders, please email tracey@loveoxted.co.uk
If you haven’t yet signed up to DISC please contact Tracey, or for any help accessing the system.
Please remember that as far as the police is concerned in terms of being able to build cases for prosecution and also for banning orders, the importance of reporting all incidents as far as possible, with supporting evidence (CCTV, photos etc) cannot be understated.
Please continue to report incidents direct to the police via 999 if it's an emergency, 101 or via NICE. And please continue to blow those whistles!
If you haven't received any Love Oxted Lanyards or need more/more Green Shoplifter Alert Whistles, Robert Leech at 34 Station Road East also has a box full. Please drop in and collect if you need some!
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Easter Fun in Oxted this holidays
We have organised a number of Easter activities and also noted other independent events and activities for families to enjoy in Oxted this Easter holidays - including Easter Trail, Find the St Mary’s Bunny, Benson’s Family Fun Fair, Easter Bunny Fun Day. We have also produced an Easter Activity Book download.
Easter Bunny Trail – Saturday 23rd March to Saturday 6th April
We will once again be holding an Easter Bunny Trail around Oxted businesses - thank you to those who have volunteered to host the trail. FYI, Trail sheets area available to download from the love oxted website, or pick up from the Oxted Library from Saturday 23rd March (NB closed Good Friday, Sunday and BH Monday)
Find the St Mary's Bunny - 29th March to 14th April
In conjunction with The St Mary’s School PTA (https://www.stmarysprimarypta.org), an Easter Bunny will be touring around Oxted from 29/3 to 14/4 and will appear in several locations.
Children can a photo with him and get a treat – tag @loveoxted and the business you find him in.
The Bunny’s locations will be posted daily on Love Oxted and St Mary’s PTA Facebook, but for the benefit of parents and businesses, the bunny will be at:
- St Mary’s Church – Good Friday to Easter Monday
- Elements Salon – Tues & Weds 2 & 3 April
- Job’s of Oxted – 4 & 5th April
- Specsavers Oxted – 6/7/8th April
- Oxted Library – 11/12/13th April
Love Oxted Easter Bunny Fun Day - 30TH MARCH
- 2PM – 3PM – Bunny Craft outside BOOTS – make ears and a tail with Character Parties by Bee
- 3PM – Bunny dance lesson with Kerry from KPA Dance Academy outside BOOT
- 3.30PM Bunny dance presentation to parents
NB. We will have gazebo for the crafts, but our wet weather venue will be Oxted Library
Easter Activity Book is available to download here: Love-Oxted-Easter-Kids-Activity-Book-1-2
Other Activity Over Easter
- All holidays: Easter colouring-in station and balloon arch at DESSERT SPOT – There will be special sweet treats in store too.
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29TH MARCH – St Mary’s EASTER CRAFT Morning – Easter Holiday fun at Oxted Community Hall 10-11.30AM. Egg painting, story telling, card making, planting, biscuit decorating.
- 28TH MARCH – WEAR AN EASTER HAT DAY - PLEASE ALL BUSINESSES - could you get your staff to wear an easter hat or ears on this day AND / OR on Saturday 30th March (see below)
- FRIDAY 29th March to Sunday 7th APRIL – Benson’s Family Fun Fair @ Master Park. Afternoons & evenings.
- SATURDAY 30th March - 12.15PM – Bing Bunny at Playtown
- 2nd-4th April – Kids Art Course at The Woodhouse Centre. 2.30pm-5pm – with Art for Life (https://www.artforlife.uk/kids-courses)
- Oxted Library will also be running an Easter hunt over the holidays.
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March to May - Key Retail and Diary Dates
Marketing Calendar Dates for March:
1st March 2024 – St. David’s Day
4-10th March 2024 – British Pie Week
7th March 2024 – World Book Day
8th March 2024 – International Women’s Day
17th March 2024 – St Patrick’s Day (Northern Ireland) / Red Nose Day
18th March 2024 – Global Recycling Day
20th March 2024 – First Day of Spring
29th March 2024 – Good Friday
31st March 2024 – Easter Sunday / BST starts
Marketing Calendar Dates for April:
Stress Awareness Month / National Pet Month / National Brunch Month
1st April 2024 – April Fool’s Day / Easter Monday (ENG, NIR, WAL)
2nd April - Autism Awareness Day
3rd April - National Walking Day
10th April - National Siblings Day
11th April - National Pet Day
12th April - Day Of Silence
14th April - National Gardening Day
15th April - World Art Day
21st April - National Tea Day
22nd April - Earth Day
23rd April - World Book Day & St. George’s Day
29th April - International Dance Day
Marketing Calendar Dates for May:
1st May 2024 – May Day/Early May Bank Holiday
4th May 2024 – Star Wars Day
6th May 2024 – 1 Yeah Anniversary Coronation of King Charles III and Camilla
11th May 2024 – Eat What You Want Day
11th May 2024 - Surrey Day - "Surrey from the Sky"
13th May 2024 – World Cocktail Day
16th May 2024 – International Day of Light
17th May 2024 – World Baking Day
20th May 2024 – World Bee Day
27th May 2024 – Spring Bank Holiday
29th May 2024 – National Biscuit Day
TELL US WHAT YOU'RE UP TO!
We would really like to know what you're doing to promote your business.
Please don't forget to let us know your plans, events, promotions, vacancies etc. We are very happy to help spread the word. Please email Sophie on marketing@loveoxted.co.uk or WhatsApp +44 7514 011355.
Don't forget to TAG @loveoxted into your posts and stories on social media.
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If you would be happy to join the "Helpful BID Peeps" WhatsApp Group, please let Sophie know! This is a group just for swapping general info, feedback and suggestions for activity, requests for social media photos etc.
Please don't hesitate to email Tracey - tracey@loveoxted.co.uk with any regulatory or general BID management enquiry, or to Sophie on marketing@loveoxted.co.uk for any Marketing/Events or Attractive Town enquiries.
WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY EASTER!
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