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During the current coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak we are temporarily having to make changes to how we are running some of our services. These will be updated here.
Last updated: 28 May 2020 – Public toilets
Due to coronavirus (COVID-19), whilst we will endeavour to maintain business as usual there may be changes to your usual recycling and waste collections over the coming weeks and months.
If your waste and recycling hasn’t been collected, please visit our missed bin page.
Precautions are being put in place to ensure coronavirus is not spread via your waste and recycling.
Advice for those who are self-isolating
Anyone who is asked to self-isolate, either as a precaution or because they are confirmed to have coronavirus, must follow this advice when disposing of their household waste:
You should NOT put your waste in communal waste areas until waste has been stored for at least 72 hours. After 72 hours outside the body the virus is no longer viable and the double-bagged waste can be put in the general rubbish collection as normal.
Only waste that is heavily contaminated, such as tissues that have been coughed into and disposable cleaning cloths, need to be treated in this way. Regular household recycling and waste should be treated as normal.
Government advice states there is no need to offer a separate clinical collection for this type of waste at this stage.
Changes to collections
We will prioritise the collection of general waste and food waste collections.
Please continue to place your recycling and garden waste in the usual bins. Some recycling collections may be impacted due to staff shortages but we are monitoring the situation and will keep you informed.
We are working hard to minimise the impact on your recycling and waste collections and appreciate your understanding if services do change.
To protect the welfare of our staff and customers at this time, we have needed to make some changes to the way we carry out collections. This means that currently food waste is being collected separately from household waste and recycling.
Please ensure your food waste is presented by 6.00am on the day of your collection.
Thank you for your understanding at this time.
Garden Waste collections are operational.
Please note that we can now accept new Garden Waste customers. If you would like to sign up, please call – 01843 577115.
All residents who have subscribed to the service, please:
In these unprecedented times, staff sickness, self-isolation and the need to protect the crews has placed significant pressure on our bin collections. Our resources have been directed to prioritise our most critical collection services, including refuse (black bins), food waste (small brown bins), and recycling (blue-lidded bins).
We understand the frustration this has caused and appreciate your patience.
Please continue to check our website for service updates and thank you for your understanding at this time.
Bookings for a bulky waste collection are now being taken by telephone (01843 577115). Please note: In line with our collection policy and to ensure social distancing rules are strictly adhered to, items will only be collected from the outside of properties and staff will not be able to enter any part of the home, including back gardens, to retrieve items.
Tips (Household Waste and Recycling Centres) are managed by Kent County Council (KCC). Slots can now be booked for Thanet’s Waste and Recycling centres via KCC’s website.
If your income has been affected by the recent Coronavirus outbreak, and you are unable to pay your Council Tax, there are several options:
As part of the response to coronavirus (COVID-19), the government announced a national £500 million hardship fund to provide council tax relief for vulnerable households. Find out more about the hardship fund
Our RISE team is providing support to rough sleepers. Anyone who is rough sleeping that is self-isolating either because they have symptoms or because they are in a vulnerable group is being provided with somewhere to stay. The recent Government funding announced specifically to support rough sleepers will help with this.
The Government has announced emergency legislation to:
This means, if your landlord has not already applied for court action, they will not be able to do so for at least three months. However it is important that you continue to search for alternative accommodation and pay your rent. This is only a temporary delay and possession of your property will be sought once normal business resumes.
We understand it is an anxious time for everyone. If required, we will automatically extend your prevention duty by three months to continue to work with you. In the meantime, please be patient with your housing officers who are doing everything what they can to continue to deliver our service and supply you with information as and when it is available.
Looking for accommodation
For those that are looking for alternative accommodation, please be advised that some agents are now limiting viewings during the pandemic.
Letting agents we understand are still operating business as usual:
Letting agents who have suspended viewings until further notice:
This may change on a daily basis, so we recommend you continue to monitor online sites such as:
Your housing officer will continue to contact you with any properties that may become available.
Maintaining your current tenancy
During this period of uncertainty, please continue to pay your current rent and try hard to save if possible. Should you fall into financial hardship you will need to contact Universal Credit who can explore options with you.
The Homeless Prevention Tool may be able to assist you with budgeting and assessing what benefits you may be entitled to.
Please contact your agent or landlord if you have any issues making your monthly rent payments due to any loss of income/work. It is important to be open and honest with them to prevent falling into unmanageable debt once the pandemic has passed.
Debt and financial assistance
If you need any debt assistance, citizens advice services are now running by telephone or online. Please see below contact details:
Telephone: 01843 228642
The crematorium office is temporarily closed to visitors. Staff are still working and can be contacted by telephone or email. Telephone: 01843 577 333 or Email: crematorium@thanet.gov.uk
Please read this updated guidance from the Kent Resilience Forum on cremations and burials
As the situation regarding the Coronavirus continues to change, we want to assure you that staff at the crematorium will continue to provide a dignified service for all those attending, whilst ensuring the wellbeing and health of both staff and visitors alike. Guidance from both the government and bereavement institutes is being closely followed and implemented.
Therefore we request that:
A maximum of ten people will be allowed to enter the chapel but all services can be recorded or watched online. Please speak to the crematorium or funeral director for more information regarding live streaming.
On arrival at the crematorium, mourners should be asked to stay in their cars or wait outside. A member of staff will be circulating offering hand sanitiser prior to entering the chapel and we ask that the opening and closing of doors is restricted to staff, minimising the number of people touching these.
Service and hymn books have been removed from the chapel and any wording required for the service, should be included in service sheets. We request that any service sheets are taken with the mourners following the service. Following each service, all hard surfaces will be wiped down paying attention to frequently touched objects and surfaces, using regular cleaning products
Please note that our waiting room and remembrance chapel is now closed and the crematorium building is only open to those attending services.
To comply with guidance issued by the Joint Bereavement Committee, we ask that only immediate family attend services, i.e.
Guidance also stipulates that:
Mourners who are from a household that is self-isolating should:
It is important that funerals are not delayed. We understand how difficult this will be for the families and friends of lost loved ones, however the current guidance will be in place for the foreseeable future for the safety of the public.
We understand that coping with bereavement is difficult in normal circumstances and with current social distancing measures in place, this can mean that some may not be able to say goodbye in the way they wish. There is advice available for those who feel they would benefit from additional support at
Open coffins and the viewing of charging the coffin has been suspended.
Our remembrance chapel has now closed but entries in the book of remembrance can be viewed on line. Please contact the crematorium office for further details.
Reception has been closed to visitors and we ask that contact with office staff is made either by telephone or by email. Funeral directors are asked to post all paperwork in the post box provided which will be regularly emptied. An email should be sent to the crematorium, confirming paperwork delivered and a response will be sent confirming receipt.
However, as we gradually move to electronic statutory paperwork, this will reduce the amount of paperwork being handled.
One representative from each funeral director should be appointed to collect cremated remains at the beginning of each day and the witnessing of cremated remains interments and scatterings is temporarily suspended.
Where possible, cremation form 1 should be completed by the applicant. Funeral directors are discouraged from signing this document on behalf of families. This form can be completed electronically.
We do ask that one person should collect ashes. During services, we ask that people do not sit in the chapel attendant’s room to ensure social distancing is practiced.
Guidance is being regularly updated so please check our website and the signage displayed in the crematorium for further information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. From everyone in the team, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for working with us during these difficult times.
Anyone using a pay and display area should note that these are still chargeable when parking.
Thanet District Council has taken the decision to temporarily allow residents with parking permits to park in the council’s off-street car parks free of charge until 1 July 2020 during the coronavirus outbreak – with immediate effect.
This will help ease the pressure on many local roads and in many town centre locations. We would recommend that residents continue to renew their parking permits as normal to allow them to use the council’s off-street car parks as an overflow facility.
Parking for critical health and social care workers
Critical workers in the NHS and social care are doing vital and highly-valued work to support the most vulnerable in our society, save lives and keep our country running. They have been working day and night as they step up to the unprecedented challenge we face as a nation.
As they seek to minimise the spread of infection, we recognise that many will be travelling to and from their place of work by car and other vehicles. It is the council’s view that no health and social care worker should have to pay parking charges when carrying out their frontline duties during this crisis.
Thanet District Council is suspending parking charges for health and social care workers for on-street parking and off-street car parks. These critical workers will be encouraged to display supporting evidence in their windscreen, such as photocopies of their work pass with sensitive information removed, or a letter of evidence from their employer.
A temporary parking enforcement strategy was introduced on Friday 27 March 2020 in response to Government lockdown instructions.
On Wednesday 13 May, the Government lifted restrictions on travelling to areas including beaches for unlimited access to outdoor space. Since this date, the district has seen a significant increase in visitors to the area which has resulted in high occupancy of pay and display areas, as well as some dangerous and illegal parking.
In May, Civil Enforcement Officers issued over 500 Advisory Parking Notices to vehicles parking in contravention to the restrictions.
The increase of visitors and dangerous parking has resulted in issues with traffic flow around the district. Our parking strategy is now being amended with immediate effect.
Critical NHS and social care workers are still entitled to park free of charge in pay and display bays – this will remain the case until 1 July at the earliest. Holders of a current residents’ parking permit can use our off-street car parks free of charge until 1 July .
Guidance for local authorities on the business rates holiday and cash grant schemes has been published – further information is available in our Business Rates section
Please read our advice for food businesses continuing to trade as ‘take-away’ during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Licensing Department is operating business as usual, although it may take a little longer than normal to respond to emails and telephone messages.
At the moment, visuals are not being conducted in the normal way.
If you are wishing to licence a vehicle, a video/pictures of the vehicle must be uploaded and sent to licensing@thanet.gov.uk, these photos must be taken on the day you are sending them and must include all four sides and the interior. Once this is accepted, compliance paperwork will be sent to you via email.
A check on the vehicle will be made at a later date.
Application paperwork can be scanned and emailed to licensing@thanet.gov.uk. Please indicate what your enquiry is about in the subject line of the email. You can then make payment by bank transfer – the details are as follows:
National Westminster Bank PLC
Sort Code – 60 14 05
Bank Account – 67834000
Payee – Thanet District Council
Your reference – your licence number ie LN/ or your plate number and whether HC or PH or your full name
Driver applications, whether new or renewals, will need to be submitted by post. Please include original documents in order for us to verify identities. DBS application forms will be available at main reception while the TDC offices remain open.
The Knowledge Test currently arranged for Tuesday 07 April 2020 has been cancelled and attendees have been notified.
Please visit our Advice and Support for Businesses section for more information.
All playgrounds in the district are closed until further notice. This is necessary to meet the Government’s requirements on social distance to slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Parks remain open but we ask that you adhere to the current social distancing guidance.
A statement on our open spaces following updated Government guidance from 10 May can be found here.
The Thanet Visitor Information Centre in Margate is closed until further notice.
Our main beach toilets will be open from Saturday 30 May from 10am to 5pm daily, including disabled facilities which will be accessible with a RADAR key.
This is in addition the the facilities below which opened on Saturday 23 May.
Our seafront lifts remain closed as a result of the national measures currently in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Thanet District Council run allotments are currently still open. However, we have closed the toilets at these sites to help keep users safe. If using the allotments, please ensure you follow the government’s social distancing advice:
– Keep two metres away from other allotment users
– If you display any symptoms – self isolate at home
– Wash your hands before and after entering the allotments
On 3 April, local authorities in England were handed new powers to hold public meetings virtually by either video or telephone conferencing technology. Meetings are now being live streamed. Live streams from public council meetings will be recorded and available to view again on our YouTube page shortly after.
Applications to register to vote via www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or by post will be processed as usual. All scheduled elections are postponed for 12 months. No by-elections will be held until further notice.
Appointments to view the electoral register will not be available until further notice.
Thanet Gateway is closed. If you need urgent advice please call 01843 577000
You can also access a number of council services online.
For information about Schools, Social care and health, Roads and travel please visit the KCC website