Dorking & surrounding areas

No more Mole Valley District Council so what's next?

Mole Valley will be split into 6 divisions.

Surrey County Council have said there will be 2-3 councillors per ward. This will reduce the number of councillors.

Time is short!

May 2026 • (8 months from September 2025)

• Elections for 2 (possibly 3) elected Councillors to represent us in the new unitary authority.
• Dorking North & South will be merged as Dorking Town.
• MVDC Councillors will stay in post until May 2027.

May 2027 • 1 year 8 months from September 2025)

• Farewell Mole Valley District Council, Hello East Surrey Unitary Council.
• We merge with Reigate & Banstead, Tandridge, Epsom & Ewell. Possibly also Elmbridge.

So many unknowns!

1. Day-to-day running of the new East Surrey Council will probably be centralised.

• Where to? Who knows? We’re waiting for more info from government.
• So what will happen to Pippbrook Council Offices? Who knows?
• What will happen to essential services such as bin collections which are run via contracts with different companies in different councils? Who knows?

2. Money will have to be raised to finance the changes.

• How? MVDC have told us they have money in their reserves.
• If that’s not enough? They can sell off suitable assets.
• If that’s still not enough? Increase council taxes.

3. What do you mean – ‘assets’? What do we stand to lose?

• MVDC owns over 200 parcels of land, including allotments, Dorking Cemetery, Meadowbank, Pippbrook House, various Pavilions, toilets, Old Char Wharf, lots of Curtis Rd, etc etc. (see below)
• Might they sell some of them? They could. And after May 2027, the decision will be up to the whole East Surrey Authority as all the assets below will transfer to it.
• Leases will still be valid for as long as they last.

Download full list of MVDC assets*

*Date April 2024 source: FOI request

Download full list of Surrey County Council Assets*

*Date February 2024 source: SCC open data

3. Asset Advice

• If you’re worried, download the relevant list above or email us and we’ll let you know if your asset is owned by MVDC. Or contact your Councillors or MVDC.
• If you know that MVDC owns your community building / piece of land etc – make sure you have a long lease on it.
• You can also apply to have places registered as ‘Assets of Community Value’ which gives some protection. Barnett Wood Allotment Association have done this.

Find out more about Assets of Community Value

4. Will we be able to keep our non-statutory services?

Non-statutory services are services which MVDC provide but don’t legally have to. Such as:

• Toilets!
• Leisure and Culture: Local parks, public swimming pools, sports centres, libraries, and theatres are often non-statutory services provided by councils.
• Community Support: Some community advocacy services help people understand their rights and express their views, though they may not be legally mandated to do so.
• Waste Management: Services such as garden waste collection, which is not a legal requirement, are examples of non-statutory services that councils may choose to offer.
• Environmental Services: Some local environmental services, including certain aspects of planning enforcement, can also be non-statutory. NB: MVDC website is unclear on what they provide.
• Economic Development: The vibrancy of our area, the businesses, employment and community is dependant on good economic development. Yet surprisingly Economic Development is non-statutory.

5. So what happens about them when we’re part of East Surrey?

Who knows?

6. Sounds as if we could end up with some assets being sold off to private management – or even closed?

Yup!

7. Anything else to make my day?

The increased work-load of councillors:

• representing 2 or 3 times as many residents
• dealing with the endless intricacies of sorting out unitary re-organisation – it doesn’t end in 2027
• councillors could be elected in May 2026 to the new unitary East Surrey but also have a role on MVDC which means loads more to do.
• they will need extra secretarial help/back-up
• they might well have to travel much further for meetings
• It would be hard to hold down a full-time job / have a young family etc with the increased workload, so many people might be put off standing as councillor. This means we’ll lose much of the diversity in local councils.
• many experienced Councillors might well decide not to stand again, which means a vast amount of expertise will be lost.