Three statements from Mole Valley District Council setting out the factual position on three areas that may have been described differently in local literature circulated in recent weeks.
Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) Debt and Asset Values
Debt
As per MVDC’s audited Statement of Accounts for 2022/23, the Council’s total Debt (represented by the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR)) is £110 million, of this there is £103 million of actual external borrowing. This debt predominantly relates to investment property acquired by the Council and its wholly owned property investment company, MOVA.
Asset Values
The total value of all long-term assets on the Council’s balance sheet, as per the 2022/23 audited statement of accounts, is £243 million. The net asset value on the Council’s balance sheet, which includes all its assets (not just investment properties) less all its liabilities, is £159 million. The Capital, Investment & Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25 to 2027/28 shows Investment property assets, some of which were funded by borrowing, are held by the Council (£82.5 million) and MOVA (£46.9 million), a total value of just over £129 million. The investment properties are located both within and outside of Mole Valley.
Approximately 30% of Council staff carry out roles which can only be delivered from the council offices, the Fairfield Centre or Dorking Halls. The remaining 70% of staff can split their working time between Council owned premises and working remotely. While the split varies depending on business need, as a minimum all staff must work from council owned premises at least twice a week.
Funding for Feasibility Studies of Potential Cycle Corridors and Walking Zone Schemes:
During 2023 Mole Valley District Council agreed to make a total maximum contribution of up to £160,000 available to Surrey County Council to assess the feasibility of two cycle corridors and four core walking schemes. The funding came from Community Infrastructure Levy receipts which are paid to the Council by developers.
The assumed estimated total cost to MVDC of the six studies was £129,030 (or £21,505 per scheme).
We’ve added a link to the county council’s website with further background on the Local Cycling and Walking Improvement Plans across the county area, which are in line with Government policy
We understand that the motion from (we thought) one of the Ashtead Independent councillors (but their leader says it was a motion from a road steward ARA member) to keep the Ashtead Residents Association committee completely non-political was approved by a relatively low number of members at its AGM 17 April (though this was a clear majority of those present). So the proposed rule changes by the committee which had conducted an advisory ballot will not be made.
The prospective new Chairman, former councillor David Harper, who is or was a member of a national political party, withdrew his nomination and it’s reported there were several other committee and road steward resignations.
So it probably means the ARA are going to be seeking volunteers to fill some of the gaps to keep it functioning. Alternatively, it may wind down and the Independent councillors will be the only Ashtead representatives on local matters eg. planning and environmental issues, liaison with Network Rail, litter picks etc
Leatherhead RA has its next meeting 13 May with a local speaker David Stoves talking about scams. They completed a litter pick supported by local councillors and activists 14 April. LRA continue to seek new helpers and members and the chairman has already deferred her retirement once if not twice. LRA is non-political but does allow members of national parties to get involved alongside each other.
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Musical chairs in Ashtead. Empty chair in Leatherhead. Article below published earlier in April before the AGM
Not an April fool but an update for readers in Ashtead including the Grange Road, Ermyn Way, Quarry Gardens, Hatherwood etc areas whose postal address is Leatherhead but come under Ashtead for electoral purposes.
While residents there may be most concerned about traffic from any potential new housing developments off Ermyn Way, there is a further chapter in the vital debate about whether committee members of the Ashtead Residents Association should be allowed to be members of national political parties.
This is apparently the key issue for the six Ashtead Independent councillors at the ARA AGM and their new candidate standing to replace one who is retiring – Professor Hawksworth, who has a further motion for the ARA to debate on 17 April. https://www.ashteadindependents.org/post/is-the-ara-going-political
Meanwhile in a further twist to this saga, the vacant post of ARA chairman is proposed to be filled by none other than David Harper, who was an official Ashtead Independent councillor 2016-22 but stood as an independent independent 2023 when the number of councillors for Ashtead reduced to six.
The Committee of the Ashtead Residents’ Association is very pleased to announce that David Harper has agreed to become the new Chairman of the ARA. After a period away from public service, David brings with him his experience as a valued Local Councillor at Mole Valley District Council as well as his business experience locally and nationally.
David will be proposed at the forthcoming AGM on 17th April. All members of the Residents’ Association will be welcome to attend when as well as endorsing David’s appointment there will be opportunity to ratify the result of last year’s ballot bringing about changes to the Constitution.
Hopefully the retirement of Prof Hawksworth as a councillor and the new role for Mr Harper will allow matters to move on between the two groups.
Commenting in the ARA Newsletter and AGM agenda the current Independent group leader, Cllr Chris Hunt, does refer to the Ermyn Way development issue and the need to ensure the highways infrastructure at the junction with the A24 is upgraded and improved.
“…The Government has now said that the draft Mole Valley Plan had been progressed too far for these sites to be excluded at this stage, but plans that have not been progressed so far can have Green Belt land removed! Thanks to such decisions and subject to the final parts of the process being completed, it now looks like this land will be allocated for housing and Ashtead will grow bigger. Key issues like the Ermyn Way / Leatherhead Road junction will have to be sorted at any planning application stage.”
The ARA AGM takes place 17 April at the Peace Memorial Hall as usual. The bar is open at half time.
The Ashtead Independents are a registered political party, and have the right to use the wording Working with Ashtead Residents on the ballot paper as they have this registered with the Electoral Commission. But they are now separate from the ARA. There is a long tradition of Independent councillors for Ashtead, going back to the era when most councillors were non-political in the former Leatherhead Urban District pre 1974. A tradition that carries on in Epsom and Ewell.
Meanwhile the Leatherhead Residents Association, who have also been looking for a new chairman for some time, has a litter pick starting out from Bull Hill on Sunday 14 April. The current chair is determined to step down this autumn if at all possible, but that was also the case last year.
Residents Association chairs are afforded almost a similar status to Parish Council chairs in Mole Valley and meet with the Council officers on a regular basis for briefings and updates. David Harper will be the second experienced ex councillor to take on one of these roles, following Simon Edge in Bookham. Fetcham RA has a co-chair arrangement at present. Apart from Ashtead, the issue of whether a committee member or helper is also a member of a political party does not seem to arise.
Not an April fool but an update for readers in Ashtead including the Grange Road, Ermyn Way, Quarry Gardens, Hatherwood etc areas whose postal address is Leatherhead but come under Ashtead for electoral purposes.
While residents there may be most concerned about traffic from any potential new housing developments off Ermyn Way, there is a further chapter in the vital debate about whether committee members of the Ashtead Residents Association should be allowed to be members of national political parties.
This is apparently the key issue for the six Ashtead Independent councillors at the ARA AGM and their new candidate standing to replace one who is retiring – Professor Hawksworth, who has a further motion for the ARA to debate on 17 April. https://www.ashteadindependents.org/post/is-the-ara-going-political
Meanwhile in a further twist to this saga, the vacant post of ARA chairman is proposed to be filled by none other than David Harper, who was an official Ashtead Independent councillor 2016-22 but stood as an independent independent 2023 when the number of councillors for Ashtead reduced to six.
The Committee of the Ashtead Residents’ Association is very pleased to announce that David Harper has agreed to become the new Chairman of the ARA. After a period away from public service, David brings with him his experience as a valued Local Councillor at Mole Valley District Council as well as his business experience locally and nationally.
David will be proposed at the forthcoming AGM on 17th April. All members of the Residents’ Association will be welcome to attend when as well as endorsing David’s appointment there will be opportunity to ratify the result of last year’s ballot bringing about changes to the Constitution.
Hopefully the retirement of Prof Hawksworth as a councillor and the new role for Mr Harper will allow matters to move on between the two groups.
Commenting in the ARA Newsletter and AGM agenda the current Independent group leader, Cllr Chris Hunt, does refer to the Ermyn Way development issue and the need to ensure the highways infrastructure at the junction with the A24 is upgraded and improved.
“…The Government has now said that the draft Mole Valley Plan had been progressed too far for these sites to be excluded at this stage, but plans that have not been progressed so far can have Green Belt land removed! Thanks to such decisions and subject to the final parts of the process being completed, it now looks like this land will be allocated for housing and Ashtead will grow bigger. Key issues like the Ermyn Way / Leatherhead Road junction will have to be sorted at any planning application stage.”
The ARA AGM takes place 17 April at the Peace Memorial Hall as usual. The bar is open at half time.
The Ashtead Independents are a registered political party, and have the right to use the wording Working with Ashtead Residents on the ballot paper as they have this registered with the Electoral Commission. But they are now separate from the ARA. There is a long tradition of Independent councillors for Ashtead, going back to the era when most councillors were non-political in the former Leatherhead Urban District pre 1974. A tradition that carries on in Epsom and Ewell.
Meanwhile the Leatherhead Residents Association, who have also been looking for a new chairman for some time, has a litter pick starting out from Bull Hill on Sunday 14 April. The current chair is determined to step down this autumn if at all possible, but that was also the case last year.
Residents Association chairs are afforded almost a similar status to Parish Council chairs in Mole Valley and meet with the Council officers on a regular basis for briefings and updates. David Harper will be the second experienced ex councillor to take on one of these roles, following Simon Edge in Bookham. Fetcham RA has a co-chair arrangement at present. Apart from Ashtead, the issue of whether a committee member or helper is also a member of a political party does not seem to arise.
Thakeham has their own webpage and targeted Facebook advertising which enables quick email to support the development. They point out the status of Mole Valley as the fourth least affordable place to live in the UK. The development would provide significant funding to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) that would be allocated 20% to the neighbourhood in Bookham/north Mole Valley and the remainder to the MVDC strategic CIL allocation.
3. Hookwood, in Charlwood Parish on the edge of Horley and Gatwick. An appeal by Rydon Homes on a 446 home Green Belt site on Reigate Road. This was refused by MVDC in 2023 on the basis of the current 2000 Local Plan policies on Green Belt but also on highways and other grounds. But it is now included in the draft Local Plan, though MVDC may no longer be defending the appeal on the Green Belt reason for refusal.
Alternatively, real-time weekly lists of applications registered or decided are also available.
We also understand an enforcement case on 49-51 High Street Leatherhead (the long vacant shop opposite Wetherspoons) is progressing towards the magistrates court. The site has long had permission for redevelopment but the enforcement issue is the appearance of the property in the meantime.
Comment on a Planning Application
If you wish to comment on a planning application that has yet to be decided, you can find more details at Comment on a Planning Application
There are currently four main sites in Mole Valley where major development is either proposed, applied for or at appeal
All of them have been through the Local Plan process and are accepted by MVDC and the Government Inspector as ones that in principle will be developed – though there is still one further stage before the Local Plan is adopted.
Sir Paul Beresford MP and his would-be successor Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for the Environment and Countryside Marisa Heath have commented here The Lib Dem statement here. We understand the Labour Party national position is to release Green Belt if necessary to deliver more affordable housing.
Thakeham has their own webpage and targeted Facebook advertising which enables quick email to support the development. They point out the status of Mole Valley as the fourth least affordable place to live in the UK. The development would provide significant funding to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) that would be allocated 20% to the neighbourhood in Bookham/north Mole Valley and the remainder to the MVDC strategic CIL allocation.
2. Ermyn Way – Ashtead / Leatherhead. Currently a pre-application environmental impact screening request to MVDC ahead of an outline proposal for 270 homes by Countrywide. (This would be in addition to possible brownfield redevelopment of the Exxon site which would be deemed traffic neutral). This site is included in the Local Plan.
3. Hookwood, in Charlwood Parish on the edge of Horley and Gatwick. An appeal by Rydon Homes on a 446 home Green Belt site on Reigate Road. This was refused by MVDC in 2023 on the basis of the current 2000 Local Plan policies on Green Belt but also on highways and other grounds. But it is now included in the draft Local Plan, so some kind of pivot by MVDC may be under consideration on whether or how to defend an appeal Councillors were briefed in a private session 6 March.
4. MVDC’s own site at Bull Hill Leatherhead within the one-way system. The Leret Partnership Joint Venture with Kier Property will begin engagement on mixed use plans for the site, and for Swan Centre, in late May/June, with an outline hybrid planning application targeted for late 2024 and consent 2025. The Bull Hill site counts as brownfield/ previously developed, with some commitment to a plaza and public space with play facilities in a fundamentally reconfigured site.
Other significant brownfield sites include Pixham End, and Regent House (Clarion Housing site next to the main station) in Dorking. A Green Belt site west of Dorking, Sondes Place was approved for Gleeson Homes on appeal by a Government Inspector November 2023 while the MVDC Local Plan process was paused.
Committee Agenda
Items agreed in public 6 March are in the decisions list 8 March onwards. Two further Committee meetings 3 and 24 April before the local elections 2 May.
MO/2024/0230/CC MAJOR Link Demolition of Clare and James House, Bridge Street as part of redevelopment under the Transform Leatherhead project. Funded via Government brownfield housing grant to make the project viable. The latest developer, once contracted, (not Kier Property) may revise the existing consented development but the principle of a non-residential ground floor, height and scale are already approved. This application is simply to enable demolition.
7-19 Church Street Leatherhead change of the existing commercial use to enable takeaway food with hours of service conditioned. The previous furniture shop premises could have been reopened as a restaurant, offices, hairdresser etc without permission, as the commercial use class is now very broad, but it did require some permissioning for food takeout. We may now expect an application for signage and shopfront if required.
Alternatively, real-time weekly lists of applications registered or decided are also available.
We also understand an enforcement case on 49-51 High Street Leatherhead (the long vacant shop opposite Wetherspoons) is progressing towards the magistrates court. The site has long had permission for redevelopment but the enforcement issue is the appearance of the property in the meantime.
Comment on a Planning Application
If you wish to comment on a planning application that has yet to be decided, you can find more details at Comment on a Planning Application
Leatherhead Living 