Mole Valley

Mole Valley District
Non-metropolitan district
Bridge over the River Mole at Leatherhead
Motto(s):  Ministrando vigilans (Latin: Vigilant in our serving)
Mole Valley shown within Surrey
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Surrey
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Dorking
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Mole Valley District Council
Area
• Total	99.7 sq mi (258.3 km2)
• Rank	133rd (of 296) Highest point  : Leith Hill
Population  (2022)
• Total	87,769
• Rank	271st (of 296)
• Density	880/sq mi (340/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 92.7% White 3% Asian 2.5% Mixed 0.9% other 0.8% Black
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 52.2% Christianity 38.4% no religion 6.3% not stated 1.2% Islam 0.7% Hinduism 0.4% other 0.4% Buddhism 0.2% Judaism 0.1% Sikhism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	43UE (ONS) E07000210 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ0496458567

Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district.

Most of the district is on the escarpments of or adjoins the Surrey Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which cover parts of the North Downs and Greensand Ridge, including locally Leith Hill, Polesden Lacey and Box Hill. Denbies Wine Estate, the largest vineyard in the country, is on the hills north-west of Dorking.^[2] The Pilgrims' Way footpath runs along the North Downs. There are stations on the London–Worthing and Reading–Gatwick Airport railways, and in the northern third, a commuter stopping-service pattern line, London–Guildford (via Epsom) line.

The A24 road and the M25 motorway are the main thoroughfares and relative to London the incidence of car ownership is high. The area hosts hill-focussed sub-laps of the London–Surrey Classic cycling tour each year.

The neighbouring districts are Epsom and Ewell, Reigate and Banstead, Crawley, Horsham, Waverley, Guildford, Elmbridge and Kingston upon Thames, the latter being a London borough.

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering three former districts which were all abolished at the same time:^[3][4]

• Dorking and Horley Rural District (except Horley and Salfords and Sidlow which went to Reigate and Banstead and parts of the parishes of Charlwood and Horley around Gatwick Airport which went to Crawley)
• Dorking Urban District
• Leatherhead Urban District

The new district was named after the River Mole, which flows through the area.^[5]

Mole Valley District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Elizabeth Daly, Liberal Democrat since 21 May 2024[6]
Leader	Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat since 21 May 2019
Chief Executive	Karen Brimacombe since 2017
Structure
Seats	39 councillors
Political groups	Administration (31)   Liberal Democrats (31) Other parties (8)   Ashtead Ind. (6)   Conservative (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Pippbrook, Dorking, RG14 1SJ
Website
www.molevalley.gov.uk

Mole Valley District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council.^[7] Parts of the district are covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.^[8]

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2019.

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^{[9] [10]}

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1980
	Independent	1980–1982
	No overall control	1982–1994
	Liberal Democrats	1994–1995
	No overall control	1995–2006
	Conservative	2006–2010
	No overall control	2010–2015
	Conservative	2015–2018
	No overall control	2018–2019
	Liberal Democrats	2019–present

The leaders of the council since 2012 have been:^[11]

Councillor	Party		From	To
James Friend		Conservative		May 2012
Chris Townsend[12]		Independent	May 2012	May 2015
James Friend		Conservative	May 2015	2016
Vivienne Michael		Conservative	2016	5 May 2019
Stephen Cooksey		Liberal Democrats	21 May 2019

Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was:^[13]

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Democrats	31
	Ashtead Independents	6
	Conservative	2
Total		39

The next election is due in 2026.^[14]

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.^[15]

Most of the district lies within the Mole Valley constituency, the exception being Ashtead which is within the Epsom and Ewell constituency.^[8]

The council is based at Pippbrook on Reigate Road in Dorking, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1984.^[16] It was built in the grounds of a large Victorian house, called Pippbrook House, which had served as the headquarters of the old Dorking Urban District Council from 1931 and then as Mole Valley District Council's headquarters until the new building opened.^[17]

The former Leatherhead Urban District, which included Ashtead, Fetcham, Great Bookham and Little Bookham, is an unparished area, as is the majority of the former Dorking Urban District.^[8][18]

The rest of the district is covered by civil parishes:^[19][20]

A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed Mole Valley as the second most prosperous council area in the United Kingdom, after the nearby Borough of Waverley.^[21]

Church	Place	Listed building Class
St Michael	Betchworth	I [22]
St Nicolas	Great Bookham	I[23]
All Saints	Little Bookham	II*
St Nicholas	Charlwood	I[24]
St Michael	Mickleham	I [25]
St John the Evangelist	Wotton	I [26]
St Mary & St Nicholas	Leatherhead	II*[27]
St Barnabas	Ranmore Common	II* [28]
St Mary	Pixham	II* [29]
St Martin	Dorking	II* [30]
St Mary	Fetcham	II* [31]
St Giles	Ashtead	II* [32]
St James	Abinger Common	II* [33]
Holy Trinity	Westcott	II* [34]
St Bartholomew	Leigh	II* [35]
St Margaret	Ockley	II* [36]
St John the Baptist	Walliswood	II* [37]

Mole Valley is served by these emergency services:

• Surrey Police. Dorking Police Station is the lead station in Mole Valley Division, Leatherhead Police Station is now closed.
• South East Coast Ambulance Service The district has two Ambulance Stations – one in North Holmwood (1 mile (2 km) south of Dorking), and the other in Leatherhead.
• Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, The district has two Fire Stations one in North Holmwood and the other in Leatherhead.
• SURSAR, The district is covered by Surrey Search & Rescue
• Hospital, Each town has a small NHS Hospital with no A&E. They are used for outpatients and rehabilitation.

• DMRC Headley Court received the Freedom of the District on 25 May 2010.^[38]

• List of places of worship in Mole Valley

• Mole Valley District Council

51°18′57.68″N 0°29′37.31″W / 51.3160222°N 0.4936972°W / 51.3160222; -0.4936972