Mole Valley

For the Westminster Parliament constituency, see Mole Valley (UK Parliament constituency) and Epsom and Ewell (UK Parliament constituency)

Mole Valley District
—  Non-metropolitan district  —
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
- Leadership	Alternative - Sec.31 (Conservative / Independent)
- MPs	Paul Beresford Chris Grayling
Area
- Total	99.7 sq mi (258.3 km2)
Area rank	153rd (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
- Total	84,600
- Rank	274th (of 326)
- Density	848.3/sq mi (327.5/km2)
- Ethnicity	97.4% White
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
- Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	43UE
OS grid reference	TQ0496458567
Website	molevalley.gov.uk

Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking.

The district, named after the River Mole, was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the urban districts of Dorking and Leatherhead and most of the Dorking and Horley Rural District. The two towns in the district are Dorking and Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, all of which are in the northern third of the district.

Civil parishes

These are^[1]

• Abinger
• Betchworth
• Brockham
• Buckland
• Capel
• Charlwood
• Headley
• Holmwood
• Leigh
• Mickleham
• Newdigate
• Ockley
• Wotton

Villages

• Abinger Common
• Abinger Hammer
• Ashtead
• Beare Green
• Betchworth
• Brockham
• Capel
• Charlwood
• Coldharbour
• Fetcham
• Friday Street
• Forest Green
• Great Bookham
• Headley
• Holmbury St Mary
• Leigh
• Little Bookham
• Mickleham
• Newdigate
• Ockley
• Westcott
• Westhumble

Towns

• Dorking
• Leatherhead

Partisan composition of Mole Valley District Council

See also: Mole Valley local elections

Mole Valley District Council is usually elected by thirds: That is, approximately one-third of the members are re-elected at each election, each serving four year terms, with one year out of every four not having Council elections.

The Council was, however, re-elected whole in 2000 after wholesale boundary changes to the Wards.

Traditionally, despite Mole Valley Constituency's strongly Conservative leaning, Mole Valley District Council is usually in no overall control. There have been two exceptions to this: 1980-82 - Independent control and 2006-10 - Conservative control. Mole Valley currently has a Conservative-Independent Coalition, while the Liberal Democrats are the largest single party and official opposition.

Year	Conservative	Labour	Lib Dem	Independent	Other
1999	17	1	16	7	0
2000	19	1	14	7	0
2002	18	1	15	3	4
2003	19	1	15	6	0
2004	19	0	17	5	0
2006	23	0	15	3	0
2007	22	0	16	3	0
2010	18	0	17	6 (5 Ashtead Independs + 1 Leatherhead Independent)	0
2010	17	0	18	6 (5 Ashtead Independs + 1 Leatherhead Independent)	0[2]

Party control

• 1974–1980: No overall control
• 1980–1982: Independent control
• 1982–2006: No overall control
• 2006–2010: Conservative
• 2010 – Present: No overall control

Environmental concerns

In May 2006, a report commissioned by British Gas [1] showed that housing in Mole Valley produced the twentieth highest average carbon emissions in the country at 6,928 kg of carbon dioxide per dwelling.

See also: Energy efficiency in British housing

In 2008 a group of residents got together and formed The Green Mole Forum [2] with the aim of promoting sustainable development in Mole Valley both by providing a hub to help residents, and to lobby the council to undertake more sustainable policies.

Emergency services

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 only used for minor issues now, and is only part time.
• South East Coast Ambulance Service The district has two Ambulance Stations one in North Holmwood (1 mile 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.

Surrey Police, Dorking Police Station

Sources

• Local elections, 1999
• Local elections, 2000
• Local elections, 2002
• Local elections, 2003
• Local elections, 2004

References

1. ^ Surrey Council
2. ^ BBC news

External links

• Mole Valley District Council
• The natural history of the Mole Valley
• The Green Mole Forum

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