Do residents want local government rooted in their community or just another branch of central Government?

In a short time, the government will publish a White Paper on devolution for local government. This will signal a dramatic change in the way Councils such as Mole Valley are operated. However, Tory-run Surrey County Council, rather than wait for such guidance and allow for public consultation, has already applied for the County Council to become a single Unitary Authority. This would mean all the Districts and Boroughs, such as Mole Valley District Council would disappear and be replaced with one 'monster' authority.

Timetable extension proposed to allow full consideration

We have had a huge response with lots of detailed and thoughtful comments. We'd like to thank residents for taking the time to give us their views.

90% of respondents backed our brownfield first approach, and 74% disagreed with building on greenfield sites to meet Conservative Government targets. Other key themes included the distribution of future development, infrastructure capacity and improvements, conservation and enhancement of existing areas as well as landscape and biodiversity concerns.

We are delighted to report that Mole Valley District Council is helping Dorking residents who do not have a parking space and who need to park their cars in the town during the day whilst self-isolating or working from home.
The Liberal Democrat administraion has removed the time restrictions for the Off-Peak Residents Parking Permits. For the time being, these permits are valid in MVDC long term car parks outside of the specified off-peak times for residents to park without any penalty.
We are also offering a temporary parking permit for £30 for three months for those residents who do not have a permit, but may regularly park on-street at night, and who may find themselves working from home or having to self-isolate so now need to park in the town during the day. This will enable residents to park in any MVDC long term car park throughout the day.

A reminder that the consultation period for the draft Local Plan finshes on Monday 23rd March.

Also, due to concerns about the Coronavirus situation, the event planned for Leatherhead Institute on 20th March has been cancelled.

During the run-up to the consultation on Mole Valley's Draft Local Plan, Councillor Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat Leader of Mole Valley, announced his intention to write to the Prime Minister to challenge the hosuing targets imposed by the Government on Mole Valley. The letter draws attention to the comments made by Boris Johnson during the Tory Leadership campaign when he told reporters in Oxshott that "We should not be imposing targets on Councils that they are simply finding it impossible to meet without building on the Green Belt".

Mole Valley District Council Leader, Councillor Stephen Cooksey, invited all Council Members to sign a letter to the Prime Minster, Boris Johnson, in a further attempt to reduce the amount of new housing the government demands to be developed in Mole Valley and that letter will be sent on Wednesday 5th February.

General consensus for Cabinet to ratify Public Consultation

At the Council meeting held on Tuesday 28^th January, there was general consensus from Members who spoke that Cabinet should ratify its decision to launch the public consultation on the Draft Local Plan. The Consultation will now run for seven weeks from 3^rd February until 23^rd March 2020. (For details see below).

Three years in the making, Mole Valley District Council now has a draft Local Plan ready for consultation. The new Lib Dem administration has had several months to review all the work done to date and has made some substantial improvements. Potentially this plan will be our roadmap and guidance for all building development in our area for the next fifteen years.

The Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservatives of failing to protect local small businesses, after figures revealed that 1645 businesses in the area have closed over the last three years.

It comes as the Liberal Democrats have unveiled a series of measures to reverse this decline and boost local firms, to mark Small Business Saturday.

Recent figures show that 1645 have closed in Mole Valley between 2016 and 2018, a 13.8% increase compared to the previous three years.

Across the UK one million businesses have closed their doors between 2016 and 2018, an increase of almost a third compared to 2013- 2015.

The Federation of Small Businesses has warned that a no deal Brexit, which Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to rule out, would mean more damage to firms. Firms are also being held back by the Conservative government's failure to reform business rates, and by new taxes on the self-employed that business groups have described as "disastrous".

Liberal Democrats have said that they will Stop Brexit and invest the £50 billion Remain Bonus in improving public services and tackling inequality. The party would also put in place a package of measures to support small businesses and boost high streets in Mole Valley, including: