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Preston Farm Outline Planning Application - MVDC's Planning Officer's recommendation to grant approval

The application for outline planning permission is to go before the Council’s Development Management Committee at its next meeting on 5th February 2025.  The Planning Officer’s recommendation is to grant approval, subject to conditions and receipt of a satisfactory legal agreement before 28th March 2025.In the last round of consultation in December 2024, the BRA raised numerous concerns on behalf of residents.  The bold/italic text indicates how these have been ...

New Local Government Unitary Authority Summary

The Government plans to restructure local government in England by replacing County Councils and District Councils with new Unitary Authorities.  Surrey County Council is seeking for Surrey to be part of the first wave of reorganisation.  The BRA calls for all those involved to: work constructively together, provide effective communication and resident engagement, and to focus on the impact of the changes on people’s lives as a result of the restructuring.The BRA wants to alert resid...

BRA Plan for 2025

The BRA is a non-political voluntary membership organisation open to all residents of Great and Little Bookham.  It informs and voices residents’ views on local issues and helps maintain and improve life in the Bookhams. The BRA will therefore continue to work to:Understand local issues and help inform residents’ viewsHelp residents’ views to be heard, and deliver work to benefit the communityReport Back to residents on actions taken, andHelp to improve/hold to account those...

Gas network upgrade in Little Bookham Street (20th January to 2nd March)

We’re preparing to carry out essential gas network upgrades in Little Bookham Street. This work will ensure a continued safe and reliable supply of gas is delivered to nearby homes and businesses. This is part of our 30-year programme of work to replace our old mains, reaching the end of their useful lives, with new, reliable plastic pipe. Our contractor, Forefront Utilities, who are completing this project on our behalf, will be starting work in the week beginning 20 January. We expect t...

Joint Statement from the Leaders of Surrey District and Borough Councils

On 7th January the Leaders of the 11 Surrey District & Borough Councils and Leader of Surrey County Council met to discuss the English Devolution White Paper and what this would mean for the residents of Surrey.There was acknowledgement from all the Leaders that central government is determined to introduce sweeping changes to local government through their plans for devolution and local government reform which will see the district and county councils merged into new unitary councils.All th...

Surrey Highways - road works in Mole Valley and Guildford (updated weekly)

Click on the images below for direct link to roadworks in the Mole Valley area and Guildford areas. On the SCC page scroll down for completed and utility works....

Latest news for Bookham Businesses

Keep up to date with the business community via the MVDC Spotlight fortnightly newsletter. ...

Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) - Apply by 30th January to participate in a pilot scheme

Happy New Year and welcome to the first oak processionary moth (OPM) update of 2025.  We're pleased to welcome Dr Edward Straw to the OPM team as the new Programme Manager. Edward is taking over from Andrew Hoppit in leading the OPM team at the Forestry Commission. He’s worked in university research science for nearly a decade, working with flies, plants and bees, both in the UK and Ireland. Edward is looking forward to working with stakeholders and helping protect Great Britain’s preci...

Lower Shott public toilets closed for refurbishment work

Following on from a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) application by the BRA, the public toilets at Lower Shott are being refurbished. In addition to the refurbishment a fresh water drinking tap will be installed and power for illumination of the village sign. Works are scheduled from 6th to 27th January. ...

Preston Farm - Design and Access Statement Addendum: revised November 2024

If any resident wishes to view and/or comment on the revisions, they may do so on the MVDC Planning portal: MVDC Planning Application for MO/2024/0096.  We understand that the formal closing date is 19th December for comments to be submitted by residents but MVDC Planning Officers do consider comments up to the point of decision. ...

MVDC Winter Info Hub

MVDC have a Winter Hub page with helpful information on council services available to residents. Click on the link below for more detailsWinter Info Hub - Mole Valley District Council  ...

Planning applications in Bookham: (rolling eight weeks)

Each week MVDC publish planning applications that have been registered across the district. Click on the button below to  see an extract of the applications made in Bookham. You may comment on planning applications on the Mole Valley District Council web site. The BRA seeks to preserve the character of the Bookhams by reviewing all planning applications in the village and submitting letters of representation as appropriate. Where relevant the BRA will object to or support commerci...

Village Centre Christmas Lights

The village centre lights are now adding to the festive season and our thanks go the following traders and public bodies for supporting this BRA initiative:Ada's DelicatessenBlakes of BookhamBookham CarpetsBookham TandooriBootsBrackenbury'sCL Pearce & SonsDiamond NailsHartsHenshaws Estate AgentsHeartwood InnsHuggins EdwardsIndigo StripesLaytonsMole Valley District CouncilOne Mizuho (kitchen furniture)Patrick GardenerRawlings and KensitRohallion SecuritySurrey County CouncilThe Bakery ShopWar...

November 2024 BRA Newsletter

The BRA November 2024 Newsletter has been published and the print version will be distributed to all households in Bookham by our team of volunteer Road Stewards. In this edition our lead articles are the approval of the MVDC Local Pan, MVDC Master Plan for Bookham centre, Heritage Bookham and The Crown Redevelopment.People ask why we produce a print version of the Newsletter. It's a very simple answer. Not everyone in the village has access to a PC, tablet or smart phone and we want all residen...

Statement on the Financial Position of Mole Valley District Council

Following a publication of a report by BBC News on 14th November on the financial position of Mole Valley District Council we have received the following statement from MVDC's CommunicationsCouncillor Bridget Kendrick, Cabinet Member for Finance said: ‘Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) is updating its Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) covering the period from 2023/24 to 2028/29. We remain in a stable financial position but face continued budget pressures due to rising service costs...

David Smith receives BRA recognition award

Well known former owner of Wishing Well in the High Street, David Smith, has received a BRA Contribution Award. David was presented with his award by Simon Edge, BRA Chairman. At the AGM in July David stood down from the Board of Directors after an eight year term and prior to that served on the BRA Committee representing Bookham Retail & Business Association (BRABA). David along with his wife Michelle continues to volunteer as our Noticeboard co-ordinators. Thank you David!...

Bookham remembers its fallen

On a quiet sunny autumn Monday morning at the 11th hour of the 11th day Bookham residents remembered the fallen at St Nicolas Church...

MVDC Bookham High Street Master Plan. Update 25th Oct. Consultation now closed.

Following the launch of the MVDC Master Plan on 24th October the MVDC online Consultation Portal is now closed.To access the consultation portal, please click here or on the image below...

BRA Concerns over HMG Inspector's Local Plan Report

The Government Inspector has completed her report on the Future Mole Valley Local plan and on October 15th MVDC will meet to decide on whether it will adopt the Plan incorporating the 92 major modifications recommended by the Inspector. There are items that we raised with the Inspector that do not appear to have been fully taken into account, in part due some of them having been challenged by MVDC to our disappointment. We are requesting that Local Bookham Counsellors who will be attending the C...

Publication of HMG Inspector's report in to the Mole Valley Local Plan 2020 - 2039

The Planning Inspector examining the Mole Valley Local Plan 2020-2039 has published her report (in accordance with the Section 20(8) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004, as amended) and Regulation 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012).The Mole Valley Local Plan sets out the vision and objectives for the district between 2022 and 2039. It covers the geographical area of Mole Valley district, provides the strategy for development for the nex...

 Proposed Change of Status of Polesden Lacey Infant School to Academy Status. Community Meeting 24th Sept from 5.00pm to 7.00pm in the school hall,

Message from Mark Rogers, Chair of Governors and Rebecca Mole, Headteacher Polesden Lacey Infant SchoolThe governing body of Polesden Lacey Infant School is considering a proposal to convert our school to an academy as part of LEO Academy Trust. We believe it's important to involve our local community in this decision and would like to explain this proposal and how you can share your thoughts....

New dates announced to help shape Leatherhead’s future (Bookham - 11th September)

FAQsWebinar event recording...

Launch of My Mole Valley

“As part of Mole Valley District Council’s (MVDC) comprehensive internal three-year Transformation Programme, I am delighted we have successfully launched My Mole Valley; an online portal enhancing digital options for our residents and businesses to enable easy self-service via our website. We appreciate of course that not everyone is digitally savvy, so My Mole Valley goes hand in hand with improvements to our Customer Services Unit. We recently ran a very well received Digital In...

New Community Volunteering Opportunities for Mole Valley in 2024!

It’s great news for those looking to help keep Mole Valley beautiful thanks to a range of new volunteering opportunities on offer in 2024. Whether getting involved in pond maintenance, putting green fingers to work in a community garden, or helping to create homes for our crucial bee population, these activities provide a great chance to meet new people, get some fresh air, and try something new!Key projects include rejuvenating Buckland Pond ( Sunday 1 September) lead by experts fro...

479 Bus Service - 2nd September 2024 - Timetable and service frequency improvements

We are pleased to announce that from Monday 2 September 2024 we will be introducing a brand new timetable on Falcon 479 running between Guildford, Effingham, Bookham, Leatherhead and Epsom.Our new timetable will see buses running up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes across the full route between Guildford and Epsom.We'll also be running later journeys in the evening and a new hourly timetable on Sundays making it even easier to get around using Falcon 479.Falcon Buses also has a ti...