This review follows a Council decision on 15 July 2025. Government guidance recommends reviews every 10–15 years, and Mole Valley hasn’t had a full review in that time.

Previous reviews in Bookham and Dorking didn’t lead to new parishes, but views may have changed—so these areas are included again.

MVDC wishes to make sure that the existing governance arrangement across the district continue to be robust and representative.

1. Keep Things As They Are

You can choose to make no changes. This means keeping the current parish and boundary arrangements as they are.

2. Modify Existing Parishes

You can suggest updates such as:

• Changing parish boundaries
• Renaming a parish
• Changing how a parish is governed (e.g. style or council setup)
• Adjusting the number of councillors or warding

3. Remove a Parish

If a parish no longer reflects the local community, you can propose that it be abolished. You’ll need to explain why this would improve local governance.

4. Create a New Parish

You can suggest:

• Setting up a parish in an area that doesn’t have one
• Merging or splitting existing parishes
• Combining parished and unparished areas

5. Decide on Parish Councils

For any new or existing parish, you can say whether it should have a council, and if so:

• What it should be called (geographically)
• How many councillors it should have
• How elections should be arranged.

Do you think governance arrangements need to change?

No. If you are happy with the way things are, let us know. This is useful information when it comes to considering if any change is needed.

Yes. If you feel that changes could be beneficial, let us know.

If you believe a new parish council would be of benefit you will need to tell us about

• the name of the new parish;
• the geographical boundaries of the parish;
• the electoral arrangements for that council – ie how many Councillors should be elected;
• whether or not the new parish should have an alternative style.

If you believe that changes to an existing parish council would be beneficial you will need to tell us about

• whether the area of the existing parishes should be altered, possibly due to recent developments;
• whether there should be more or less Councillors for the parish;
• whether the parish should or should not be abolished.

When considering the responses to the consultation and thinking about draft recommendations the Council needs to ensure that community governance in the district of Mole Valley area will:  

• reflect the identities and interests of the community in that area; and  

• be effective and convenient. 

A Community Governance Review cannot:   

• change the style (e.g. town, parish, neighbourhood, community or village council) of existing councils; 
• influence or change the amount of money that an existing parish or town council raises through council tax (known as ‘precept’);
• change the number of councillors on the county or district councils; or, 
• change the boundaries of the District or County council wards or make any alterations to MP constituencies. 

We want to hear your views as part of Mole Valley District Council’s Community Governance Review.

You can share your feedback by:

1. Completing our online survey

Start the Survey ›

2. Via Email 

Email Us ›

3. In Writing

Printed versions of the survey can be collected from:

• MVDC Reception in Pippbrook, Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm
• MVDC libraries

and either handed to our reception staff in Pippbrook or posted to:

Community Governance Review, Democratic and Electoral Services, MVDC, Pippbrook, Dorking RH4 1SJ

If you have any questions or need the survey in a different format/posted to you, please email cgr@molevalley.gov.uk or call 01306 885001

The survey should take around 5-10 minutes to complete and you have until 5pm on 17 October to do this.

All responses will be published, along with reasons for accepting or rejecting them. Final recommendations will follow as second round of consultation.

A CGR is a local review looking at of how local communities are represented and whether changes are needed. This could include:

• Creating, merging or changing parish boundaries
• Naming new parishes or changing their style
• Reviewing the number of parish councillors or warding arrangements
• Considering other local governance options

Please note, the CGR cannot decide if a parish becomes a Town Council – that’s up to the parish itself once it’s formed.

The aim of the CGR is to ensure local governance:

• Represents the local community
• Works well and is easy to manage
• Brings people together

LGR is a process where all county and district and borough councils in an area are reorganised into fewer, unitary councils. UK government published proposals on LGR on 16 December 2024 as part of The English Devolution White Paper, covering plans to reform local government. A public consultation asking people to share their views on the future of Surrey is live until 5 August and you can find out more information on our LGR page.

When thinking about potential changes to an area (such as the creation of a parish council), those living or working in unparished areas should consider the size and geography of an area and its community identity and suggest boundaries that reflect this.

For example, a parish boundary does not have to cover the whole of a village or town, likewise a parish boundary could cover more than one town or village.

Size of the council 

‘Council size’ is the term used to describe the number of councillors to be elected to the whole council. Lawfully a parish council must have at least five councillors, while there is no maximum number. Should a parish be warded, there must be at least one councillor per parish ward. 

The council size should be considered on its own merits, taking into account its population, geography and the pattern of communities.  

Consideration should be given to the difficulty of attracting sufficient candidates to stand for election. In some parishes, this has led to repeated uncontested elections and/or a need to co-opt members in order to fill vacancies. A parish council’s budget and planned, or actual, level of service provision may also be important factors in reaching conclusions on council size.  

Drawing up appropriate parish boundaries 

When thinking about the boundaries for new parishes the review will need to take into account community identity and interests in the area. It will also need to consider whether any particular ties or links might be broken by the drawing of particular boundaries. Existing district wards and county council division boundaries will also be used, where appropriate, to help develop parish ward boundaries. 

Parish names 

Where a new parish is proposed, thought should be given to the name of the new area and should be connected to the community for example a to existing local or historic places. 

In addition to the traditional styling of ‘parish’, the review could recommend that any new council be known as

• Parish council;
• Community council;
• Neighbourhood council; or
• Village council.

There is no difference between these styles of council, they all have the same statutory powers and can provide the same services.

Town Councils cannot be created through a Community Governance Review. However, once created, a new ‘parish’ council with any of the above styles, could pass a resolution to change its designation to ‘Town Council’.

Again, town council has the same statutory powers, but it is able to appoint a Town Mayor.

The Community Governance Review must also make recommendations for each of the existing parishes under review including: 

• no changes;
• Whether the area of the existing parishes should be altered, possibly due to recent developments; or
• Whether those parishes should or should not be abolished. 

A parish council is a local authority established under the Local Government Act 1972 to represent and serve a specific geographic area (a parish). They are the most local tier of government, operating below district and borough councils. Parish councils are democratically elected and have a range of powers and responsibilities related to local matters, including planning, community amenities, and representing the views of their residents. 

A parish council is a civil parish and is separate to a church (ecclesiastical) parish. They have differing responsibilities and can have different boundaries.

Parish councils can act as a voice for their local area, conveying community views to higher levels of government and other public bodies.

They are consulted on planning applications within their area and have a role in shaping local development. 

They could take on ownership of play spaces, open spaces, community halls and other facilities, and could have powers to organise street cleaning, local festivals and celebrations. Additionally, a town council can appoint a mayor.

Parish councils are funded through a sum of money called a ‘precept’ – this is a separate charge which is added to, and collected along with, your existing Council Tax. The parish council sets its own precept depending on what services and facilities are needed by the local community.

Parish council councillors are not usually paid an allowance but may incur costs which can be reimbursed.

Only after considering the initial ideas and suggestions from the first stage consultation will we be able to determine if there could be any impacts on Council Tax for a particular area.

Please note that any recommendations developed from the first stage consultation responses will include information about potential financial impacts for the public and key stakeholders to consider before responding to the second stage consultation on the draft recommendations.

This is a number of small parishes that have come together under a common council.

Electors of each parish elect a designated number of councillors to the common council. It can be an effective way of ensuring small parishes (generally parish areas with less than 150 electors and without a parish council) are more empowered, whilst maintaining their separate community identity.

However, when considering grouped parishes it is important to ensure that the groupings have similar community interests and priorities and are reflective of the area covered.

Wards divide a parish into smaller areas for electing councillors. The review will consider

• Whether the number or spread of voters makes warding necessary (this is generally when a parish covers more than one village)
• Whether certain areas should have their own representation

If wards are created, the review will also decide:

• Ward names (often based on local or historic place names)
• How many councillors each ward should have

The aim is to make sure everyone’s vote carries equal weight and that no area is over- or under-represented.

Consideration should be given to the difficulty of attracting sufficient candidates to stand for election. In some parishes, this has led to repeated uncontested elections and/or a need to co-opt members in order to fill vacancies. A parish council’s budget and planned, or actual, level of service provision may also be important factors in reaching conclusions on council size.  

As the review covers the whole of Mole Valley, it might not be possible for Council representatives to attend meetings of all interested community groups within the consultation period, but do let us know and we can see what can be accommodated.

If you would like further information on the review or have questions which have not be covered in our FAQ’s please do contact us at cgr@molevalley.gov.uk for assistance.