The County Council’s Cabinet has decided to postpone the closure of the Dorking Tip until 1 October 2019.

However, even with this reprieve, the Dorking Tip will be restricted to only accepting recyclable material and it will still be closed in the Autumn unless a way of operating the Tip can be identified which will allow a similar level of savings to be made to the savings that will be achieved by closing it.

The reprieve came as Hazel Watson, Liberal Democrat County Councillor for the Dorking Hills, formally presented a petition of more than 2000 signatures to the Cabinet Meeting. The petition opposed the closure of the Dorking Tip and called for it to be kept open for at least 3 days per week, and preferably for 7 days per week.

Hazel Watson said: “I am pleased that the Dorking Tip has been saved from closure at least for the time being. The fact that more than 2,000 local residents signed the petition to save the Dorking Tip from closure sent a strong message to the County Council that the facility is highly valued by the local community.”

Hazel Watson continued, “The downside of the decision is that in future the Dorking Tip will only accept recyclable materials. This means that to dispose of non-recyclable materials local residents will have to go to the Leatherhead Tip, which is too far for many residents in southern Mole Valley to travel.”

Lesley Bushnell, local Campaigner for Capel, Leigh and Newdigate added, “For those of us living in the south of Mole Valley the journey can be as high as 15 miles taking 30 minutes each way. This is much higher than the maximum distance of 3 to 5 miles (or 7 miles in very rural areas) recommended as ‘accessible’ for residents”.

“I would like to thank everyone in our ward who signed the petition and to say we will continue the campaign.”