Planning application – Mill Road depot

1 June 2026

New planning application submitted for Mill Road depot following resident feedback

Elmbridge Borough Council has submitted a revised planning application for the Mill Road depot in Esher, following feedback from local residents.

The previous application (reference 2025/3216) was withdrawn after concerns were raised during consultation. All feedback has now been reviewed and has directly informed the updated proposal.

The new application (2026/1278) seeks to update some of the existing planning conditions for the depot. These mainly relate to operating hours and access arrangements, which currently make it difficult for waste collection services to run as efficiently as possible.

Since 2016, demand for waste, recycling and street cleaning services has grown. The proposed changes better reflect how the depot needs to operate today, helping crews complete collections safely and efficiently while keeping important protections in place for residents. This includes maintaining school-time restrictions on Douglas Road and The Woodlands, except in limited and controlled circumstances.

Without these updates, additional vehicles and crews may be needed to complete the same work in shorter timeframes, which could mean more lorries on local roads and higher costs.

There are no proposed physical changes to the site.

In response to feedback about road conditions, the council is also delivering £100,000 in road improvements around the depot, working closely with Surrey Highways.

Drop-in session for residents

Residents are invited to meet the project team, ask questions and find out more about the updated application at a drop-in session:

• Date: Tuesday 9 June 2026
• Time: 4pm to 8pm
• Location: Lower Green Community Centre, Farm Road, Esher, KT10 8AU

We encourage residents to come along and talk to us about the new application.

Councillor Ashley Tilling, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change, Environmental Services and Sustainability, said:

"We have listened carefully to the feedback we received from residents, and that feedback has helped shape the revised planning application now submitted. We understand the strength of feeling locally and have taken time to review the concerns raised and reflect these where possible in the updated proposals. It is important that we can continue to deliver reliable waste and recycling services for residents, and these changes will help us do that as efficiently as possible. This drop-in session is an opportunity for residents to speak directly with us, ask questions and understand the changes we have made. I would encourage anyone with an interest to come along.”

Further details of the application are available for residents to view.

30 April 2026

We have decided to withdraw the current planning application for the Mill Road Depot (reference 2025/3216) due to the large number of concerns raised by local residents. These views will be fully considered as part of a revised planning application, which we expect to submit in the coming weeks. 

As part of the new application, we will hold a drop‑in session so residents can ask questions directly with the project team.

In particular, we recognise residents’ concerns about:

• noise and disturbance
• access times to the waste depot

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit comments. Your feedback is important and will helps shape the revised application.

Further details will be published on our website when the new planning application is submitted.

January 2026

We are applying to update some existing planning conditions for the Mill Road Depot (reference 2025/3216) to keep waste services running smoothly and efficiently. There will be no physical changes to the site, and all other conditions will stay the same. 

The application will formally recognise the operating hours as 

• 6am to 8pm Monday to Saturday
• and 6am to 6pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays
• and to remove the limit on the number of vehicles that cannot use the bridge. 

At the moment operations run from 6:30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday (including Bank Holidays) and 8am to 4pm on Sundays with some further restrictions for movements along certain roads during peak hours. However, maintaining the level of service expected by our residents often requires operations to continue beyond these hours. The planning application seeks to regularise and formalise these necessary extended operating times.

Why is this needed?

The current restrictions make it very difficult to complete all scheduled rounds with the number of vehicles and staff agreed in the contract and does not reflect the actual operation of the site.

If we don’t update these conditions, the new waste contractor will need to add more vehicles and staff to finish the same work in shorter hours. This would mean:

• more lorries on the road for residents
• higher costs for the council and residents

This does not change any of the planning conditions for the other businesses that operate on the wider industrial estate and their vehicles.

Updating the conditions now will help us avoid these issues and keep services efficient. It also allows flexibility for situations like heatwaves, when we need to start rounds earlier to protect staff wellbeing while ensuring collections are completed.

The application is available on the council’s website for public consultation and will be considered by the Planning Committee in early 2026.