The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering two former districts which were both abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named after the medieval Elmbridge hundred which had covered a similar area.[3] The hundred appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Amelebrige.[4] The name thus derives from the River Amele or Emley, an old name for the River Mole, rather than elm trees.[5] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]
In the early 1990s the neighbouring London Borough of Kingston upon Thames sought to have eastern parts of Elmbridge, including Long Ditton, Thames Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Weston Green and the Moleseys transferred to it, making the case that these areas had particularly strong social and economic ties to Kingston and Greater London. The proposal was considered by the Local Government Boundary Commission in 1992, but was not pursued.[7][8]
The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13]
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Elmbridge. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:[14]
Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association
4
Esher Residents' Association
3
Molesey Residents' Association
3
Hinchley Wood Residents' Association
2
Weybridge and St George's Independents
2
The Walton Society
1
Independent
1
Total
48
The Thames Ditton and Weston Green RA, Esher RA, Molesey RA, Walton Society, and Weybridge and St George's Independents sit together as the "Residents' Associations Group", which forms the council's administration in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.[17] The next election is due in 2026.
Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[18]
Premises
The council is based at the Civic Centre, off the High Street in the centre in Esher, which was purpose-built for the council in 1991.[19][20]
Sandown House: Council offices until 1991, now flats.
When the council was created in 1974 it inherited offices at the Town Hall on New Zealand Avenue in Walton-on-Thames from Walton and Weybridge Urban District Council, and at Sandown House at 1 High Street from Esher Urban District Council. It initially used Walton Town Hall, a 1960s building, as its headquarters, retaining Sandown House as additional offices.[21] The new Civic Centre was built on land behind Sandown House, which has since been converted into flats, whilst Walton Town Hall has been demolished.
The northern third of the borough is flatter and fertile with free draining slightly acid loamy soil, similar to the south, as described in the Surrey article. In the next third, the first of the remarkable acid soil heaths in west Surrey begin to appear in places here [n 1], characterised by undulating heaths: these sandy and stony reliefs start in the east in the Esher Commons, covering the central swathe of the area including Oxshott Heath and Woods and areas of Weybridge and areas surrounding Wisley, a natural soil for pines, other evergreen trees as well as heather and gorse, described as naturally wet, very acid sandy and loamy soil which is just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil.[24]Claremont Landscape Garden and Fan Court (now independent school) is on part of this elevated soil as is St George's Hill. Most undeveloped land in Elmbridge is Metropolitan Green Belt.
The central band of forest/heath includes part of the Wisley and Ockham Commons reserve within the national wildlife trust scheme: see Surrey Wildlife Trust, several pine heath based golf courses and in the north there are reservoirs, on the side of which there is sheep grazing.
Watercourses
The Mole, passing the Grade I Church in Stoke D'Abernon,[25] Cobham Mill at Grade II[26] and Painshill Park and the Wey, passing Silvermere Golf Course and the Brooklands circuit, hotel and retail park, cut through the borough from south to north reaching the River Thames which denotes the northern border, stretching from Weybridge to Thames Ditton apart from inclusion of inhabited islands such as Wheatley's Ait[n 2]. The Wey and Mole have sources beyond gentle valleys which cut through the high North Downs to the south.
St George's Hill is noted as the site of one of the earliest experiments in common ownership of land by ordinary people, in a marked contrast to the area's modern status as a wealthy private estate. In 1649 the "Diggers", one of the radical groups set up in the aftermath of the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I seized common land in the area and lived by simple farming. As well as debates about religion and how the country should be run at this time these groups complained that even the Parliamentary side in the Civil War was dominated by "Grandees" i.e. wealthy nobles who often spent their time in comfort conducting fatuous debates in Parliament while the less well off risked their lives in the war to defeat an absolutist system. They were the subject of a long campaign of harassment by a local landowner and were eventually removed following a court case.[30]
Transport
The M25 motorway has several junctions nearby and the A3(M) from London bisects the borough.
Cycling is very popular, with the Thames Path passing through the north of the borough and the 2012 Summer Olympics hosting both of the main road cycling events in the borough with most of the road section around Hampton Court and with the sections of the routes taken to and from Box Hill.
Economy
The economy is diverse, with a strong local service sector, including numerous bars and restaurants,[29] homes built and being built for city workers as the majority of locations have access to one of the Home Counties fastest commutes,[31] trades including interior supplies, fitting,[29] gardening, golf course/landscape management and a developed public/education sector. Of international renown are the employers Sony, Procter & Gamble, JTI (formerly Gallaher) and Toshiba Information Systems alongside the local corporate venues and day-out attractions of Sandown Park Racecourse and Mercedes-Benz World. As of 2012, Elmbridge residents had average weekly earnings of £1162.[32]
Twinning
The Borough of Elmbridge is not twinned with any towns. However, between 1966 and 2009 Elmbridge was formally twinned with the Paris suburb of Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts de Seine, France.[33]
Coat of arms
The council's arms were created upon the formation of the present day district, being formed out of symbols taken from the local towns and villages with the Latin motto meaning until the rivers cease. The arms include a depiction of an elm tree on a bridge, being a play on the district's name.[19]
Cobham is a village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred 17 miles (27 km) south-west of London and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Guildford on the River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of primary and private schools and the Painshill landscape park.
Esher is a town in the borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole.
Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross in central London. Thames Ditton is just outside Greater London but within the Greater London Urban Area as defined by the Office for National Statistics. Its clustered village centre and shopping area on a winding High Street is surrounded by housing, schools and sports areas. Its riverside faces the Thames Path and Hampton Court Palace Gardens and golf course in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its most commercial area is spread throughout its conservation area and contains restaurants, cafés, shops and businesses.
Esher and Walton is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2024, it has been represented by Monica Harding of the Liberal Democrats. Prior to this, Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party, who served as deputy prime minister before resigning from that role in April 2023 due to bullying allegations, had served as the MP since 2010.
Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, 14 miles southwest of central London. It is the only civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Adjoining Esher and Hinchley Wood to the west and north respectively, and bordered by green belt land to the south and east, Claygate lies within the Greater London Built-up Area.
Walton and Weybridge Urban District was a local government district in Surrey, England from 1933 to 1974.
Esher Urban District was an urban district in Surrey, England created by merging two urban districts and adding two parishes to the south-west. It existed from 1933 to 1974 and was governed by the elected Esher Urban District Council which shared local government functions with Surrey County Council. Its main building was the large town hall in Esher.
Esher was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the general elections during its 47-year lifetime it was won by three Conservatives successively. In area it shrank in 1974, then regrew in 1983 taking in four sparsely inhabited wards which proved to be temporary, as omitted from the successor seat, Esher and Walton.
One third of Elmbridge Borough Council is elected each year, followed by one year without election.
The Hundred of Elmbridge or Elmbridge/Emley Hundred was a geographic subdivision in the north of the county of Surrey, England. The majority of its area forms the modern Borough of Elmbridge, with the remainder forming part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London.
The Surrey County Council election, 2013 took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 81 electoral divisions returned one county councillor each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. Following a review, new electoral division boundaries were introduced for this election, increasing the number of councillors from 80 to 81.
The Elmbridge Guardian was a weekly free local newspaper covering the borough of Elmbridge, in Surrey. It published once a week, on a Thursday, and was distributed free of charge.
The by-thirds 2015 Elmbridge Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Elmbridge Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.
Lower Green is a residential and commercial area within Esher, in Surrey, England, on the banks of the River Ember and River Mole. The area has many businesses, most of them in the commercial complex comprising Sandown Industrial Complex and Royal Mills.
The 2021 Surrey County Council election took place alongside other English and Welsh local elections. Councillors were elected for all 81 single-member electoral divisions of Surrey County Council for a four-year term. The electoral system used was first-past-the-post voting.
The 2022 Elmbridge Borough Council election was held on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Elmbridge Borough Council in England.
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