Mill Road Depot, Esher: Bin Lorry Hours and Fleet Plan

Residents have until Tuesday 10 November to comment on Elmbridge Borough Council’s plan to change how its waste depot on Mill Road, Esher operates. The council is applying to itself for permission. It wants an earlier start and more of the largest vehicles based at the site.

The application, 2026/1278, asks to vary two conditions of the depot’s 2016 planning permission. One sets its hours. The other limits the vehicles kept there.

The planning register describes the change as an “increase maximum number of non-bridge compliant vehicles based at the depot from 25 to 40”. That is a cap on how many such vehicles are based there. It is not a count of daily trips.

What the council wants to change

The council set out the current rules in its update on the depot in January. The depot runs from 6.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, bank holidays included, and from 8am to 4pm on Sundays. There are further limits on some roads at peak times.

Its revised application, as amended in October, would mean:

• a 6am start, Monday to Saturday
• a 6pm finish, Monday to Friday, after the council dropped the 8pm finish it first asked for
• up to 40 vehicles that cannot use the bridge based at the depot, up from 25
• the school-time ban on council vehicles using Douglas Road and The Woodlands stays, with exceptions such as breakdowns or staff sickness
• no physical changes to the depot

The council is also spending £100,000 on road improvements around the depot, working with Surrey Highways, in response to complaints about road conditions and noise.

We could not read the application’s supporting documents, including the amended planning statement and the noise assessment. The council’s document server refused our connections on 6 November. The council’s update does not give the proposed Saturday finish or the Sunday hours under the revised plan.

Why the council says it needs it

The council says demand for waste, recycling and street cleaning has grown since 2016. Without the changes, it says, “additional vehicles and crews may be needed to complete the same work within the existing operating times”. That could mean more council vehicles on local roads and higher costs.

It says the 6am start would give flexibility after disruption such as extreme weather or machinery breakdowns. It would also let vehicles leave before the school drop-off.

The second attempt

This is the council’s second try. Its first application, 2025/3216, asked to formally set hours of 6am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 6am to 6pm on Sundays and bank holidays. It also asked to remove the limit on vehicles that cannot use the bridge altogether.

The council withdrew it on 30 April 2026 “due to the large number of concerns raised by local residents”, naming noise, disturbance and access times. It submitted the new application on 28 May and held a drop-in at Lower Green Community Centre in June.

Opposition has not gone away. On 6 November the planning file held 111 public comments objecting and three observations. None was listed in support. Nine objections arrived between 28 October and 2 November, after the latest round of documents went up.

What happens next

The council submitted further technical information in late October, including an amended noise impact assessment, and reopened consultation. It says the application is “currently expected to be considered at a planning meeting in December”. The register gives no committee date yet.

What it means for you

• You can still comment, until Tuesday 10 November. Use the application page for 2026/1278 on the council’s planning register.
• If you live near the depot, the change you would notice first is the start time: half an hour earlier, from 6am, six days a week.
• The school-time ban on Douglas Road and The Woodlands is not being dropped, though the council wants room for exceptions.
• Bin collections do not change. The application is about how the depot runs, not your collection day. Our Elmbridge bin collection days page has the schedule.

For other applications across the borough, see our Elmbridge planning news page.

Sources

• Elmbridge Borough Council planning register, application 2026/1278, checked 6 November 2026, for the description, the 25 to 40 change, the dates received and the 10 November comment deadline, and the count of objections and observations on its documents tab.
• Elmbridge Borough Council, Planning application: Mill Road depot, updated 2 November 2026, for the amended hours, the Douglas Road and The Woodlands restriction, the £100,000 road improvements, the December meeting, and the earlier updates of January, 30 April, 1 June and 3 July 2026, including the current operating hours and the withdrawal of 2025/3216.