The History of Molember Road
Early days of Molember Road
Molember Road is recorded as being owned by Mr T Macey, a local developer, from the early 1920’s. Mr Macey would build a small number of properties and then let these out to tenants. In 1939, a substantial fire at the Grindley & Miskin timberyard resulted in damage to Kingston Bridge. The bridge had to be rebuilt and the rubble from the original bridge was salvaged by Mr Macey to create the base of Molember Road.
Creation of the MRRA
In February 1957 the Molember Road Residents Association was created with the intention of pressing for repairs to the bank of the River Ember. This was eroding away rapidly because of frequent flooding. In this year, the Esher district council (a precursor to Elmbridge Council and now the current East Surrey Council) were developing plans to take over ownership of the road, but residents voted in favour of remaining private.
In 1961 the first road contribution started to set up a working fund to maintain the road. This was intended to assure the then Esher Council that there was no reason to take over the road. However, over the next year, the council indicated that they were contemplating taking over the road under official powers and charging the frontagers to make the road up to the necessary levels. The charge for this was estimated at £10,000 (about £254,800 in 2025 terms).
The Great Flood of 1968
September 15th, 1968, saw some of the worst flooding of the 20th century in the region, with East and West Molesey under several feet of water for several days. The then 30 houses on Molember Road were equally affected, and the road surface made worse. The council again stepped in serving notice on 13 frontagers under the Highways Act (sec 204) requiring that repairs are carried out at the expense of the frontagers.
Further development during the last few years of the 1960s meant that the number of houses on the road grew, and by 1970 there were 39 properties registered. At this point, the River Mole Flood Alleviation Scheme was being developed to minimise the risk of flooding from the river Mole
Flood Alleviation Scheme
In 1975, the Thames Water Authority, now known as the Environment Agency, approached the road residents to obtain access to the road. The eventual agreement resulted in TWA making up the road at the end of 1976. Unfortunately, as the cul-de-sac between “Overstream” and “Court View” houses was not used by the construction traffic, this section was not deemed to be part of the agreement.
Over the second half of the 1970s the Flood Alleviation Scheme widened the river Ember from a small stream to the larger waterway of today. The path was diverted from land, which is now Molember Court, to its current location. The enlarged river now takes a significant proportion of the water flow from the river Mole and makes the old ford on Summer Road no longer passable. Something that some Satnav’s still haven’t realised!
With the road being made up to a very high standard, the subject of remaining a private road appeared again. In April 1976 a vote was held to consider adoption by the council, with 31 of the 41 houses voting in favour of remaining private. To assure the then Elmbridge Council that the road surface would not fall into disrepair (and for them to rescind the still-live notices under the Highways Act), the road fund contribution was set at £5.
As the Flood Relief works were completed in 1981 and the final “wearing course” was laid by TWA, another vote was held over whether to remain private. The then Elmbridge council had agreed in principle to adopting the road, but at a cost of £2,250 (£10,800 in 2025) to upgrade street lighting and remove speed humps. This would not include the unmade cul-de-sac. In turn, 6 votes were cast in favour of adoption by the Council, with 22 against, and the road remained private.
Molember Court and the Footpath
In 1985, developers constructed Molember Court on the other side of the river Ember. There was deemed to be a public right of way from Hampton Court Way and onto Molember Road that passed through what is now Number 3, Molember Court. To maintain public access, a pathway was created at the end of the development, next to “Ashcott” on Hampton Court Way.
As part of the development work, £3,000 was contributed to the road fund by the developers to compensate for wear and tear on the road surface. Additional work in 1991 to replace a surface water drainage culvert left the road in some disrepair. The road was top-dressed in 1993 and the footpaths repaired. As the main vehicular access to Molember Court was via Molember Road, it was interpreted that households in Molember Court are full member of the MRRA and so the Association’s responsibility towards maintenance includes this area.
Road Resurfacing
During the late 1990’s there were several investigations into making up the cul-de-sac. No formal request was made to the AGM to complete this work, and the only new surfacing in the vicinity was the small piece of road leading to the cul-de-sac known as the “bottle-neck” As no drainage was put in place to the cul-de-sac when TWA was originally making the road in 1976, the cost of bringing the cul-de-sac to the same standards was likely very high.
As the new millennium began, discussion turned to resurfacing the main road which was now 25 years old. With the significant costs involved, this became a highly charged debate. In 2007, the expected cost of the works was £98,000, including a 20% contingency. The balance of the road fund at this time was only £33,000.
At a December 2007 EGM, a proposal to resurface the road, with each household required to contribute £1,200 extraordinary contribution, was passed by a narrow majority (22 for, 16 against). In March 2009 the road was resurfaced.
This brief history has been produced from the records of the MRRA and the Declaration of Mr Dennis Andrews Speed. All memories, photographs and other input was gratefully received from long-term residents of the road.
