A new spectator stand that will “support the continued success” of Dorking Wanderers Football Club can stay after the club secured planning permission.
The Mole Valley club had already erected the four-row seating section in the northern corner of its Meadowbank Ground in Dorking, and it has been used since April 2025, giving spectators a better view of games. The planning application was submitted retrospectively and was granted at the February Development Management Committee meeting of Mole Valley District Council.
The tiered 100-seater stand will not increase the club’s overall capacity of 4,121, but will instead upgrade facilities for supporters who had previously been required to stand pitch-side. Objectors raised concerns about the potential for increased noise and disturbance, but planning officers said an October 2025 site visit found that existing sound-damping fencing and newly planted trees would mitigate such issues, and that the stand would not affect maximum attendances.
Mole Valley’s environmental health team said the stand would result in a negligible increase and no material change in terms of noise impacts on match days. Officers told the meeting that the new stand, which can be folded away as required, “would not increase spectator numbers, though the arrangements for spectators would differ to the current arrangement, with the three-tier seating area instead of ground-level standing.”
She added that the stand would enhance facilities at the established community ground and support the continued success of Dorking Wanderers. The application was approved without opposition after councillors were told the stand was already in place and that all objections raised had been addressed.
The approval follows a number of upgrades to the ground in recent years, including a new part-covered terrace at the western end approved in 2022, alongside LED floodlighting, additional turnstiles, TV facilities and an expanded fan zone. The western terrace was constructed after the club’s promotion to the National League in order to meet entry requirements.
Epsom and Ewell Times puts local clubs in the context of the hierarchy of English football:
| Level | League | Club example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Premier League | Arsenal, Man City |
| 2 | EFL Championship | Norwich City, Watford |
| 3 | EFL League One | Portsmouth, Ipswich Town |
| 4 | EFL League Two | Sutton United (recently until 2024) |
| 5 | National League | Sutton United (now) |
| 6 | National League South | Dorking Wanderers |
| 7-8 | Isthmian League etc. | Kingstonian, Leatherhead |
| 9-10 | Combined Counties | Epsom and Ewell |
Photo: Meadowbank Stadium, the home ground of Dorking Wanderers Football Club, with the spire of St Martin’s Church in the background (May 2021, looking south). Credit: Mertbiol. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.