A £4.9 million flood relief scheme has been proposed to try and avoid a repeat of last year's devastating floods.
Last winter parts of Whyteleafe and Woldingham were awash for weeks, leaving many flooded homes and gardens off the A22 and Woldingham Road impassable for long spells.
Now Surrey County Council and Tandridge District Council are bidding for £4.2 million from the Coast to Capital Local Economic Partnership, set up by the Government – with the county council set to provide a further £700,000 for flood avoidance measures.
The project calls for a new drainage system along a two-mile stretch of the A22, between the M25 and the Croydon border.
Parts of the A22 and adjacent footpaths would be resurfaced.
The councils will learn in February if their bid has been successful. If it is, work on the relief scheme would be due to start next summer.
Mitigation measures already installed include a flood relief pipe under Woldingham Road and two off-road water storage areas, with control sluice gates, constructed in Woldingham. These can hold about 15,000 cubic metres of water from the Caterham Bourne.