THE controversial question of parking provision for the East Street redevelopment, if the scheme is approved, was set to become clearer this week. Waverley Council's proposals to increase the size of its Riverside car park by 198 spaces and also to construct five courts and a pavilion for the displaced Brightwell Tennis Club, were due to be decided by Waverley planners on Wednesday, as The Herald went to press. The planning application, submitted by Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd on behalf of Waverley Council, is critical to the East Street scheme. For without the extra spaces, there will be an estimated 24 per cent less public parking in that part of the town than at present - despite the extra shops, cafes, restaurants and the cinema the redevelopment will bring. The situation would be even more dire during construction of the scheme, with no provision at all to compensate for the total loss of parking at Dogflud and the old cinema site until the new multi-storey parking is completed. Surrey County Council, looking to discourage unneccesary car use, has asked that the parking spaces be provided on a temporary basis only for the period of construction of the East Street development, then taken out of commission. Waverley planning officers, however, recommend a temporary consent for five years for the parking. The application, which is supported by the tennis club, involves a large proportion of the wet scrubland at Riverside. It sites the new courts at the rear of Farnham Fire Station close to the back of homes in Dollis Drive and proposes a flood resilient structure for the pavilion, on raised ground. The extra parking fills the space between the existing Riverside car park and the new tennis club. East Street watchers have been on tenterhooks this week, to see whether a spanner would be thrown in the works by opposition from the Environment Agency, but its objections were withdrawn on Tuesday, at the eleventh hour. The agency, which has already expressed concern that the East Street development itself could pose a flood risk, had made specific objections to the Riverside application concerning both flood risk and the effect on wildlife. Its objection "on bio-diversity grounds" related to a planned 2.5 metre wide hard surfaced footpath and cycle route following the existing informal path through the site, alongside the river for much of its length. The Environment Agency initially opposed placing the path within eight metres of the river bank, complaining of the loss of natural habitat and disturbance of the river corridor. "This is an extremely important stretch of the Wey corridor, not least because there have been positive records of otters having passed through this area in recent months," stated the letter of objection. "Otters require plenty of natural cover on the river banks for safe passage and areas for shelter. "While we are unaware of any recent water voles on this stretch of the river, they could return in the future so all suitable habitat must be retained." The objection was withdrawn, however, after considering a report by ecology consultants, and providing that suitable conditions are enforced relating to surfacing, positioning and width of the proposed path. Nevertheless, question marks from the Environment Agency still hang over the flood risk posed by developing the area, where part of the existing path is under water for much of the year. The agency has claimed that the flood risk assessment for the application does not properly assess the surface water flood risk posed to or by the proposed development. "We still await further information to demonstrate the car park design and drainage system has taken into account climate change," they commented.
