FIVE years after Waverley Council first voted to attempt compulsory purchase in connection with the East Street redevelopment, the legal process is finally set to be unleashed.

Waverley's decision-making executive on Tuesday agreed at a special meeting to recommend making a compulsory purchase order in a bid to secure the old cinema site and The Marlborough Head pub for the development.

F&C Reit, owners of the cinema site, now a car park, and pub owners Greene King have persistently refused to sell at the price Waverley wants to pay.

If either oppose the order, the entire process could take about a year, involving a public inquiry and, potentially, a High Court appeal.

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.