I READ Farnham Cycle Campaign’s thoughts about temporary changes in Farnham town centre with interest, and would like to explain why we’ve taken the approach we have.

We’re committed to making major improvements in Farnham.

At this stage, we’ve decided we need to prioritise social distancing, and give pedestrians the confidence to return to the high street and support local retailers.

Therefore we’ll be widening pavements on both sides of Downing Street and The Borough.

In a busy town centre, we don’t believe it’s practical to make these shared spaces for pedestrians and cyclists.

The recent resurfacing work will support this and we are introducing both an advisory 20mph speed limit and signs to limit the number of HGVs needing to access the town centre.

We’ve worked closely with Farnham Town Council as we develop the plans, and have agreed the temporary barriers will be replaced with planters in due course.

These are temporary measures, and among the first to be installed in Surrey.

A lot of hard work has gone into these plans in a short time. We’ll be monitoring it closely, learning what does or doesn’t work and making any necessary adjustments. We’ve bid for government money to introduce more of these schemes in the county.

We have more ambitious plans to support Farnham, including how we address the reduction in congestion and improve air quality – like our recent application for government funding to make Farnham an all-electric bus town.

We’ve started a major programme with the town council and Waverley Borough Council to improve travel and transport in Farnham, including town centre improvements and looking at issues around Hickleys Corner and Wrecclesham.

I look forward to listening to residents to find out what matters to them in the coming months.

* By Tim Oliver

Leader, Surrey County Council