HASLEMERE'S mayor has promised residents the chance to make a contribution to a group set-up to plan for the future of Hindhead, after the construction of the A3 tunnel. Brian Howard made the pledge during Haslemere Town Council's annual meeting at Woolmer Hill School, last Wednesday, April 25. Mr Howard told residents it was an "important challenge" to make sure residents views were taken into account about what should happen to Hindhead after tunnel is built. He said the 'Hindhead Together' steering group (see article on front page), had been working in the background to try and make sure Hindhead was developed in the right way. Mr Howard went on to say that although some people felt more should have been done towards planning for the future of Hindhead he felt it "would have been very hard to get any kind of agreement on post tunnel planning before the government actually gave the go-ahead". But he assured residents they would have "every opportunity to contribute significantly to the process and every one of us will make sure that our voice is heard". Mr Howard also said Haslemere Town Council had joined thousands of people opposing plans to close the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford and urged residents to write to the government and Surrey Primary Trust on the issue. He went on to say, the project to provide a new library for Haslemere had "proved to be a much more complex issue than many people thought". However, Mr Howard added that the scheme was due to go before the town council's planning committee in June and, assuming this was accepted with any problems, the building could be delivered by 2009. Mr Howard also reported the town council was continuing to put pressure on South West Trains to provide additional parking at Haslemere train station. He also spoke of his delight that the war memorials in Haslemere and Beacon Hill had been restored during the year thanks to around £13,000 of public donations and a new £2,500 stain glass window being installed in the Town Hall. Mr Howard went on to say more than £7,000 had so far been raised for his chosen charities, GUTS (Guildford Undetected Tumour Screening) and Pageant (Projects Aiding Gambian Education and Natural Talents).
