FARNHAM'S MP, Jeremy Hunt, is to meet highways representatives to push for trials into pedestrianising some of the town centre, following last Friday's public meeting held to debate the issue. The MP received almost unanimous support from the audience of around 150 people, when he took votes on whether running some pedestrianisation trials was a good idea and whether Surrey County Council should put some money into researching the subject. As always when pedestrianisation is discussed, the problem of the town's layout and where the displaced traffic would go loomed large. Several speakers from the floor urged that a Hickley's Corner underpass and a western bypass must surely come first. But with most of the available money allocated to the A3 tunnel at Hindhead for years to come, Jeremy Hunt asked: "Do we want to put everything on hold until, in maybe 15 years' time, we get the resources?" Dealing with an issue that he viewed as "more taxing than Sudoku", he said: "I sometimes think that the best way to unite Farnham is to talk about its traffic problems and the best way to divide Farnham is to talk about the solutions." But he added: "I could not, at the start of my hopefully long political career, go forward without trying to address what I think is one of Farnham's biggest problems." Mr Hunt said that with all the upheaval of redeveloping East Street likely in the future, the scheme could be tweaked to achieve something on the pedestrianisation front "in one fell swoop" - perhaps in The Borough, which currently suffers the worst pollution in Surrey. "Farnham doesn't get anywhere near its full potential because of the curse of traffic," was his view, though he stressed that any scheme must be planned carefully to avoid the pitfalls of damaging trade in the town or shifting the traffic problem, for instance to Upper Hale. "There is no point in trying to find a solution that just makes life more miserable for someone else." The MP said that extensive research in German towns showed that pedestrianisation increased the number of visitors by 20 to 30 per cent, despite a small dip in trade in the first year. As well as full, permanent pedestrianisation, there was the possibility of looking at pedestrianisation for part of the day or part of the week, said Mr Hunt. He spoke of the Saturday pedestrianisation of Godalming, for instance, having a postive knock-on effect on weekdays, establishing in motorists' minds that the centre was a pedestrian preserve. Max Lyons, chairman of the Farnham Society, who was on the panel for the meeting, said that the only way to progress would be by burying the past and for everyone to agree on the direction to go. Suggestions came thick and fast from the audience. Park and ride, improved public transport, peripheral car parks, lower town centre speed limits, allowing right turns at the bottom of Castle Street and axing of free two-hour on-street parking were among ideas posed. Ian Bartlett spoke of "extreme NIMBYism" in the town, the need to change people's whole mindset and persuade them to "give up quite a few sacred cows". Jeremy Hyman commented: "We have been through this before. Farnham's public said 'yes, we love pedestrianisation, alternative routes first, please!' He pointed out that there were already traffic proposals in Crest Nicholson's East Street proposals. "I suggest people look at them and they might wonder why we are here tonight." Jack Crawford cautioned against trying to achieve pedestrianisation in conjunction with the East Street development. "If we have two changes at once we will have two sets of unexpected consequences and, on top of this, the interaction of two sets of unexpected consequences. "Assuming East Street has so much momentum, that is the one that goes ahead. Let's not over-egg it and just go for one change at a time." As successive speakers pushed the need for a Hickley's Corner scheme and a western bypass before pedestrianisation could be contemplated, Surrey county councillor David Munro described the schemes, costing a total of £65 million, as "not dead, but in a deep sleep". They were still on the county council's list, but had been turned down for the period up to 2016, he advised. "We could wait for a western bypass until the next century," said Peter Jeans. "Farnham is very unsavoury for pedestrians," he commented, urging people not to sit on their hands, but to look to the commercial wellbeing of the town. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Hunt said the turnout had shown how strongly people feel about the issue. "The many thoughtful contributions showed that people are very aware of the challenges to pedestrianisation posed by Farnham's geography. However, there was widespread determination not simply to give up, but to take things forward with further study and limited trials. "The Japanese say the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step - I think we made more than a few steps forward on Friday." It was a view not shared by United Voice of Farnham vice-chairman Stephen Cochrane, who after the meeting stressed that already Waverley Council is required to produce a Local Development Framework with an area action plan to deal with the major traffic problems of the town centre. "A 'political initiative' does not remove the overall responsibility that Waverley has to involve the public," he declared. Mr Cochrane said Mr Hunt's proposal to spend taxpayers' money on a study solely into pedestrianisation was flawed, given that the public was entitled to a proper traffic study to include the East Street options, "before plans are literally set in concrete".
