PROPOSALS for an eight-screen cinema as part of the East Street redevelopment scheme have been slated by the Farnham Society, in a letter sent to every member of Waverley Council.

The letter comes as the project finds itself in limbo, awaiting a decision by Waverley Council on whether to permit developers Crest Nicholson Sainsbury's to proceed with Phase I - expected to include the cinema - before assembling the land for the rest of the scheme.

The council will be holding a series of meetings - of its overview and scrutiny committee, its executive and the full council - on Monday, December 19.

The meetings have been arranged specifically to tackle the East Street issues and the result of the tenants' ballot concerning the proposed transfer of Waverley's council homes to Weyfold Community Homes.

As well as the phasing issue, the council will have to decide whether to agree to the developer's request for a substantial extension to the time allowed to fulfill the requirements of the conditional contract, which relates to such matters as securing full planning consent and assembling the land for the scheme.

In his letter to councillors, Farnham Society chairman Gordon Harris noted that the development control consultative forum process is currently "on hold".

He continued: "The society has long been very concerned that so much of the scheme no longer complies with the development brief and that it has spread beyond the limits of the East Street Area of Opportunity as defined in the local plan; we note with concern that the scheme which received landlord sanction has undergone major revisions which have yet to be submitted to that process."

Mr Harris said that foremost among the society's aims is that the redevelopment of the area should be complementary to the historic core of the existing town centre.

"Development on the proposed scale would be far better suited to the character of the town centres of Guildford or Woking, rather than that of a small historic market town of the character of Farnham," he observed.

Turning to the proposed cinema building, he commented: "The element of this overdevelopment which causes us considerable concern is in regard to the proposed provision of a building to house an eight-screen cinema notwithstanding that, in the scheme that was granted landlord sanction, provision was made for only a three- screen building.

"We are not in a position, of course, to comment on the commercial viability of such a large facility, save perhaps to say that it would seem that it would need to serve a catchment area more like Basingstoke than Farnham.

"The footprint, scale and massing of this proposed building is far too great and grossly out of keeping with the character of the town; we are very concerned at the additional traffic which this would generate on the already congested roads into and within the town centre and the additional parking provision which it would require.

"Furthermore, we find it difficult to envisage the architectural design of such a building which, with its scale and massing, could reflect the grain of the historic core of Farnham.

"We are strongly opposed to this element of the proposal and ask that it receives the most careful consideration."

Also singled out for condemnation were elements of the scheme that encroach onto Borelli Walk, a public open park where the developers propose to site a drainage pond to store water arising from the development.

Finally, councillors are urged to ensure that no development should go ahead before measures are taken to improve the present traffic situation considerably and accommodate the impact of the development.

"We have been very concerned throughout these consultations that traffic and movement issues must be properly addressed before the start of any construction," wrote Mr Harris.

"Contrary to the perception which the developers' traffic consultant appears to have, all roads in the existing town centre and access roads to it (especially those from the east and south) are already at saturation point at crucial times during much of the day and we eagerly await the developers' proposals to overcome this."