WAVERLEY Council wants the East Street development to be completed by the end of 2011, according to variations it is proposing to the terms of its contract with developer Crest Nicholson Sainsbury's (CNS). A scaled-down planning application negotiated with the developer is awaited and consent could be granted by early summer, the council's executive heard on Tuesday. But in the meantime, with an appeal by the developers over its earlier applications lying in limbo, CNS is currently under no time constraints over the project, which has spent a decade in the melting pot. The ruling executive recommended that a variation be made to the contract, setting the date of December 31, 2008, for it to become unconditional. Members went on to support the recommendation that development should start within six months of that date and be completed within two years and six months of starting. It is by no means the first time that councillors have laid down targets and deadlines, only for them to fall by the wayside. But council leader Richard Gates stressed to the executive that clear markers must be laid down as to what was expected from the developers. "If they don't achieve these they will be in breach of contract, and if they are in breach of contract we have remedies." Property and development manager Miller Stevenson described the completion date as "a hard date", but added that the case for penalising the developer for any failure to meet it would depend on the circumstances. There was some discussion of the risk often raised by the scheme's opponents, that the developer might "cherrypick" the most lucrative parts of the development - the residential units. As one councillor put it: "The developer builds the profitable bits, sells them and scarpers." Miller Stevenson explained that with the majority of the homes being built above the commercial parts of the scheme, this would not be an option. The most valuable part of the scheme, which was an exception to this - the large residential block at the bottom of the site - would anyway have to be constructed last. "The contractual date for completion gives you a very good safeguard against uncompletion," added Mr Gates. Waverley's failure, as yet, to persuade owners of the old cinema site and The Marlborough Head to give up their property to the scheme, remains a potential stumbling block to the deadline. Roger Steel pointed out that if compulsory purchase orders were needed, they would be very time consuming. Miller Stevenson said that discussions with the landowners were in progress, but if CPOs were needed, the contractual date would automatically be extended. Meanwhile, discussions are still proceeding with CNS to agree a minimum value for Waverley-owned land within the development. Agreement was not reached in time for this week's executive meeting, so an extra executive meeting in private session has been arranged for next Monday to report on further negotiations. Mr Gates stressed that the objective was to achieve the modified smaller scheme, not to wriggle out of the contract. "We have to put forward terms that are reasonable to allow that to be achieved."