FARNHAM'S interest groups have been given a glimpse of a multi-million pound facelift for East Street, but have been warned developers will only commit to a viable package.

Guests representing bodies such as the police, the town council, Chamber of Commerce, Farnham Maltings, the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Brightwell Gostrey Centre and the Brightwell tennis and bowling clubs were invited to give their views on what the redevelopment should include at a meeting last week.

But chairman of the group driving the East Street redevelopment, Waverley councillor Captain Peter Burden warned: "We don't want to be so prescriptive that a redevelopment isn't viable. The financial viability of the project is probably the key thing."

That warning appears at odds with wishes expressed by groups throughout the meeting and by Captain Burden's predecessor as chair of the East Street Special Interest Group, fellow Waverley councillor Dr Rosemary Thomas.

Dr Rosemary Thomas told the meeting she wished to see a requirement issued to developers that "no user of the (East Street) site loses but should expect improved facilities".

Speaking after the meeting Dr Thomas said: "The town may decide it has various requirements and that the criteria of the selection panel might be different. The selection panel might judge more by financial considerations."

Various Farnham groups expressed their own wishes for what the redeveloped site should include and they were duly noted on a flip chart by Waverley planning chief Steve Thwaites.

In all, Mr Thwaites' wish-list filled seven large pages, with calls for a cinema heading the list.

There were also requests for affordable housing, youth facilities, bigger premises for the Citizens' Advice Bureau, some form of theatre, a commitment to public art...the list went on.

As someone once said, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

Giving an idea of the cost of the redevelopment, Malcolm Chumbley from Waverley's agents Cluttons said that developers, of whom there are currently eight on a Waverley-chosen shortlist, are likely to spend £1million putting together their bids, which are due in by July 15.

"We're dealing with the best and some very creative people, so we're talking about a lot of money," he said.

Outlining the speed with which plans are finally progressing after years of delay, Capt. Burden said: "Our developers will expect decisions. They have made a substantial investment already. They have put together experts in half a dozen fields.

"They will all be putting in costed, time-scaled programmes and will have programmed them into their business plans and budgets. If we don't give them an answer in a reasonable time this opportunity will be lost."

Captain Burden has told The Herald that Waverley, as the major landowner, stands to make some financial gain out of the project, but hinted that this would most probably be through leases and rents rather than capital receipts from land sales.

With Waverley calling the shots, developers will be paying Farnham in kind for the land in the form of new and improved buildings.

He also said the scheme will include a commitment that 30 per cent of homes built on the site - there are no figures yet - will be social housing.

Waverley's property and development manager Miller Stevenson said following council analysis and a public exhibition of the submitted schemes that a developer or developers could be chosen by October and contracts exchanged by the end of January next year.

What gets built and where will be constrained by a development brief, which was agreed after public consultation.

And more consultation with interested parties and the public at large is promised before a selection panel of Waverley councillors decides who should get the brief.

The developers shortlisted to submit schemes for the regeneration of East Street are:

Crest Nicholson Properties and Sainsbury Property Company.

Friends Ivory and Sime/Friends Provident.

Wilson Bowden Development Ltd.

Berkeley Homes Southern Ltd.

Countryside Properties .

Sellar Property Group.

The Raven Group.

The Grainger Trust Plc.