The rejuvenation of Farnham’s East Street may have begun with the unveiling of new wider pavements last week - but a huge question mark still hangs over the pile of rubble that used to be the Woolmead shopping precinct.
In its edition of March 5, 2020, the Herald reported: “A top councillor today spells out the dilemma facing a planning committee which will soon be debating what happens at Farnham’s Woolmead site.
“Developers Berkeley Homes has submitted a new application as it wants to slash its original application of 141 spaces for vehicles to park – with those places originally housed in a huge underground parking lot – to 79.”
The original Woolmead buildings - a monument to the 1960s concrete boom - reached a stage where they had passed their useful life and no longer provided a viable prospect for businesses to use.
The scheme offered up first by long-time Woolmead owners F&C REIT and latterly Berkeley Homes sought to replace the 1960s buildings with new retail outlets, apartments and underground parking.
The sub-heading to the March 2020 banner headline was: “Councillor’s dilemma: allow Woolmead development with less parking, or keep site looking like this for years…”
The scheme won its planning appeal to halve the number of parking spaces – but no work took place and this prime site has been redundant for years. It seems frustrated Farnham locals have ended up with both: a scheme with less parking and a derelict site in the centre of town.
There is some cause for optimism, however, with the government quango Homes England speculated to be nearing a purchase of the site - potentially to be occupied by a new block of student accommodation for the thriving University for the Creative Arts.
Most town centre businesses would welcome the influx of young students, and their student loans, I’m sure!