COUNCILLORS will meet to determine two crucial applications concerning the fate of the Brightwells redevelopment scheme and the Brightwell Gostrey Centre this week.

Waverley Borough Council’s joint planning committee will meet on Wednesday, June 22, to decide whether or not to allow the council’s development partner Crest Nicholson Sainsbury’s further concessions to its plans for new high street shops, restaurants, a cinema and 239 new apartments on land south of East Street.

These concessions, to Crest’s 2012 planning consent for Brightwells, include:

• A 106 square metre increase in size to the proposed extension to Grade II listed Brightwell House, allowing for a larger restaurant.

• A change of use for the building originally earmarked for the Brightwell Gostrey Centre to retail/food, with the day centre instead set to move to the soon-to-be-redeveloped Memorial Hall in West Street.

• Removal of the scheme’s proposed combined heat and power scheme, with Crest promising to use more environmentally-friendly building materials to compensate for its loss.

• An amendment to Brightwells’ affordable housing provision to provide 100 per cent shared ownership flats instead of 50 per cent shared ownership and 50 per cent ’affordable rent’ homes.

In her report to council ahead of the meeting, Waverley’s case officer Louise Yandell has recommended both applications be granted permission and - with the threat of legal action by the Farnham Interest Group (FIG) still looming large - has also appraised the wider scheme.

FIG - led by planning watchdogs the Farnham Society, the Farnham (Building Preservation) Trust, and East Street Action - has argued that numerous amendments and variations to Crest’s planning permission for Brightwells over the years have given the developer an advantage not available to other bidders for the Brightwells contract in 2003, and recently threatened a judicial review should councillors agree any further concessions to the scheme.

However, in her report ahead of next Wednesday’s meeting, case officer Louise Yandell said officers have taken into account the “changes of circumstances” since the extant 2012 planning permission was granted and have concluded that the scheme’s offer of public open space, shops, restaurants and much-needed homes in a sustainable town centre location weigh heavily in its favour.

She said the provision of the cinema, cafes, bars and restaurants “would offset the loss of the tennis club and bowls club” - both set to be retained in the original 2002 development brief - adding “the loss of the Gostrey Centre, a community use, is considered acceptable as an alternative community use is being provided at Memorial Hall”.

Controversially, given objectors’ complaints that Crest has never fully modelled Brightwells’ impact on Farnham’s road network, Ms Yandell added: “The amendments would have an acceptable impact on the surrounding highway network and an appropriate level of car parking would be provided.”

She expressed concern about the scale of the extension to Brightwell House, but again concluded that any harm to the heritage asset would be outweighed by the wider benefits of the Brightwells scheme.

“While the alterations to the Listed Building would result in less than substantial harm to the listed building, this harm is considered to be minor in nature and would be significantly outweighed by the economic and social benefits resulting from the scheme,” she concluded.

It comes after Waverley councillors agreed to press on with the Brightwells scheme at an ‘extraordinary’ meeting of the full council in May following independent scrutiny of the financial viability of Crest’s development.

And should councillors agree both applications next Wednesday, it would give Crest license to construct a temporary construction bridge over the River Wey connecting the development site to the A31 and press on with construction of the main scheme - including the demolition of the Redgrave Theatre.

Waverley is also expected to complete the compulsory purchase of The Marlborough Head before a deadline to do so expires this September.

The first application to be determined next week, WA/2016/0268, has to-date received 69 letters of objection to one in support, while the second, WA/2016/0456, has received 28 objections to none in support. Both can be viewed online at www.waverley.gov.uk/planning.

The meeting will be webcast at 7pm via the council’s YouTube page, and members of the public are invited to attend in person. For more information or to submit a question for the meeting, call 01483 523224 or email [email protected].