COUNCILLORS have signed off £50,000 for a feasibility study into the relocation of Farnham Town Football Club to the former landfill site in Weydon Lane and the subsequent development of the Memorial Ground in West Street for housing.

The study will build on the work of Waverley’s Weydon Lane special interest group which explored various options for the landfill site, known locally as Brambleton Park, and recommended the wasteland be transformed for use by the football club and youth football teams, as well as recreation space for the local community.

Waverley estimates this option will cost £2.75m - chiefly for the decontamination of the former rubbish tip as well as installing FA-regulation facilities for the football club - with the sum to be met by the release of Farnham Town FC’s present home at the Memorial Ground for housing.

However, opposition councillors grasped the opportunity to debate the proposal and accused Waverley of seeking to ride roughshod over a restrictive covenant placed on the Memorial Ground after its gift to the town by the Farnham United Breweries.

Independent councillor Andy MacLeod (Farnham Moor Park) said: “I agree that the option of moving Farnham Town FC to Weydon Lane is a good option, and particularly the idea of using it also for junior clubs and informal recreation for people who live nearby.

“But I totally disagree with the proposal to use the existing sport ground for housing.

“The Memorial Hall and sports ground was given to the community after the First World War for recreational and sporting use in memory of the employees of the brewery who lost their lives.”

Mr MacLeod said Waverley is already breaking several covenants in the Memorial Ground’s deed of gift, namely by proposing to use part of the sports ground to extend the Memorial Hall and by allowed the football club exclusive use of the land.

He continued: “If we build these houses, we will be breaking another which states ‘the council shall not build or allow to be built in any part of the said premises any building or erection other than in connection with…sporting purposes’.

“Covenants are not something that should be ignored, and can only be returned if it can be shown that the beneficiaries no longer exist. Well, the beneficiaries of this covenant are the people of Farnham and last time I looked there were quite a few inhabitants of Farnham and a lot of young people who want to use sports grounds.”

Leader of the council’s official Farnham Residents opposition group John Williamson added: “Let’s avoid wasting time and money - this proposal looks fraught with possible legal and financial challenges, such that nothing at all may come of it, or it may go on for years and years as it already has.

“The flooding issues of the current football ground [cited by Farnham Town FC as motivation for their desire to move] could probably be solved by spending that £50,000.”

Mr Williamson also queried why the same covenants restricting use of the Memorial Ground do not apply to the proposed extension to the Memorial Hall to accommodate the Brightwell’s Gostrey Centre.

He added: “When I asked a question related to the covenants at a previous council meeting I was shouted down and told they could be ignored.

“Surely if it held water for the Memorial Hall, the same should surely apply for the development of the Memorial Ground for housing, or was the previous decision on the Memorial Hall incorrect?”

Rowledge councillor, and Waverley’s portfolio holder for finance, Wyatt Ramsdale welcomed the feasibility study however and expressed “puzzlement” at the attitude of some fellow councillors.

He said: “To me, what’s potentially on offer is a much better facility for Farnham Town FC and a walking space for the dogs, and spaces for junior football to be played. That seems to me to be a terrific gain for the town, and I’d really like it to happen.

“Clearly, looking at the options has identified a number of problems - one of them is the covenants, and another will be the attitude of the people in the town whether or not they want a facility in that location compared to the centre of town.

“But that’s why we should be doing this investigation, to check out all of these issues and if possible make it happen. I’d like to see it happen but I don’t want to ride roughshod over the covenants made to protect the memories of chaps that lost their lives in the First World War.

“So what the motion says is that we’re going to do this study, let’s crack on with it. It’s £50,000, not millions at risk.”