THE dejected Brightwell Bowling Club has just a week to run before being ousted by Waverley Council from its home for the past 82 years, to make way for the proposed East Street underground car park. In a final gesture of defiance, the club's plight and the other issues surrounding the controversial East Street redevelopment were brought to national prominence on Wednesday, in a full-page article in The Guardian. The report, which referred to allegations of secret deals and councillors not listening to residents, declared: "The fight is on to save a town once praised for its local-led regeneration from becoming the latest victim of clone town Britain." The bowls club, which tomorrow (Saturday) puts all its goods and chattels up for public auction, was described as the first casualty of The Battle of Farnham. Feelings are running particularly high among the bowlers because there is absolutely no certainty if, or when, the redevelopment will take place. On Wednesday, Waverley Council could still give no indication when councillors will be considering the outline planning application submitted almost six months ago. Nor is there any sign of the detailed application, promised by developers Crest Nicholson "in the new year". "There is still a possibility that the whole thing may collapse," Bob Nockels, the bowls club secretary, told The Herald. He still harbours a hope that there may be a winged saviour in the form of the Dartford warbler - the protected species of bird whose presence on heathland north of Farnham has led to a moratorium on new housing development across the town. The club's furniture, kitchen and bar equipment and bowls paraphernalia is on view at the clubhouse from 11 am today (Friday) prior to the auction tomorrow at 11 am. Mr Nockels said his plan was that members would be wearing black armbands and the club flag would be flying at half mast, but unfortunately the flag pole has already been sold - to a local school. The secretary was pictured in The Guardian with campaigners Brian Davey and Joan Cassaignon in front of a well-groomed green and clubhouse. Joan Cassaignon, a Castle Street resident, accused Waverley and the developers of "attempting to drop a mini-Basingstoke right into our midst". Referring to 10,000 formal objections to the plans, she added: "The council wears blindfolds and has wax in its ears to our objections." Brian Davey, a leading light in campaign group East Street Action, outlined some of the struggles objectors have gone through in seeking information from the council and how a complaint to the local government ombudsman that failed "on a technicality". He said the original papers transferring the land at Brightwells to the people of Farnham, when it was bought by Farnham Urban District Council in 1924, were missing, hampering objections. For Waverley, it was left to East Street portfolio holder Chris Mansell to defend the council's record on transparency with the statement that "all our council meetings are available as a webcast" and that plenty of information was available to the public. In any case, he stressed, councillors had to have their own opinions and not just be mouthpieces for the electorate. Mr Mansell has made his views on the application clear and for that reason will be disqualified from voting on the planning application when it come before councillors. In The Guardian, he refuted the criticism that four-storey development would be out of scale with existing buildings. "We are largely a two-to-three storey town with four storeys out of the centre," he said. "People are calling out for the project," he reportedly added. "We have a university college of 2,000 students - they can't believe Farnham hasn't got a cinema." Ironically, his comment was published just days after the vice-president of the students' union at the university college was delivering a far from complimentary verdict on the scheme. Speaking at a meeting of the United Voice of Farnham last Friday, Jon Oliver said he was visited by a representative of the developers to canvass his opinions. Having talked to a lot of students, the concensus was that the scheme - including the 1,200-seat cinema - was simply much too big. "There is a huge potential to lose a lot of what we like about Farnham. "The whole thought of having lots of apartment blocks is going too far, it is only going to a detrimental effect," he commented, pointing out that the new homes would do nothing for students whose rents had already soared to about £90 a week for a room in a house. "They were trying to get opinion on the kind of shops we would like to see. But most of the shops they offered to us were either those that we already have or would not be of any use to students." Mr Oliver indicated that a lot of students decide to stay in Farnham after they graduate because they love it so much and major change was not what they wanted to see. "It's like everything slows down, and everything is at a more comfortable pace - everything is nice. "We don't need more bars, we don't need more restaurants. We already have a lot of those." Better access to sports facilities was on his wish list, whereas the Crest Nicholson scheme was actually taking away the bowls club and shifting the tennis courts. He also spoke up for reopening the Redgrave Theatre. "It could have so many beneficial uses to students and everyone else. It is almost perfect for a lot of the clubs and societies we hold." Mr Oliver added: "A cinema would be good, but it's all about the size of it." Prospective cinema operator Vue has indicated it will allow UCCA's students to show their own films in the facility. "It would be beneficial to show their films, but you don't need eight screens to show one film," the vice-president observed.
