THE leader of Waverley Council has said that progress has been made in negotiations with Crest Nicholson Sainsbury's over a smaller scheme for East Street. A statement by Richard Gates, who is also the East Street portfolio holder, was read out at a meeting of Waverley's executive on Tuesday. Mr Gates said that the negotiations, involving himself and new chief executive Mary Orton, had been "robust and businesslike" and are aimed at modifying the scheme for which planning approval is currently being sought, to take into account the comments made by Farnham residents over the past months. "It is obviously not possible to make public at this intermediate stage the detail of the negotiations, but it can be said that progress has been made, against the background of Waverley's demands for a smaller scheme," he said. "A reduction in the number of dwellings, the bulk and massing of the residential accommodation, and design more appropriate to Farnham are Waverley's 'red lines'. "While CNS remain of the opinion that the current scheme meets all contractual, design and planning policy requirements, nevertheless negotiations have the objective of creating an outline of financially viable modifications by the end of July. "If Waverley believes that these meet their tests and are the best that can be achieved within the financial constraints, then public consultation will take place which could result subsequently in the appropriate modifications to contractual conditions and a new planning application." Mr Gates added that any modified scheme has to be financially viable to Waverley and should not create costs for Waverley's council tax payers, a requirement recognised by both CNS and the Waverley negotiators.
