PUBLIC spending on the redevelopment of the Farnham Memorial Hall in West Street has risen to £2,254,000 after council chiefs signed off another £724,000 for the scheme this week “to provide a broader range of community services”.

Waverley Borough Council’s decision-making executive committee agreed the additional funding on Tuesday for internal works to the lower ground floor of the hall to accommodate Waverley Training Services (WTS), the council’s professional apprenticeship arm which it proposes relocating from the Pump House in Kimber’s Lane.

This, the council says, will bolster the prospects of both the Memorial Hall and its future tenants, WTS and the Brightwells Gostrey Centre, with the cost of overhauling the hall’s lower ground floor to be bridged by the sale of the Pump House which the council says is no longer fit for purpose.

It does, however, raise the running cost of the Memorial Hall project to more than £3 million - double the £1.5m quoted when it was first put before councillors in January 2015 - including:

• £800,000 from developer Crest Nicholson which originally promised the Gostrey Centre a new home in the Brightwells regeneration scheme,

• £230,000 in “other contributions” including funding by the North East Hampshire and Farnham NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and Surrey County Council,

• and now £2.24 million from Waverley’s own public purse.

Councillors also agreed on a preferred contractor for the redevelopment of the Memorial Hall on Tuesday following a tendering process, although the chosen contractor’s identity cannot be revealed until after the executive’s recommendations are agreed by the full council this Tuesday (July 19).

Subject to the full council’s approval, it raises the prospect of the redevelopment of the hall commencing as early as August 2 ahead of a completion date in summer 2017, with the Gostrey Centre and WTS to relocate to the hall soon after.

Addressing members of the executive on Tuesday, Waverley leader Julia Potts said: “One of the objectives of the tendering process was to identify future income generating areas for the Memorial Hall.

“The lower ground floor has been identified as an ideal new home for WTS and an additional £724,000 therefore needs to be allocated to undertake the additional internal works to what is currently unoccupied storage space.

“The council has been looking for some time for a far more suitable site for WTS. Its current location is a very old building in need itself of a great deal of investment, and with growing demand for apprentices, it is important that we offer Waverley Training Services facilities that are fit for purpose.”

WTS offers work-based apprenticeships and study programme courses to help people get back into work and education. It currently employs 10 staff, who are largely field based, and supports more than 100 work-based apprentices.

Its future co-tenants at the Memorial Hall, the Brightwells Gostrey Centre, provide day centre services for much older generations but councillors have expressed excitement at the prospect of younger and older people coming together and sharing facilities on the site.

Carole King, Waverley’s portfolio holder for housing, said: “What really excites me is the opportunity for intergenerational co-mingling on one site.

“I think we’ve been too quick in the past to isolate our young people in one place and our older generation in another, and I think it’s absolutely super to think of them all in the same location. I’m sure they’ll all enjoy each other’s company.”

Responding to concerns that the loss of the Pump House could undermine the future of WTS, Waverley’s leader Miss Potts added the council remains committed to the delivery of professional training services.

She said: “With the growing demand for apprentices it is important to safeguard the future of WTS by providing improved facilities so the service can continue to compete with other providers and to allow the business to flourish.

“The proposed relocation to the Memorial Hall provides adequate floor space for the continued delivery of the service and will not result in the loss of any useable floor space, nor will there be a reduction in the hall’s capacity to accommodate community groups and activities.”

The executive’s excision has, however, led Waverley’s detractors to again lament the loss of yet another of Farnham’s public assets in connection with the Memorial Hall and related Brightwells developments.

Celia Sandars, of campaign group East Street Action, said: “Waverley is failing again to defend the town and its council-tax payers with its plans to sell off yet another asset. The council has obviously failed to find sufficient funds for the Memorial Hall project and is demonstrating clear financial incompetence.

“How on earth can we trust them to spend our money in the town’s best interests? They act as though Farnham’s assets are all theirs to dispose of in whatever way they wish, either by giving concessions to Crest Nicholson, or by saving themselves from incompetence. Surely that can’t be right?”