Sir, – In The Farnham Herald of March 9 you report that "the Lib Dems pledged in their election manifesto to scale down the East Street scheme – ruling out four-storey buildings – and will secure road, retail and environmental impact studies before a final scheme is agreed". In response, Capt Burden is quoted as saying: "If they do everything they said they were going to do in their manifesto, they (the developers) will not go along with it. The whole thing is in considerable danger."

Perhaps it is little ungentlemanly to remind Capt. Burden of his letters to The Herald of April 4 and March 21 in which he made the following promises: "We can now negotiate with the developer, Crest Nicholson, to press ahead with those community facilities that residents have asked for while reining in some of the features such as over-height buildings and overdeveloped residential areas that have attracted adverse comments"; and to "make sure that the town's justifiable concerns on overdevelopment are recognised and put right. Traffic, density, parking, height, architecture – all these issues and more will now get the attention they deserve."

However, this late recognition of the defects in the existing proposal was not sufficient to stop the rushed through signing of a provisional development contract in open disregard of several democratic representations including one from Farnham Town Council and one from the Waverley Borough Council overview and scrutiny committee.

It appears that Capt Burden is telling us that although both political parties are now paying proper regard to the concerns of the residents of Farnham and appear to be in broad agreement on the alterations necessary to the current proposal for the East Street redevelopment, both will be powerless to implement change as the developers simply "will not go along with it."

In spite of Capt Burden's fears, the situation may not be quite so bleak. Mr Shapland of Sainsbury's Property Company is reported as saying: "With the development agreement in place, we are keen to work with the new council to continue to progress a scheme that is right for Farnham."

The only people who can determine what is right for Farnham are the residents of Farnham and most of the matters of concern that the population has raised have been recognised as valid by both parties.

Since there is so much common ground between Farnham councillors now, can we please ignore party differences, place Farnham first and look forward to cross-party co-operation when revised specifications and requirements for the East Street redevelopment are issued to the developer. If Mr Shapland is sincere, Sainsbury's Property Company will "go along with it".

B G Davey, Abbotts Wood, Frith End, Bordon