WEY Hill traders, and the organisation which supports their interests in the town, are calling for Surrey County Council to go back to the drawing board on a £150,000 improvement scheme.

Around £30,000 of the total allocation of money is planned to be spent on smartening up Wey Hill with trees and bollards, plus a traffic calming scheme which includes pinch points at both ends of the road.

The remaining £120,000 is to be spent on completely re-surfacing the road and pavements and is scheduled to be carried out between October and November of this year.

Other improvements to Wey Hill would follow and would be completed within this financial year.

The call to think again about the plan to upgrade the area comes as Surrey County Council's Waverley local committee was due to meet today (Friday) to agree to a recommendation that the current proposals are approved.

The committee is being asked to recommend the scheme following a public exhibition and consultation period earlier this year.

President of Haslemere Chamber of Trade Melanie Odell said: "Of course we want Wey Hill improved and it is an opportunity not to be missed."

But she declared: "We want it done properly."

She warned the the scheme as it stands "could bring more problems that it would solve and the Chamber of Trade opposed it.

"We do have concerns about the Wey Hill improvements and about the disruption it will cause versus the benefits in the future it will produce," said Mrs Odell.

"We had imagined there would be far more improvements incorporated into the scheme such as cut-in bays into the pavement area for delivery lorries," she said.

She said the chamber was against the jut-out points which were proposed for the top of Wey Hill at the junction of St Christopher's Green and at the bottom of the hill adjacent to the library and St Christopher's Road to slow down the traffic.

"We have objected to them, at the top of the hill. It will restrict through traffic down Wey Hill, and outside the library is dangerous at the best of times and could encourage more people to try to cross at that point," she said.

"We don't think it is safe."

She claimed that the street should instead be widened where possible to allow for the safe passage of emergency vehicles.

She said if jut-out points were installed it would "stop vehicles being able to mount the pavements to let the emergency vehicles through".

She added: "Before any work goes ahead, the Fairground car park should be utilised for more shoppers and commuter car parking disallowed or reduced, and the traffic lights at Tesco should be sorted out as a matter of priority."

Other traders agreed with Mrs Odell. Chris Stemp from Ralph Coombes the hardwear shop said he was also not in favour of the proposal.

"We had a meeting of traders and it was suggested that they go back to the drawing board with more ideas for the alteration of the road.

"I would like to see an improvement for the future. This isn't going to take us forward and it should be a more workable scheme," he felt.

Amanda Baker from Baker & Sons Flooring said: "Ultimately anything is better than what we have now." However, she added that the scheme needed to be thought through with consideration given to delivery bay unloading and access problems for emergency vehicles.

In a report to the committee this (Friday) afternoon, members will hear that the scheme, which has the support of SCC and Haslemere Town Council, could reduce the present high incidence of pedestrian accidents and control and make parking safer.

Double yellow lines around the junctions at which the pinch-points are planned were said to be "largely ignored".

Another meeting with the Chamber of Trade to try to resolve its problems is expected to take place.

The committee is being asked to consider "the majority view" and agree to the improvement scheme starting after the road and pavement re-surfacing work.