REVISED plans for Haslemere's £2 million flagship library and youth centre have finally been publicly unveiled.

Haslemere residents now have the opportunity to air their views on the long-awaited building to replace the town's ageing facilities.

A planning application has been submitted to Waverley Borough Council by Surrey County Council seeking permission to built the new look three-storey building in Wey Hill.

The building will replace the existing toilet block at the top of the Waverley-owned Wey Hill car park and house a range of new facilities for the town.

Although the proposed buildings will have three floors, the steep slope of the land means that from the street level it will look as though the building will only be two-storeys high.

The basement level will be accessed from the car park and be home to disabled parking bays, garage parking for a youth centre minibus, public toilets, as well as storage areas.

The second level, which will be at street level, will be home to the library, young person's resource centre and a local office for Waverley Borough Council.

The third floor will be home to staff offices and a cafeteria area.

The planning application explains that the building has been designed to look much smaller than it actually is.

"The massing of the library, stair tower, Waverley local office and young person's learning centre, have been broken up in form to reduce the effect of the development and give the impression and scale of smaller buildings to fit within the street scape of Wey Hill," it said.

"Two small entry pavilions have been formed either side of the main entrance to the library to reduce the mass of the library pavilion further and create an interesting street scape, while reflecting the public nature of the building without becoming overbearing and out of character with its surroundings."

The latest plans have been put together following consultation with the key members of the community.

Last year, proposals for a modern-looking building were presented to local councillors and representatives of local groups – including the Haslemere Society.

It was the first time the county council announced its intention to build the library at the top of the car park, instead of on the site of the defunct Wey Centre, which was its original proposal.

Although the new location of the proposed library was universally welcomed by the town, the design of the building was not as well received.

The Haslemere Society expressed concern that its modern design and materials would look out of place and asked the county council to consider using building materials which were more in keeping with the surrounding area.

As a result, the latest plans propose to use traditional brick and tile materials. A steeply pitched roof has also been proposed to make the building look more traditional.

"It had been a modern design but now it is to be made of brick and tile so that it fits in with the local area," a spokesman for the county council explained.

The planning application also confirms that Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council, which owns the site of the Wey Centre, have been negotiating a land swap deal.

If planning permission is granted, Waverley will hand over the land at the top of the car park to Surrey in exchange for the Wey Centre, which would then be demolished and turned into car parking.

An exhibition of the library and youth centre plans is to take place at Haslemere Library from October 24.

Those wishing to comment on the planning application should send their views to Waverley Borough Council quoting application number WA/2005/1980 by October 28.