WAVERLEY Council can expect to receive a deluge of objections to the East Street planning applications from Saturday shoppers, according to two pressure groups who have taken their campaign to the streets. East Street Action, which set up stall in The Borough on Saturday, said hundreds of people registered their objections to Crest Nicholson's plans on pro forma letters of objection. And Farnham Theatre Association, nearby in West Street, reported "a wonderful response" despite the poor weather.. "We received just under 500 signed letters in five hours - more than one per minute," said FTA chairman Anne Cooper. "The objections are being made on the grounds that the theatre is to be demolished without replacement in the scheme and that the planning applications are in conflict with Local Plan policies concerning town centres, the protection of leisure facilities, community facilities and listed buildings. "We expect to be out again this Saturday with the same message: 'Farnham needs a theatre!'" The theatre campaign has been much boosted by the support it received from various big names in the arts world in a letter to Sir Tom Hunter, of the consortium that owns Crest Nicholson. Among those who signed the letter calling for the Redgrave to be saved was Sir Richard Attenborough (not David Attenborough as stated in a heading in The Herald last week.) Meanwhile, it has emerged that the exhibition of the plan proposals promised by the developer will not now take place until early April, although March 28 has been given as the closing date for the public to make representations. However, Waverley Council leader Richard Gates this week stressed that March 28 isn't a deadline, but the earliest date that the council would have been allowed to determine the applications. "We will be absolutely delighted to have all observations right up to the day of determination," he said. The council has earmarked May 28 as the hoped- for decision date, but planning officers have warned that people shouldn't leave it too late to submit their views, as officers will start to write their report for the joint planning committee some weeks in advance of that date. Crest Nicholson's exhibition is expected to be held in the youth centre next to Farnham Sports Centre and to last at least six weeks.
