GRAYSHOTT residents are among those being asked to "dig deep" in their pockets to fight proposals to close the existing A3 when the Hindhead tunnel is built.
A meeting of Save The Old A3 (STOAT), last week considered the costs of hiring a top barrister to fight the case at a public inquiry for retaining the road.
Speaking from the floor of a well-attended meeting, chairman of the protest group Dick Smith and vice-chairman Barry Penny said the cost of hiring what the committee consider as "one of the finest barristers around" would be around £75,000 or £2,000 a day.
The meeting was told that STOAT had entered into discussion with eminent barrister Michael McParland.
"Michael is a very experienced barrister and has had a lot of experience in handling public inquiries. His opinion is that we have a very good case."
Already nearly half the cost is believed to have been pledged to support the cause. The audience also heard that using a more junior barrister could halve the cost.
"Even £35,000 is a substantial sum to raise but we are fortunate that we have a considerable sum pledged by some businesses already. However, there will be a need for all those who want to ensure our case is presented as well as possible to dig deep," the meeting heard.
"The most important thing at the moment is to try to force a public inquiry. Many of us are fearful of the consequences of the probable increase and changes in traffic flows that will result in Grayshott and surrounding areas, should the current scheme go ahead," said a STOAT spokesman.
He warned: "Even with objections, the Secretary of State could still overrule them and push ahead without an inquiry." The first thing required, said the spokesman, was "weight of numbers".
But "even with hundreds of objections, unless they can point to specific breaches in government planning policy guidelines or other government published policies, or safety concerns backed up by safety experts, numbers could count for nothing".
People who turned out for the meeting, including representatives from neighbouring areas among them Beacon Hill and Hindhead, were asked to fill in pledge notes. The audience was assured that the pledge, or a percentage of it, would only be called in "as and when required to fund legal representation.
"Should there be a change of mind by the Highways Agency and National Trust in relation to the proposed closure, there would be no need to call in the pledges," declared the spokesman.
"It must be borne in mind that 100 years ago, a much smaller local population raised more than £3,000 in order to preserve the Hindhead Commons, along with our rights of way. Goodness knows what that equates to in money terms today,"he said.
Members of STOAT outlined the issues facing local people over the tunnel scheme. Although fully supportive of the tunnel, STOAT claims that there are inaccuracies in information within the draft orders, and has severe reservations over the siting of the major Hazel Grove junction, which it considers should should be further south of the proposed tunnel entrance.
"It is vital to win the case for the complete retention of the old A3," says STOAT.
Other claims on which it will be basing its objections to the closure include the removal of rights given to local people after they bought the Hindhead Commons, before it was handed over to The National Trust in 1906, loss of legal access, pollution, rat-running, the threat to local businesses and the problems for schools in the area.
"We contend that there is no necessity for all this misery. A simple stroke of a pen would alter the whole situation with no detriment to the scheme," the meeting heard.