TORY councillors have blocked a review of Surrey County Council’s funding for an unspecified ‘Town Centre Regeneration’ scheme - which The Herald understands to relate to the redevelopment of the East Street area in Farnham.

Cabinet members reaffirmed their approval for the “acquisition of a long leasehold interest” in the unspecified scheme in a behind closed doors meeting on October 31 and agreed to allow officers to “agree appropriate contractual and financial arrangements”.

This was put on hold after leader of the council’s Residents Association and Independent group, Nick Harrison, ‘called-in’ the cabinet’s decision to be discussed by Surrey’s overview and budget scrutiny committee.

However, after discussing the item, again behind closed doors, the scrutiny committee voted against referring the decision back to the cabinet for “reconsideration” - with four Conservative members out-voting their three opposition colleagues.

It reinstates the cabinet’s original decision, and allows Surrey’s chief property officer to progress the required legal agreements for the lease “following the completion of all necessary due diligence” and “subject to a minimum rental value threshold being exceeded”.

Surrey County Council confirmed in August that the scale of its proposed investment in the commercial element of Waverley Borough Council’s Brightwells scheme, speculated to be in excess of £50 million, is dependent on the number of retail units let on completion of the development.

But referring to the county council’s funding for an unspecified scheme at the October 31 cabinet meeting, Surrey’s leader David Hodge threatened the acquisition of a long-term lease “would not go ahead...unless the right financial information arrangements were forthcoming”.

This on-going negotiation over the terms of Surrey’s funding possibly explains the ongoing delay to construction of Waverley’s scheme, which borough council leader Julia Potts suggested earlier this could begin in the summer.