WAVERLEY council chiefs have signed off £355,000 for improvements to the sports facilities at Woolmer Hill, Haslemere.

The funding, being a share of Community Infrastructure Levy developers’ contributions, will go towards a £200,000 extension to the Woolmer Hill Sports Pavilion and £155,000 for a new 3G sports pitch.

It was agreed at a special meeting of Waverley Borough Council’s executive committee on Tuesday night.

And comes after Tory candidate for Haslemere’s county council seat, Ged Hall, expressed fears the Woolmer Hill improvements had been kicked into the long grass – a claim disputed by Haslemere’s mayor, and Lib Dem councillor, John Robini.

Responding to this week’s funding announcement, Mr Hall said: "I was very pleased to hear there has been a significant update on the Woolmer Hill sports pavilion project.

"Waverley’s executive met in a ’special’ meeting on Tuesday and approved the expenditure for the project after having previously communicated on February 24 that the project had been ’dropped’.

"This change of tack was made possible because of the huge support from residents who caused the council to reconsider after they initially dropped it from their budget on February 23.

"I would like to thank everybody who signed the petition or who wrote in to support the re-instatement of the project.

"I would also, in the spirit of teamwork, like to thank all those Waverley councillors from all political groups who helped make the case for Haslemere behind the scenes and our MP Jeremy Hunt, who gave his full support to this community project.

"I will now, once again, be pushing the council to publish a start date for when the project will actually begin, just on the off-chance they decide to backtrack again.

"However, that not withstanding, this is a huge win for the town. Thank you to all who helped."

Waverley’s Lib Dems group has disputed that the Woolmer Hill upgrade was ever ’dropped’ however, instead stating they were merely delayed by the pandemic.

Addressing Mr Hall’s concerns in last week’s Herald, Cllr Robini said: “Can I state categorically that Waverley are committed to this refurbishment and I am disappointed people have been misled by Tory ‘fake news’.

“It is true the coronavirus epidemic has had a tremendous impact on the finances at Waverley, leaving them extremely short of funds. However, the officers have been diligent in finding alternative sources, and last week announced they have secured funding for this project from CIL and other sources.

“This refurbishment is part of a larger picture planned to give the cadets a better home, and by freeing up the old buildings allowing Waverley to build much-needed social homes.”