Sir, – We read in last week's Herald that the Gostrey Centre organisers have resigned themselves to the long delay they face in getting the new community centre to serve the needs of their frail and elderly clients, promised from the East Street development.
How sad that they cannot have what they really deserve now. Everyone knows what a wonderful service has been provided and will wish the organisers and supporters well in their efforts to continue and improve this service.
How sad that the service has to continue, surrounded by the dereliction and neglect of a once beautiful area of Farnham, well used and valued by the townsfolk. No more theatre, no more Brightwells Bowls Club, perfectly good housing, all left to rot.
What a let down by Waverley! If the council had listened to residents, we might have had the smaller scheme the town needed and facilities for young and old alike that could have been up and running by now. Instead they fell for the temptations offered by a developer holding out bags of money that soon disappeared as the deal unravelled. More promises gone by the board and Waverley began to realise that they'd been sold a fantasy.
It's not too late for Waverley to repair the damage they've done to our town. We've heard that Adam Taylor-Smith, the East Street portfolio holder, is eager to talk about remedies for the dereliction and we should now be pressing him to talk about a wholesale renegotiation of the plans. There's plenty of time to reconsider, with a start date deferred for probably three years and a developer that may anyway collapse under the weight of its debt.
There's time for Waverley to put right past mistakes. Local people have been horrified by Waverley's wildly irresponsible attitude in its care for Farnham. Enough is enough. Please Mr Taylor-Smith don't let us down again.
Celia Sandars, Old Church Lane, Vicarage Hill, Farnham