Despite the imminence of the election, it was extremely encouraging to see people from all parties working together to make positive progress.
Particularly exciting was the strong support of the town council for a radical reshaping of the town centre to make it more pedestrian and family friendly – as well of course as less polluted.
We also said goodbye to two Surrey county councillors from different parties, Stephen Spence and Wyatt Ramsdale, who are stepping down in May. Both have made a superb contribution to getting us to where we are, and we will miss them greatly.
Where are we at? There has now been exhaustive consultation and while there was strong support for change, there were also concerns in north Farnham that any changes should not simply divert traffic from the centre of the town to the north.
We were reassured by the chief project engineer Chris Tunstall that this would not happen.
Surely the best way to make sure it does not is proper traffic modelling that shows what we expect the impact of any changes to be. I asked whether this was planned and was told it would happen before the next project board meeting in the summer when the finalised proposals are due to be presented.
We have to be realistic that any remodelling of the town centre will lead to short-term disruption. Evidence from other pedestrianisation schemes is that it takes time for them to settle down and for traffic habits to change.
What will be key, therefore, is not the short term but the medium-term impact – and that means plans that provide alternative, but better, routes for traffic that currently travels through The Borough and Downing Street.
Some of this may happen by making it easier to exit the Waggon Yard car park without having to circulate through the centre of the town and by allowing other traffic to turn right at the bottom of Castle Street – but none of us can really know the answers to these issues until the traffic modellers have had a chance to do their job. This we await with bated breath.
But Surrey County Council is not waiting for yet another study before trying to improve things: Friday saw £2million allocated for ‘quick wins’ including the redesignation of some of the A roads currently going through the town centre, HGV and speed restrictions and possibly some cycle lanes. These plans alone will make a significant difference.
Overall, it feels like there is huge momentum gathering – and this time the plans seem to have the support of the majority of people in Farnham, alongside key groups such as The Farnham Society.
But there is a long way to go and maintaining a consensus over the next few months will be critical if we are to secure the funding necessary. Surrey has already committed £135million to the project which now encompasses a Wrecclesham Relief Road and Hickleys Corner – so this really is a once in a generation opportunity to transform Farnham into the vibrant, beautiful and pollution-free market town we all want.
Whatever the changes brought about by May’s election we must not let this moment slip.