East Street Farnham Statement of Community Involvement Update Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd and Sainsbury s Supermarket Limited
Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 2. PUBLIC CONSULTATION 3 3. FEEDBACK & RESPONSES 5 4. SUMMARY OF RESPONSES 6 5. APPENDIX 7
1 Executive Summary This consultation report outlines the continuing consultation undertaken by Crest Nicholson Regeneration following its new application for its proposals for East Street, Farnham, and covers the period from 26 February 2008 through to 3. The scheme proposals were presented to the public via a public exhibition running from 3 April 2008 to 3. In addition, a six-page explanatory leaflet was distributed to 16,275 households in the Farnham area. Altogether 266 local residents submitted comments. Of these, over 65% were supportive of the new scheme. A further 10% were generally supportive of the plans but with concerns. Copies of all the feedback received by the developer and an analysis of the points raised are contained in this report.
2 Public Consultation In order to reach a broad section of the community, the general public were informed about the proposals for the East Street development in a number of different ways via local media, a 25-day public exhibition, a flyer handed to the general public in the town centre and a mail drop to local residents. People were invited to submit comments on the scheme at the exhibition and in the leaflet. Media publicity The general public were notified of the exhibition through the Farnham Herald newspaper and the Surrey-based radio station, Eagle Radio 96.4FM. A press release (see Appendix A) announcing the details of the exhibition was issued to the newspaper and radio station on 31 March 2008, four days before the exhibition opened. The Farnham Herald ran details of the exhibition on Friday 4 April and Eagle Radio 96.4FM conducted interviews on the opening day of the exhibition with members of the development team and these ran throughout the month. Transcripts of the interview conducted by Eagle Radio 96.4FM are in Appendix B. Farnham Locality Office Crest Nicholson Regeneration produced 250 information packs for distribution to the public. The full planning application, including the Environmental Impact Assessment was also made available on a DVD. The pack included A3 site location and scheme plans as well as other scheme information. See Appendix C for the information pack. A display panel was placed in the locality office informing people about the exhibition. The panel included a map of how to get to the exhibition venue as wells as the dates & opening times. See Appendix D for a copy of this exhibition panel. Public Exhibition The public exhibition held in the Farnham Youth Centre (40 Degreez Club) off Dogflud Way was open from Thursday 3 April to Saturday 3. Its opening times were: 1.00pm-6.30pm Monday to Thursdays; 1.00pm-5.30pm on Fridays; and every other Saturday (5 April, 19 April, 3 May) 9.30am- 1.30pm. The exhibition presented the redevelopment proposals for East Street on a series of display boards covering the key aspects of the proposals, including housing, transport, sustainability and architectural issues. A live green wall, an example of a green roof and sample building materials were also featured in the exhibition and allowed attendees to get a feel for the variation in materials that are to be incorporated into the scheme. In addition, the exhibition provided an opportunity for members of the public to meet with the development team, find out more about the plans first hand, and seek clarification on any issues or questions they may have. Over the 25 days, 862 people visited the exhibition an average of around 35 people daily.
Presentations & visits During the course of the exhibition, a series of visits were held in the exhibition centre as well as off site at the Farnham Arts College. On 17 April, a special session was held for members of the Gostrey Centre. This included a presentation from the development team as well as a question and answer session. On 24 April and 1 May members from development team had a stand in the Farnham Arts College with panels of the masterplan on display and leaflets with information on the scheme were distributed to students. Flyers 1,000 promotional flyers were distributed throughout the town centre. These contained key points about the development and information about the public exhibition. A copy of this flyer can be found in Appendix E. Household door-to-door leaflet A 6-page leaflet was distributed to 16,275 homes within the GU8 and GU9 post-code area. This leaflet outlined the key aspects of the development plans as well as providing an invitation to the exhibition. The leaflet provided accurate information about the plans and followed a similar story to the exhibition. Please see Appendix F for the leaflet. Website The East Street regeneration website was updated during the public consultation period. The newly updated site includes the masterplan as well as focusing on the main issues within the East Street plan car parking, architecture and housing. Please see Appendix G for a screen grab of the East Street website or alternatively visit www.eaststreetregeneration.info
3 Feedback & Comments Altogether 862 people visited the exhibition. A comment book was left in the centre and members of the public were encouraged to put any feedback they had in writing, either by signing the comment book or by sending their feedback direct to Waverley Borough Council s planning department. See Appendix H for comment card. The majority of attendees welcomed the opportunity to talk through the proposals at length with members of the Crest Nicholson Regeneration development team. 266 people 31% of the 862 visitors to the exhibition recorded their comments in the visitors book. Of these: 174 (65.4%) were in favour of the East Street development A further 28 (10.5%) were generally supportive and feel the masterplan is an improvement 64 (24.1%) were against the proposed scheme Please see Appendix I for the comments recorded at the exhibition (59 sheets).
4 Summary of Responses Comments, questions and concerns were raised on a number of issues regarding the development plans. A summary of the most common issues associated with the development is as follows: Support: 65.4% of comments were supportive of the development with many wanting to see the development built as soon as possible. A further 10.5% of respondents were generally supportive and felt the current plans were an improvement on previous masterplans but still had one or two reservations. Opposition: Just under 25% of comments opposed various elements of the proposed scheme. The majority of this figure was disapproval of the new masterplan with many citing the perceived issues below as the main reasons for opposing it. Redgrave Theatre: A single issue associated with the proposed development. Less than 5% expressed their dissatisfaction that the disused theatre was to be demolished as part of the development. Architecture: Under 3% of respondents felt that the new scheme was out of keeping with the architectural style of Farnham. Traffic: Traffic was a concern for people who visited the exhibition. Whilst traffic issues were addressed by members of the development team, many of the comments were about the existing problems in the town. Just under 8% of respondents had the perception that the development would have a negative impact on traffic and cause further congestion problems. For those particularly concerned about traffic, a special session was arranged on Thursday 17 April 2008 to discuss the issues with Crest Nicholson s transport consultant. Farnham s Identity: The issue of a clone town and the perception the development would have an adverse impact on the existing town centre was a concern for some but was generally allayed following talks with the development team. Under 4% still commented that East Street would detract from West Street and Castle Street and would see the flow of commercial business moved towards the new development. Density: An important issue for some of the respondents was that of density, i.e. the 4- storey buildings and the size of the cinema. Of those that commented, less than 8% thought the development was too big for Farnham, just under 5% thought that there were too many 4-storey buildings in the scheme and nearly 7% felt the proposed cinema is too large. Car Parking: Many people were initially concerned about the number of public car parking spaces that would be available in the scheme. Less than 5% felt that the development would result in a reduced number of car parking spaces. (Two aerial photos/maps were used by the development team to indicate the existing number of spaces in Farnham and to show how many spaces would be available once the Riverside car park is built; there being a net gain of 161 spaces.) Other comments received included landscaping concerns, use of materials in the scheme and the Woolmead not being incorporated into the development.
Appendix A: Press release
PRESS RELEASE 31.03.08 EAST STREET REGENERATION PUBLIC EXHIBITION TO START THURSDAY 3 RD APRIL New images of the East Street Regeneration development will be unveiled at a public exhibition this week. Held at the 40 Degreez Youth Centre off Dogflud Way, the exhibition will provide the local community the opportunity to learn about the plans for the area and speak with members from the development team. The exhibition opens on Thursday 3 rd April at 1pm and will feature new images of the development, information and examples of the innovative green wall and various materials that will be used in the construction process. It will focus not only on the new shops, housing and public space, but will inform people of the various sustainable features and assets that will be incorporated in the scheme. Greg Vincent, Development Director at Crest Nicholson, said of the upcoming exhibition: With so much interest in the development I am sure there will be plenty of people who will take the chance to come and see us and discuss our plans for East Street. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misinformation in the public so we hope as many people in Farnham, and the surrounding area, take this opportunity to come along and hear for themselves what the plans are for the East Street area. The development is an exciting opportunity for Farnham. The East Street Regeneration will provide the people of Farnham a greater variety of shopping and leisure options while integrating with the history and heritage of the character of Farnham The exhibition will be open to the public Monday to Thursday until 3 rd May from 1.00pm-6.30pm, Friday s from 1.00pm-5.30pm and every other Saturday (5 th April, 19 th April & 3 rd May) from 9.30am-1.30pm. ENDS For more information please contact: Keelan Morris Tel: 0207 087 3260
Appendix B: Radio Transcript East Street 1 4/4 cm The plans for the regeneration of Farnham have been unveiled at an exhibition open to the public. The multi-million pound East Street scheme includes, shops, a cinema and afforable housing. Crest Nicholson Project Director is Greg Vincent. [CLIP] Greg Vincent interview ******************** East Street 2 4/4 cm The public exhibition for the regeneration of East Street is open and hands on [CLIP] Greg Vincent interview That's Crest Nicholson Project Director Greg Vincent. Held at the 40 Degreez Youth Centre it aims to provide locals with the chance to take a further look at what's proposed for the site that s been labelled an eyesore. [CLIP] member of the public The exhibition is open to the public until May 3rd. ************** East Street 3 4/4 cm It all began in 1997 and now it's hoped plans for Farnham's East Street redevelopment scheme will be finalised this year. A public exhibition on the plans is being held this month at the 40 Degreez Youth Centre, providing the local community with an insight into whats proposed. Crest Nicholson Project Director Greg Vincent is encouraging locals to pop down to take a look [CLIP] Greg Vincent interview
Appendix C: Information pack
Location Plan EAST STREET DEVELOPMENT F A R N H A M
The Masterplan EAST STREET DEVELOPMENT F A R N H A M
Our improved development proposals for the East Street site in Farnham as detailed in our new planning application (February 2008) include: 239 residential apartments (reduced from 294 in our original proposal) 30% of the apartments 72 in total to be affordable F a c t S h e e t EAST STREET DEVELOPMENT F A R N H A M 302 car parking spaces in a new Riverside car park (200 spaces more than the existing car park) Sainsbury s car park for 217 cars will also be retained a new town square as the focal point for the scheme for people to enjoy at their leisure a newly landscaped Brightwell Park featuring an attractive pond and winding paths leading from the town square to the River Wey high-quality landscaping throughout the development with extensive planting of trees the restoration of Brightwell House to bring it back into use with two new restaurants 24 new shops, restaurants and cafés including two large stores a new Community Centre to replace the existing Gostrey Centre a 900-seat cinema, offering a strong leisure attraction for the whole community in the heart of the town the design of the buildings in keeping with the existing architectural style of Farnham the development to be constructed in a single phase over a period of two years with completion anticipated in 2010