WELCOME TO THE FARNHAM SOCIETY

Crest Nicholson were seeking to utilise the existing highway network for construction traffic during the 3 year construction, thus avoiding the approximately £1m expenditure in providing the temporary access to the Farnham Bypass. Fortunately, Waverley have rejected their proposal. They will now have to submit the scheme for temporary access for planning approval.

Expect hold-ups on the bypass during road works, trees being felled and a large gap created in the tree screen, up to 17 HGVs an hour turning in and out, leaving mud on the road, HGVs arriving and departing in both directions on both sides of the bypass throughout the day.

WANTED! Your email address

Notice to All Members

The Committee wants to let you know about forthcoming activities and events, and to inform you of planning matters that might affect you. Email is a good way of communicating with you. If you are on line and would like to be kept informed, please send your email address if you have not already given it to the Secretary, and, of course, whenever you change it.

Just send a message with your name and postal address to Maggie Blyth, thefarnhamsociety(at)yahoo.co.uk. (Change 'at' for @) Your address will be regarded as confidential and will not be given to any other person.

FARNHAM’S HERITAGE OPEN DAYS

The Farnham Society, supported by Farnham Town Council, is organising Farnham’s Heritage Open Days, which will be held from Thursday 9^th to Sunday 12^th September 2010.

What's On? See Programme of Venues and Events

How to get involved in Heritage Open Days

The Bishops Meadows

A meeting at St Andrews church on 18th November 2009 was well-attended by 150-200 people interested in the future of Bishops Meadows. The meadows have been put up for sale by the Marshall family, who have owned them for 80 years.

Apparently unused for much of that time, especially in recent years, we heard how they may be the site of a Civil War defence ditch and rampart. In Tudor times a ditch was dug to bring water from the Wey to the houses in West Street and in living memory the meadows have been used to host fairs, circuses and ice skating. Now they are criss-crossed with footpaths and used for walking dogs.

There is concern about the future of the site. It apparently is well-protected by planning policies against building development. But, as somebody pointed out, so was East Street! The estate agents (Savills) are marketing the property as a potential ‘SANG’ — a green area that can be set aside for amenity use by people, to somehow ‘compensate’ for new building in the local area. Apparently there are number of criteria (including car parking) that are not currently met by the meadows. However, we heard how the rules appear to have been ‘twisted’ if not actually broken or bent in order to allow SANG designation to be given to other sites.

There was enthusiasm in the meeting for organising a charitable trust to buy the land through public subscription. (The council was unwilling to buy the land, although it later turned out that they may have funds of around £1m in the bank.)

However, there seemed little thought of what to do with the land once it had been purchased. The town council was unwilling to take this on (until someone pointed out that there could be grants available to pay for it). One suggestion was to leave the land untended. This seems untenable in the long run — ditches, fences, gates will need to be maintained. A solution put forward by Finn Jackson was to buy and run the land as a community farm: using traditional breeds to manage the landscape in a way that encourages wildlife, creates local food, and provides the money to maintain the land as an amenity for local residents.

Solicitor Jo Aylwin has arranged for the Trust to be set up and is organising a campaign to raise the money for the Trust to buy the Meadows so that they might be held in their current natural state for posterity'

It was evident that by the time the money was available the land would be sold. Fortunately our President Sir Ray Tindle stepped in and offered to buy most of it, in order to give the Trust time to raise the funds and buy it. He has provided protection for up to two years, to allow this to happen. A small part of the land was withdrawn from sale by the owner. This is along Red Lion Lane, where we must look out for development proposals.

The Trust now needs to raise £200,000 in donations. If you would like to donate any money, send cheques to The Bishop’s Meadow Trust, c/o Jo Aylwin, Kidd Rapinet, 17 South Street, Farnham, GU9 7QU, ot you can email: bishopsmeadowtrust@mail.com.

If you would like to contribute to the fund, an indication of the possible amount can be made on this form. (here)

MORE FARNHAM TOWN GUIDES

If you are reading this then you are obviously interested in our delightful historic market town.

Do you enjoy talking to people? If so, would you consider joining a small group of Town Guides?

There is no set script so if you have some knowledge of our town’s history or would like to learn more, you can customise the tour to suit yourself.

The tours take place on the first Sunday of each month, starting at 11am, and last approximately 1 ½ - 2 hours, and you would only need to do one or two per year, (or more if you wished).

They are not ‘blue badge’ guides, but just locals who like to give something back to the community. The monies that they raise go only to local charities, apart from a nominal amount to cover necessary administration, so they don't get paid, only in the satisfaction of giving pleasure to tourists and locals alike.

If you are interested in helping our very worthwhile cause or would like more information, please contact Brian Pittuck on 01252 718119.