Weyhill Fairground Redevelopment and Weydown Road Community Hub

It has started, in that the Fairground Car Park Scheme is part of the Local Plan. The Local Plan, Part 1 and 2, has been through a process of consultation with input from local stakeholders. Redevelopment of the site is already endorsed in both the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan, and the Waverley Local Plan.

More engagement will follow. For the Weydown Road Community Hub, detailed plans will be shared with the community when they are available.

For the Fairground Car Park mixed development scheme, plans will be shared when a development partner has been appointed, which is likely to be in 2025.

The Council are taking a procurement approach that ensures best value is achieved for the site. This process will take some time to bring forward, before a development partner can be selected.

To deliver the mixed-use development scheme at Fairground Car Park, the existing Haslemere Youth Hub that is in the Wey Centre in the Fairground Car Park needs re-locating.

This enabling project called Weydown Road Community Hub needs to happen first followed by the Fairground Car Park Scheme.

The car park, in its current condition will change. It will no longer be an unmade free car park and will be redeveloped to compliment the new mixed development scheme. It will be developed to today’s specifications with accessible parking, parent and child parking and EV charging points for residents to use. Short-stay public parking will be part of the new development and will serve the wider Wey Hill area, not just this development.

A detailed traffic and car parking assessment will be undertaken to understand current and future usage. This will inform the next stages of the projects.

That is difficult to say right now. There will be a transport assessment to support the planning applications and a Construction Environmental Management Plan will need to be approved considering how impact on the local environment can be minimised through construction. The Fairground and Weydown Road Car Parks cater for people using the Wey Hill area and rail commuters – both will see some disruption during construction phases, and it is expected those wishing to still use a car to access the town and station will utilise other car parks nearby whilst any construction works take place.

It is hoped that longer term this development will help improve the parking situation locally. If long-stay parking is no longer free of charge at Fairground car park, it may discourage some out of area commuters from parking there to use Haslemere station, thereby freeing up better quality parking spaces for local people. Importantly a detailed traffic and car parking assessment will help understand these issues and the planning permissions will only be granted if acceptable. As part of our climate change strategy in the borough we are looking to improve cycling and walking too - working with the Town and County Council to identify routes and opportunities.

The detailed plans are not yet developed but the Council plan to deliver a mixed-use development of commercial and housing on the site, together with improved public parking. The Council plan to tender for proposals that maximise the opportunity the site offers during 2024/25.

Proposals are still to be received, but to make the development viable in investment terms and acceptable to the Local Planning Authority, the council has considered 32 new homes at the site, situated above a new commercial or retail use.

The intention is for all the homes to be Waverley Borough Council homes – owned and managed by Waverley. The details of the scheme will be developed in time, informed by the proposals received during the tender, and will be shared as the project progresses. The aim is to deliver sustainable, affordable homes in line with the council Affordable Homes Delivery Strategy 2022-2025 and like other successful schemes Waverly Borough Council have built in the borough such as Ockford Ridge in Godalming.

A budget of £21,408,334, is proposed, however the tender process will determine the final cost of the development. The estimated overall costs to deliver the scheme are broken down as follows:

Importantly the development must provide value for money and be self-funding. The future housing rent over time must, at a minimum, meet the entire cost of the residential element, and the future rent over time of the commercial space must, at a minimum, meet the entire cost of the non-residential element.

The Council’s tender for proposals for the Fairground site will demonstrate what is deliverable.

It is important to note that the designation within the Local Plan (residential, mixed-use, and parking), together with site constraints, planning considerations and the need for the development to be self-financing, will place some limits on what is viable. New homes and commercial/retail space with parking are the options being considered.

The core objective is to provide space for the Haslemere Youth Hub charity. The Youth Hub currently provides valued activities and services to young people as well as hiring options for the community and this will continue. The development may afford the opportunity to provide a building that caters for additional community uses complimentary to the Youth Hub. This is being explored both in terms of users and additional funding.

The land Fairground car park is on was once registered as ‘Common Land'. Because of this some people think that the land is still designated as that and that the Council will not be able to develop it.

The car park land was de-registered as Common Land via the Planning Inspectorate with a Decision Notice on 31 January 2019. It confirmed the registering of Sun Brow Wood as re-provided Common Land – 4926m2 of unmade car park replaced by 5087m2 of woodland. The woods are now managed by the Waverley Borough Council Parks and Countryside Team and have benefitted from works to open the area up such as new access steps. The Fairground car park land is no longer designated ‘Common Land’ so can be developed by Waverley Borough Council.

Waverley Borough Council will now work up plans with architects and consultants so that they can be shared with the wider community this summer ahead of a planning application being submitted later this year. Trustees and users of the current Youth Hub are helping shape the design in these early stages.

For the Fairground Car Park mixed development scheme, plans will be shared when a development partner has been appointed, which is likely to be in 2025. When the designs for the proposal have been developed, they will be shared with the community.