Pedestrianisation will close off the A287 and the A325 through the centre of town.

Should addressing the impacts pedestrianisation be decoupled from pedestrianisation? The obvious answer is NO

If the A287 was closed through the town centre the road that will carry the greatest impact is the Upper Hale Road but as that is already at capacity other roads will likely take more of the loads and increasingly become rat runs. People are already using Upper Weybourne Lane and Weybourne road to avoid the junction between Upper Hale Road and Farnborough Road more traffic will only make this worse. Once they are on Upper Weybourne Lane them may decide to keep going through to Badshot Lea so none of North Farnham escapes. When the Upper Hale Road or town are bad today people use the roads around Doras Green. Less routes and more development can only make this worse.

The simple message is

NO PEDESTRIANISATION WITHOUT MITIGATION!

NO MORE DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT MITIGATION!

Take a look at the map below and see what you think.

Initial review and discussion suggests the following:

Good points in the OIP from a North Farnham perspective

• Link from Folly Hill to Hart car park, meaning people coming from the North can part without having to drive through the whole town centre due to the one way system

• Some improvements proposed for pedestrians and cyclists

• Speed reduction measures on some roads

• Additional crossing points on some roads

• Additional bus routes

Gaps and concerns in addition to those in the analysis

• Removing parked cars from the roads like the Upper Hale Road will speed up traffic and that seems at odds with the stated aim to reduce speed. A number of residents who walk on the section of the Upper Hale Road near the mini Tesco's have advised that the parked cars are the only thing that makes them feel safe on the narrow pavements.

• Only 20 mph zone in North Farnham is near Hale School. A large area is proposed for the Town Centre where traffic can't really travel that fast anyway! Every school should have a 20 mph zone and residential roads particularly those with narrow or no pavements should be 20 mph.

• Still gaps in pedestrian, cycling and public transport provision between residential areas and places people want to go limiting active travel.

• Nothing to address the lack of key facilities in North Farnham such as no Doctors surgery, only one pharmacy and one post office for 14,000 people and approximately 6,000 homes.

• Nothing to address the impacts of the huge housing developments around the area.

• Nothing to address the identified key areas of concern, particularly the narrow gap on the A325 near St John's Church between two Grade II listed buildings

The attached file is currently a draft and was developed by the Founder of North Farnham Voice - Catherine Powell with input from other members of the North Farnham Voice Group and you may find it helpful in reviewing the proposals in the Draft OIP