Farnborough Town Centre Prospectus

I've never written to the letters page of a newspaper before, and of course they may not print it, but this is what I've sent to the Farnborough News and Mail:

Like many other Farnborough residents, I have been examining RBC’s Prospectus, currently out for public consultation, that updates the Farnborough Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document of 2007, and I am deeply disappointed. It lacks vision and it lacks boldness, and will do little to reverse the town’s inexorable decline because Farnborough will remain a cultural desert, with nothing of real quality as a basis for the evening economy identified in the Core Strategy as being fundamental to the revival of the town centre.  This simply isn’t good enough. We deserve better.

There are aspects of the Prospectus that I welcome: the long-overdue cinema and its anticipated cluster of restaurants, the improvements to the street scene by designing outward-facing shops and businesses, the new entrances to the shopping areas. And I really like the idea of a town square as a focus for activities such as parades, markets and entertainment. But the bottom of Queensmead is entirely the wrong place for it, and misses a unique opportunity to do something truly remarkable to improve the quality of residents’ lives, to raise civic pride and, crucially, to attract inward investment.

The right place to create a truly impressive focal point for the town is the current site of the Elles Hall Community Centre, no longer fit for purpose, the library, ear-marked for relocation, and the police station, scheduled to close. The SPD proposes moving the council offices to this site, acknowledging its prime location in the geographical centre of Farnborough, with excellent connectivity, by all modes of transport, to all areas of the town. The new prospectus is very vague in its proposals for this site, but moving the council offices there would be a dreadful waste of opportunity. I believe we need to set our sights much higher and have the courage to dream.  

I have a dream; it is to see a town square in that location, bounded by buildings devoted to the arts. I dream of a small auditorium, where I can go to see the Farnborough Symphony Orchestra perform, or a local amateur operatic production. I dream of an exhibition space, where I can see the work of local artists. And I dream of indoor/outdoor café culture, of the kind that flourishes in European towns and cities.

I know that funds are short, but that shouldn’t limit our aspirations.  RBC is extremely good at forming partnerships and making things happen, and I have confidence that, with courageous leadership and strong, creative marketing, my dream would be possible. We are being offered shops, cinema and bingo, and frankly, for me, that isn’t good enough.

I really hope that Farnborough residents will look at the proposals, along with the 2007 SPD, and ask themselves whether this is what they want. Is it worthy of a town with such a rich aviation heritage, and whose name is known throughout the world? I say emphatically no.

I'm actually pretty angry about this and feel that we're all being made complicit in the further decline of the town because the slick presentation obscures the fundamental flaws in the Prospectus.  If we're not careful, we shall be stuck with a generic town with no character and precious little in the way of amenities, and I'm determined to do all I can to prevent that.