WEST Street resident George Hesse has taken it upon himself to bring Farnham Library’s increasingly secretive gardens back into public use.

Until recently the gardens, which boast a large lawn area, flower beds, public art, a fountain and even a tennis court, played a key role in town life - historically as the playing fields of the former St Christopher’s School and lately for outdoor events such as the now-defunct Lazy Bishops Festival.

But since Surrey County Council resumed responsibility for the gardens’ upkeep from Farnham Town Council some five years ago, the gardens have become overgrown and unkempt, are now closed outside of library opening hours, and the tennis court permanently closed.

Frustrated by their plight, Mr Hesse travelled to County Hall in Kingston on Tuesday to challenge Surrey’s cabinet on the deteriorating state of the library gardens and to request that responsibility for their maintenance be transferred back to the town council.

“These gardens are a highly valued open public space in the town conservation area,” he told council decision-makers.

“In recent years they have become less accessible to the public and are deteriorating rapidly as a consequence of considerable neglect.”

The town council has itself responded positively to Mr Hesse’s suggestion - but at its March meeting advised that there was unlikely to be any transfer until January 2019, when Surrey’s current maintenance contract expires.

Objecting to this delay at County Hall, Mr Hesse added: “This leaves the gardens in a continuing downward spiral of neglect and ever more hazardous to public safety and another summer when local residents and visitors are deprived of the full enjoyment of them.”

Responding, Tim Oliver, Surrey’s cabinet member for property and business services, blamed the limited access on a spate of “horrible vandalism”, and the closure of the tennis court on the presence of “noxious” Japanese knotweed.

However, he did reveal money has been set aside to resurface and reopen the tennis courts once the knotweed has been eradicated, as well as to rebuild and repair an “ageing” wall in the centre of the gardens, while “major landscaping works” are also planned this summer.

Mr Oliver added discussions with Farnham Town Council are ongoing.