In its edition of October 3, 2008, the Herald reported: “The most important planning application in Farnham’s history has been passed by an overwhelming majority of 33 votes to one. A packed gallery at Waverley’s Godalming offices on Wednesday night heard the verdict on an East Street scheme that had prompted a deluge of 5,846 objections”.

There have over the years been many views expressed – privately and publicly - about the way it was managed as well as the size and the scale of the development which was intended to ‘regenerate’ the East Street area of Farnham.

For some, the demolition of the theatre was the final straw with Anne Cooper the chairman of the Farnham Theatre Association describing it as “an act of cultural vandalism” and many bemoaned, too, the loss of the gardens and the demise of the Brightwell Bowling Club.

Time moves on, with some green shoots appearing - though the inclusion of the East Street ‘Brightwells Yard’ development scheme in this special feature was not intended to re-ignite passions but to recognise the development as a milestone event in Farnham’s recent history.

The above is a continuation of a series of articles looking back at the Herald archive to mark the 50th anniversary of the dissolution of the Farnham Urban District Council (FUDC) in 1974.

Local authorities all over the country were affected by the 1972 Local Government Act on the reorganisation and reform of local government which came into effect on April 1, 1974.

Locally, it saw the FUDC disbanded and the creation of Waverley District Council, which also covered Godalming, Haslemere and Cranleigh and many villages in between.

To acknowledge that milestone in Farnham’s long and proud history, Peeps into the Past is featuring 50 events over those 50 years.