While traffic and roadworks have been stirring debate in Farnham in recent weeks, nearly 30 years ago it was Petersfield making the headlines for the same reasons.

Back in autumn 1995, the Petersfield Post reported growing frustration among residents who were firmly saying no to more roadworks.

The town was in no mood for disruption. Plans to introduce traffic-calming measures in the High Street sparked outrage from traders and residents long before the scheme even reached the drawing board.

In the late 1990s, East Hampshire District Council’s sub-committee urged Hampshire County Council to scrap the High Street plans and focus instead on nearby Hylton Road.

The project, part of a £500,000 county-wide programme, might have been approved—but it never got that far.

Cllr John Crowhurst summed up local feeling: “I think Petersfield has had enough.”

At the time, Petersfield Retailers Association chairman Jill Towner voiced her “total opposition” to any new road schemes.

“It will just cause more mayhem,” she said, adding that the High Street pavements were in “appalling condition” and needed fixing first.

Mrs Towner, who ran a jewellery shop with her husband Trevor on Heath Road, said customers were “disgusted at the waste of money” and vowed to raise a petition if plans went ahead.

Not everyone was opposed. Jim Strong, chairman of the Chamber of Trade, cautiously welcomed the idea, saying crossing the High Street was difficult for residents—though he too worried about the “clatter factor” caused by heavy lorries hitting speed humps.

Elsewhere in town, Barham Road residents were fighting their own battle with cars.

They complained of speeding traffic and “rat-run” drivers since work began in College Street, with one resident describing the sound of cars hitting humps as “Chinese water torture.”