IT’S only taken 15 years, but construction of Farnham’s long-awaited Brightwells regeneration scheme finally commenced last week after the completion of an ‘unconditional’ contract between Waverley Borough Council and Crest Nicholson.

The signing of the agreement is a vital landmark in delivering the Brightwells regeneration, a multi-million pound retail and leisure hub anchored by Marks & Spencer Simply Food and REEL Cinemas on land south of East Street, which Waverley says will “transform and revitalise an under-utilised part of the town”.

Crest Nicholson Sainsbury’s won a tender from Waverley to construct the development in 2003 and was awarded full planning permission for the scheme, including the demolition of the Redgrave Theatre, in 2008.

A catalogue of delays followed, amid uncertainty over the financial viability of the redevelopment. However, Waverley seemingly put this speculation to bed on Monday after announcing it has ‘gone unconditional’ with Crest - with Surrey County Council also confirming its ongoing investment in the scheme.

The shopping hub, which Waverley now hopes will be completed by spring 2021, will boast a six-screen REEL cinema, eight restaurants including Ask Italian and Carluccio’s as well as 24 retail units, providing more than 800 new jobs.

Other than M&S, Cornish clothing chain Seasalt is the only retailer currently confirmed by Waverley. Previous pre-let agreements were signed with Wagamama’s and Byron Burgers but the Herald understands these have since pulled out of the scheme.

Brightwells will also boast 239 new apartments, of which 72 will be affordable, surrounding a new town square, as well as “improved” parking facilities and, adds Waverley, “measures to improve traffic flow in the town centre”.

Announcing the landmark deal Julia Potts, leader of the council, said: “I am delighted that we now have an unconditional contract. The agreement means that our vision to deliver a scheme that will reinvigorate Farnham for residents, shoppers and visitors can now finally get under way.

“Although some pre-commencement works have already taken place, the next major step will be to begin work on the access bridge, which will minimise traffic disruption during the works. It is expected that work will start straight away.”

An ‘unconditional’ contract is defined as one that has no conditions attached to it. Once both parties have signed the contract it is binding on both of them and the parties are legally obliged to settle - much like when contracts are “exchanged” ahead of a house purchase.

Waverley signed a ‘conditional’ development agreement with Crest on April 22, 2003 - only making this ‘unconditional’ this week, following the “satisfactory completion of all the conditions”, full details of which have not been shared in the public domain.

Chris Tinker, Crest Nicholson’s group board director responsible for major projects and strategic partnerships, added: “We are delighted that the partnership arrangements with Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council are in place and we can now turn our attention to delivering this much-needed addition to the heart of Farnham.”

The first phase of Brightwells’ construction will see a lane of the A31 Farnham bypass closed between February 21 and March 3 to enable the clearance of around 40 trees for a temporary construction access bridge over the River Wey.

This bridge was added by councillors as a condition of Crest’s extended planning agreement in 2012, to limit the impact of construction traffic on Farnham town centre and the Air Quality Management Area.

However, it will come at the expense of a lane closure on the A31 between Hickley’s Corner and the Shepherd and Flock roundabout for the duration of building works, estimated to last between two and three years.

The next phase, according to Waverley, will see the construction of ‘bat poles’ this April, followed by the erection of hoardings around the construction site on May 21 and the commencement of archaeological digs in the area.

Parking and footpaths will also be “re-routed” during the early phase of works - with the newly extended Riverside 2 car park set to compensate for a loss of parking facilities in Dogflud Way opposite Farnham Leisure Centre during the construction phase.

Funding for the scheme has been arranged by Crest Nicholson, with Waverley revealing that the developer has already paid the borough council a one-off capital payment of £3.19 million (down from the £20m originally estimated) for the lease hold interest on the land.

Surrey County Council is also investing in the commercial retail element of the scheme, speculated to be worth in excess of £50m - despite Surrey possessing one of the worst financial shortfalls in the country, as reported by The Times earlier this month.

Waverley will retain the freehold of the scheme with Surrey being the leaseholder of the commercial element in the long-term.

Responding to the announcement, Surrey County Council cabinet member for property and business services Tim Oliver said: “This is a really significant step towards transforming Farnham. Our investment in this regeneration project will help to drive forward economic growth for the town and we are pleased to be supporting it alongside Waverley Borough Council.”

Waverley says it will also benefit from a “significant package of revenue income gains” including commercial rental income which will support the ongoing delivery of council services.

This was heralded at Tuesday’s meeting of the full council, as Waverley leader Julia Potts commended a “robust and prudent” budget to councillors, who voted unanimously in favour of the 2018/19 financial plan - including a 2.99 per cent rise to Waverley’s share of council tax.

Miss Potts told councillors she was “thrilled” that Brightwells is set to be delivered, adding the unconditional contract is a “transformative deal” for the council and “a major milestone” for Farnham and the local economy.

“When this Conservative administration says we will deliver something, that is exactly what we will do,” she said, commenting that revenue from Brightwells is expected to boost Waverley’s coffers by around £750,000 per annum to support council services.

The news has not been greeted universally with glee however, with Farnham Residents councillor Jerry Hyman questioning whether Waverley had followed the correct process of advertising the disposal of land on the A31 at Tuesday’s meeting.

Mr Hyman also queried whether Brightwells offered “best value” to taxpayers, accusing Waverley of “giving away” four hectares of land for £3.19m - “a quarter of the town centre” - when the council has already paid Greene King and F&C REIT “£4m-plus” for 0.4 hectares.

Planning consent for a bat house, which must be built before the Redgrave Theatre can be demolished, also expired on Monday, Mr Hyman added, and the design for the development is not yet complete.

“We’ve heard over many years that this is going to happen. Well it hasn’t, but getting it to this stage was certainly an event for some people,” he said.

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Alan Gavaghan, chairman of the Farnham Society, added: “We are disappointed to learn that Waverley Borough Council have signed an unconditional contract with Crest Nicholson to proceed with the East Street/Brightwells development. We will be making further comments when further details become available.”