Farnham Town Council has submitted a ten-page response to the Farnham Infrastructure Programme’s multi-million pound plans to fix the town’s road system – “strongly supporting” an alternative to a proposed underpass at Hickley’s Corner.

A £100 million underpass at the key A31 junction was first proposed two decades ago as a possible solution to the town’s traffic woes.

But last week town councillors rounded on the revived plan, warning that it could cause up to three years of traffic disruption and calling for a simpler, less costly solution.

Top of their list of alternatives was another A31 roundabout at the foot of Station Hill and a new interchange connecting the A31 to a new, stronger bridge on Firgrove Hill – giving residents in south Farnham a new route onto the bypass avoiding both the town centre and station.

Councillors also called for a Wrecclesham bypass “to give people their village back”, a western bypass as a prerequisite of pedestrianisation in the town centre, and for a new northern access road connecting Upper Hart car park to Castle Hill “to be kept very much on the table”.

But they dismissed plans for a park and ride as a “dead cause” which “just isn’t going to work” in a town of Farnham’s size, and stressed the importance of retaining the current number of car parking spaces in the town centre to protect the local economy.

Holding sway for much of the debate, former council leader Councillor Carole Cockburn also called for more modelling of the proposed changes, more consultation and a “less bossy tone” to the programme’s proposals.

Addressing her successor Cllr John Neale, she said: “The reason we haven’t pedestrianised Farnham before now is because we don’t know what to do with the traffic.

“It’s as simple as that and it worries me that you’re telling people what to do without more modelling and consultation. The lack of detail really is quite frightening.”

Cllr Cockburn added “some part of Farnham will always suffer because of changes in the town centre” and reiterated her belief that a western bypass “taking Hampshire’s traffic straight to the M3” is “the only solution”.

And continued: “One of the biggest problems we have in the town is the level crossing. You can’t tunnel under it or bridge over. It needs a complete and utter rethink.

“It isn’t A31 that causes problems in the town centre, it’s the traffic on Station Hill. You can do whatever you want with the A31 – build an underpass to rival Tolworth! But until Station Hill is addressed, it won’t make any difference at all.”

It came as members debated the town council’s response to a consultation on the Farnham Infrastructure Programme’s Optimised Infrastructure Plan (OIP) – a joint initiative by Surrey, Waverley and Farnham councils and Jeremy Hunt MP aimed at cutting congestion and improving air quality.

More than 700 people responded to the OIP consultation, and many more have taken part in Local Liaison Forums on Zoom in recent months, each exploring different elements of the proposals for Farnham town centre, north and south Farnham, and Wrecclesham.