I am appalled and ashamed in equal measure to see the plethora of union flags on so many lampposts in Alton.

This is not an expression of patriotism. It is a nasty expression of xenophobia, designed to discomfort and intimidate any non-white British person.

In the 40 years I have lived here, Alton has always been a friendly and welcoming town, accepting newcomers from different countries without prejudice.

We have a number of Ukrainian folk here as well as other nationalities seeking refuge from war or persecution, taking their place in our society.

I believe the flagraisers do not represent the majority of Altonians, but are a minority of rabble rousers seeking to sow discord in our town.

Let's get the flags down and show our true British qualities of fairness, justice and kindness to all who live here.

John Jacobs,

Alton

I wish to thank Cllr Catherine Powell for her tireless working keeping residents informed, and advocating on their behalf.

I remain of the unfashionable view that as each stage of the Farnham town centre improvements has finished it does work and is better than what went before.

Stopping all traffic having to go around a one-way system is prima facie ultimately going to reduce traffic on each section of it.

What I have seen as a town centre resident is that this does work when finished and a few days for teething trouble have elapsed.

The next stage would be removing through traffic from going through the town. That would need a western bypass (I'd go from somewhere near the Shell garage in Upper Hale to Holt Pound possibly via Coxbridge), and Hickley's Corner made into an underpass to remove a major bottleneck for both internal Farnham traffic and the A31.

I fear that both the western bypass and radical change at Hickley's Corner are financially and probably politically undeliverable.

The whole area also needs a new reservoir, perhaps somewhere west of Farnham on the River Wey to sustain the water needs of the area.

Michael Hopkins,

Crondall Lane,

Farnham

I read the letter from Dr Clarence Eng (Herald, November 22, 2025) with a little surprise. Are people still pushing for a western bypass when it has been known for a couple of years now that the Government will not fund this without massive economic developments to the west of Farnham in precious countryside?

And even if they did reverse the Department for Transport decision and decide to fund it, it would take 10 to 20 years to build it, especially as there are rich landowners in its path who don't want to live on a busy bypass.

Dr Eng's second suggestion was a road from Castle Street straight through to Upper Hart car park. But again, this has been rejected by the Farnham Infrastructure Programme (FIP) before the current small apartment development took place at the top of Castle Street.

Any form of compulsory purchase now would make more residents living there homeless and also cost significantly more than when the FIP rejected this idea.

The bottom line is that we have a small market town that cannot accommodate more cars and so any solution needs to provide options in addition to the car, and not look for ways to get more cars into our already congested town.

Improved public transport and cycle tracks are the answer that has worked very well in congested places like London and Paris, providing people with a method of getting into town without delay and without parking cost.

Yes, these are bigger conurbations but the principal is proven to work with cycling now more popular in Paris than driving since cycle tracks were installed. Whilst not everyone wants to cycle, the results of the five surveys of local Farnham people (which are on the Farnham Cycle campaign website) demonstrates that a significant number of people do wish to leave their cars at home and using other form of transport to get into town.

They would have reliable journey times and not pay for parking so would not rush away from shops and cafes when there paid parking is running out.

Personally, I would like to know when the Farnham Residents group, which effectively runs the town, is going to start responding to the views of the residents from these surveys.

Ironically, it was the man who started the car revolution, Henry Ford, who said if I he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said "a faster horse". Instead, he gave them a completely different form of transport and that's what we should do now in Farnham, even though Farnham people have been asked.

Peter Goodman,

Farnham Cycle Campaign

Phyllis Tuckwell would like to invite all those who are bereaved to our annual Light up a Life service, to remember and celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us.

The service will take place at 7.45pm on Sunday, December 7, inside Guildford Cathedral, and will also be live streamed on our website (www.pth.org.uk/lual2025) for those who are unable to attend in person.

A recording of the service will also be uploaded to our website so a link can be shared, or it can be viewed at a later date.

Christmas is a special time, but it can be difficult for those who are missing a loved one. Light up a Life offers an opportunity to remember and celebrate the lives of those who are sadly no longer with us. Everyone is welcome to come to the service or watch it online, whether your loved one was cared for by Phyllis Tuckwell or not. We hope that it offers you a comforting and meaningful way to remember your loved ones at this special time of year.

Our thanks go to Guildford Cathedral for hosting the event, and Right at Home GF for kindly sponsoring it.

Fiona Chapman,

Event Fundraiser,

Phyllis Tuckwell