Plans to turn a busy free car park and youth club in Haslemere into a supermarket with council housing at a cost of £22 million are to press ahead.
The Fairground site off Wey Hill in Haslemere could soon be dug up and replaced with a shopping precinct topped with up to 32 council houses.
The nearby Haslemere Youth Hub will be moved into the Weydown Road car park.
The decision to go ahead and explore the plan was recommended by Waverley Borough Council’s executive on Tuesday, April 9 and will soon be presented to the full council for sign-off.
Senior councillors behind the decision said it would likely leave many with “concerns and conflicting priorities” but that the current proposals were still at the pre-design stage – with consultations and the planning process still to come.
Councillor Mark Merryweather, portfolio holder for finance, assets and property, told the meeting the two sites had been earmarked for development and that keeping Fairground as a free car park was “not fair or sustainable”.
So far, two supermarkets have come forward with early feasibility plans to demonstrate their interest in a store with housing above.
The council expects the proposal would pay for itself over 26 years – but is still relying on more than £20m in borrowing to get it over the line.
The one and two-bed homes will be made available at 70 per cent of market rent while the three-bed home will be at 65 per cent – resulting in an overall income of about £5m to its housing revenue account over 30 years.
Cllr Merryweather said: “The recommended scheme will be self-funded, it will pay for itself.”
He added: “That the scheme is self-funding is significant also, because it means it doesn’t affect, let alone limit, our ability to buy or build council homes elsewhere.
“This is not an either-or choice, it’s about the quantity.”
Concerns have been expressed at the loss of car parking spaces in Wey Hill – but a car park capacity study found there are adequate spaces available elsewhere.
To accommodate the new supermarket and housing, the Haslemere Youth Hub will be cleared and moved into the Weydown Road Community Hub approximately 300m away.
Cllr Merryweather added: “There are and will be inevitably concerns and conflicting if not competing priorities to be dealt with as we progress through the design stage and then into consultation before we even get to a planning application.
“And it is this next stage that we are recommending now that will identify and hopefully resolve them. “
The absolute goal is to have at least 32 Waverley-controlled homes managed by the council.
Cllr Liz Townsend (portfolio holder for planning and economic development) added: “I can’t stress how important it is that we deliver this site as part of the allocation for Haslemere.
“It’s extremely important that we deliver more housing that is actually affordable.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Haslemere to get a new community hub.”