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Business leader: My ghost town fears
A BUSINESS leader fears Horley will become a "ghost town."
Peter von Staerck, chairman of Horley Chamber of Commerce, has voiced his fears for the future of the town if current regeneration proposals go ahead.
In the chamber's latest newsletter, he branded Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's proposals "a joke" and likened them to a cheap paint job.
Mr von Staerck, who heads the 105-member business group, questioned the consultation process for the regeneration plans. He said residents should have been involved earlier and the chamber had not been approached before the proposals were drawn up, despite its members being key to the town's livelihood.
He also singled out some of the proposed changes to roads in the borough council's plans, stating: "And we are not going to get a real town centre after all. Vehicles will be banned from part of Victoria Road, therefore people will not come into Horley, thus no sales for the shopkeepers. And Horley will die!"
Citing competition from Crawley, he continued: "We actually need vehicles to come to the town, not bypass it. At least we have Gatwick as a natural barrier to stop Crawley taking over Horley but what is happening is that we are sending our residents to Crawley to shop.
"Ten years from now there won't be a Horley, just a ghost town that once was here."
Mr von Staerck added: "The wording regeneration' is a joke!"
"I was aghast at what fate is to befall the residents of Russells Crescent, with all heavy vehicles being diverted away from the town through this beautiful leafy glade. What will come of their property values? The planners had also not thought of the residents of The Avenue and Ringly Avenue. They are going to get the backlog of heavy traffic that can't get down Russells Crescent."
Mr von Staerck stressed it was imperative that as many members as possible attend the chamber's next meeting and speak out at The Farmhouse in Langshott next Wednesday at 6pm.
A spokeswoman for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council said: "The project manager involved in this is a bit mystified by Mr von Staerck's response - not least because he is a member of the Horley Regeneration Forum, the stakeholder group put together for the duration of the regeneration of Horley.
"Mr von Staerck is a member as a representative of Horley Chamber of Commerce. We have this group that meets and all the plans are put before them."
She added Mr von Staerck had been present when the plans were put before the group on April 23 and it had agreed the principles of the proposal were broadly agreeable.
She said he had also been present when the plans were presented to the Town Centre Managment Forum on May 19. Referring to consultation, the spokeswoman said: "These are proposals based on work carried out in 2005 and consulted on heavily. They are just general design concepts to gauge people's views.
"We will look at these reactions and work up more detailed design proposals, which we will come back to the public with."
Mr von Staerck hailed Horley's St George's Day celebrations a success despite him having "very little help" with them.
He said in the chamber newsletter he had appealed for help three times via email to his membership, to no avail. If the event is to be repeated help must be given, he said.
2:47pm Tuesday 1st July 2008
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