Yateley - Whose Town is it anyway?

Soon after its formation in 1981 the Executive of the Yateley Society set up an Exhibition Subcommittee to mount a major exhibition concerning the future development of Yateley. Entitled Yateley - Whose Town is it anyway? the exhibition set our four options for change. The exhibition invited viewers to vote for one of the four options.

In order to fund the preparation of the exhibition, and the display materials, the Society applied for a grant administered by the Department of the Environment (DOE) under the terms of the European Campaign for Urban Renaissance. This campaign had been launched by the Council of Europe to promote better life in towns by raising people's awareness of their urban awareness, and so promote the development of policies for improvement. The Society was very fortunate to have been selected for a 50% grant of £1,000, at such an opportune time. To fund the balance of the budget the Society successfully applied for a further £500 grant from Johnson's Wax of Frimley. The remaining balance was funded by the Society.

Society Newsletter No 7 April 1982: "The Society's exhibition will review environmental and urban issues, relating them to past policies and indicating possible future developments. It will consider the range of options open to a town of our size and age, and encourage a greater public participation in the planning processes. We expect to be able to work with other local bodies and with the assistance of the District and Town councils. We hope to receive the display boards and essential equipment by the end of April, and plan to mount the exhibition in July.

"Following that our Planning Group will use market research techniques to collect data from the town's population. The final stage will be the publication of a booklet called The Development of Yateley - Whose Town is it Anyway?

"Throughout the exercise the Society will seek to remain objective and neutral. Our purpose is not to mould public opinion, but to promote understanding and informed comment"

The exhibition was first displayed at The Yateley Centre Open Days 8-10 July 1982. The whole 12 board display was mounted before this as part of the Society's evidence at the second of the district mega-Inquiries seeking to influence and preempt the 1st Hart District Local Plan. This mega-Inquiry was held at the Victoria Hall, Hartley Wintney, opening on 6th July. Held under a single Inspector, the Inquiry heard evidence concerning 3 different sites concurrently - Monteagle Farm, Yateley, and Velmead and Little Anstice in Fleet. The Society claimed that the application concerning Monteagle Farm was premature to the Local Plan Inquiry and premature to the public participation findings the Society expected to obtain from the exhibition. The whole exhibition was subsequently mounted during the Local Plan Inquiry, opening in March 1983, during the presentation of the Society's evidence by 10 witenesses drawn from the Society, the Yateley Residents Association, Yateley Sports Council and the local Probation Service.

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