CAMPAIGNERS are fighting to halt proposals to relocate Woking College to Woking Park and are appealing for public support.
Frank Davis and the Save Woking Park group have set up a website to voice their concerns.
They say the park is protected by a conveyance order and the land should only be used as a public park for walks and as a place for recreation.
The campaigners are urging residents and those who use the picturesque park to object in writing to Woking Borough Council.
Mr Davis from Woodlands said: “The parkland was given to the people of Woking for their use as a park forever. Woking is a good place to live. We cannot allow it to become a concrete jungle.”
Discussions about the scheme are in the early stages and a planning application has yet to go before the council, but the protesters say they need to move quickly.
Last month at the council’s executive meeting, discussions took place about plans to demolish the college and rebuild it on a coach car park in the park.
Other sites will be looked at but councillors told officers to start talks with the college about the move from its current site in Rydens Way.
Members of the public will be consulted on the plans before another report is presented to the executive in the New Year.
Mr Davis, 72, has set up the campaign website with the help of computer programmer, Martin Steinfort, also from Woking.
Mr Davis, chairman of Woodlands Community Group, ran a campaign five years ago when the council had plans to sell a site in Blackness Lane in Woking for housing.
The Save Woking Park website provides addresses for the council as well as details about the latest proposals.
Mr Davis said: “People use the park on most days. It is full on weekends. It’s for people from all parts of Woking, not just those who live nearby. This plan is complete misuse of the site. The park should continue as an open space.”
Peter Garner, 53 and a regular park user, lives in Constitution Hill. He is also part of the campaign group.
He said: “I see it as causing really big problems for Woking’s greatest asset. It is a pocket of tranquillity.”
The senior communications analyst added: “If Woking College really wants to expand it could afford to move its playing fields and extend there.”
He was concerned about the disruption such a major building project would cause.
The college’s principal Martin Ingram has written to the council saying the college needed to expand and required better facilities.
Discussions have begun between the college and the Learning and Skills Council to secure a new site closer to the town centre.
Mr Davis has lived in the town for 30 years. He said: “The land which makes up Woking Park was given to the town for a nominal sum in June 1902 by the Brettell family and their associates who were Victorian philanthropists.
“The Conveyance Order states the said land shall not be used for any other purpose than a public park, public walks, gardens, recreation grounds, pleasure grounds, and baths.”
He feared the proposed scheme would result in parking problems for the college students and the building being lit up from early morning until about 9.30pm.
He said time and money should not be spent pursuing a project he and others believed should never have started.
He added: “I like Woking, I have been here for 30 years and I have the highest respect for the council. From time to time it does make errors of judgment. This must not be an error of judgment which it lives to regret.
“It is a very small area to put a huge building on a site that is already overloaded. We are now in the 21st century and should be more protective than ever that Woking Park remains.”
Mr Steinfort, 39, who lives in Woodlands Court, added: “I was absolutely flabbergasted to hear they were talking about putting something that big in the park.”
The campaigners are making sure they appeal to all members of the public who use the park and will be translating their campaign leaflets into Polish and Urdu.
For more information go to the website www.savewokingpark.org
