Traffic, Parking, and Access

Funerals will only take place on set days between 10am and 1pm, avoiding peak hours on the highway network. At the request of Surrey County Council, a traffic survey was undertaken on the site access road by an independent survey company for a two-week period, which found that most of the traffic and parking occurred over weekends and in the evenings. As such, the proposed scheme will cause minimal disruption on local roads by avoiding most of these periods, with any disruption minimised through the use of Ismaili volunteers to marshal traffic.

The site currently provides space for 42 car parking spaces. This includes parking for Regent Memorial, which falls outside of the Trust’s land and remains unoccupied by the third-party owners. It also includes parking for Daniele Sicilian restaurant, which the Trust is the landlord of and recognises as a valuable part of the community.

Site observations and surveys show a typical parking demand during the day of 10-12 cars. The proposals would increase the shared car parking spaces to 75 spaces. This provides an additional 33 parking spaces on-site. The average funeral is expected to require 20 parking spaces, while the occasional large funeral double that. This means that there will be sufficient car parking to accommodate the various existing land uses and the proposed burial ground.

In view of the Trust’s desire to be a considerate neighbour and work in harmony with local stakeholders in Farnham, 23 car parking spaces are proposed near the entrance of the site for the use of St John’s Church.