At Last! 

The monstrosity left behind following a major fire that damaged Alban House in High Town Hereford is finally going to be given a new lease of life.

This eyesore has been left untouched ever since the fire back in 2010.

Plans have been submitted this week for alterations and extensions to form 2 ground floor retails units with 10 residential units above with 6 additional apartments at the rear facing onto East Street and a further 3 town houses also at the rear.

Quote

Proposed alterations and extensions to form 2 no. ground floor retail units with 10 no. residential units above following major fire damage.Proposed erection of 6 no. residential apartments facing East Street. Demolition of redundant outbuilding and construction of 3 new town houses to rear courtyard area.

P172823/F

P172824/L

Another terrorist attack in Europe today, this time in Barcelona.

Some nutter in a van mowing down innocent people and tourists on Las Ramblers in the heart of the city. Reports are that at least 13 people have died and another 50 or more are injured.

A white van mounted the pavement of Las Ramblas, the main tourist area in the city, and struck several people, police said.

 

It came to a halt at the entrance to the Liceu metro station and the occupants escaped and ran off into the streets nearby, according to one newspaper

Once again the HTIMES have ignored the positives by the local cops and council. 2 shops raided - Mila in Belmont Road and Supersam in Eign Street. 2 illegal immigrants arrested. 250k of contraband/illegal cigs plus large quantity of illegal alcohol. Both shops owned by the same man. Others arrested as well...3 days later alcohol licenses suspended. Not seen as a current story by the HTIMES disappointing

Hi everyone 

New here, first post and its not a happy one sadly. 

Around the King George V Playing field / Bishops meadow area I am seeing a lot of dog owners letting there dogs run loose when there is a sign stating dogs must be on its lead, just before the Victoria Bridge,.

As far as I know it is not a designated area where dogs are allowed to run off the lead, also the typical response from the owner is "he isn't dangerous, he wont bite"

As someone who goes jogging in the area I pay special attention to any dog that is running wild, I am not a dog person due to bad experiences with them in the past that I am not willing to listen to any owner who claims there dog is friendly. 

If I am jogging and a dog comes out of nowhere bounding towards/ after me, I will kick it away. I have already done this more than once and as always the owner blames me he his inability to control his dog. 

Has anyone else has this kind of things happen to them in the area or other places in Hereford ? 

I have spoken to a police officer and been told I am fully within my right to defend myself in situations like this, also should the dog be injured or die due to defending myself it's the owners fault. 

I see there are people camping where the willow used to be this morning!

The Booth Hall closed its doors last Sunday.

Hereford Times Article

 

ANOTHER Hereford pub has shut its doors for the foreseeable future with the tenant saying it no longer made any money.

 

The Booth Hall in East Street closed its doors last Sunday.

 

Martyn Hathaway, from The Number Works Pub Company, decided to close the pub before his lease finished at the end of February.

 

He partly blamed the closure on the delay in opening the passageway which led to the pub from the High Town.

 

It has been closed since a fire ripped through the former River Island and Card Factory stores in October 2010.

 

Mr Hathaway said: "We were always hoping the alleyway was going to be opened back up. For the last two years all we had were promises it was going to be re-opened."

 

He previously ran the Old Market Inn but had to leave to make way for the Old Market Shopping Centre.

 

Mr Hathaway, who ran The Booth for two years, said: "This side of town has been struggling since the complex. We thought people would go over there, try the new restaurants and filter back to the pubs this side of town.

 

"Unfortunately I don't think it has happened that way."

 

He said he believed empty shops in the High Town did not encourage people across.

 

He runs 13 other pubs, including The Spread Eagle in King Street and The Wye Inn in Holme Lacy Road.

 

Mr Hathaway said The Spread is doing well, but believes this is due to its proximity to The Cathedral.

 

He said he has managed to move most of The Booth staff to his other pubs.

 

Enterprise Inns plc owns The Booth Hall and has been asked for a comment.

 

Spokesman for Herefordshire Council, Richard Gallagher, said: "We are sorry to hear this long established business is due to cease trading.

 

"Booth Hall Passage is an adopted highway for pedestrians. Therefore there is a duty of care on the council to make the area safe for pedestrians walking by. The passage has been closed due to the catastrophic damage to the buildings through which it passes. The owner of those buildings has completed some stabilisation works.

 

"The Section 215 Notice pertaining to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 was formally served on the owner of the fire damaged buildings on Friday 24 October. The owner has 80 days to comply with the notice after it took effect on Tuesday, December 2.

 

"Until the fire damaged buildings are made safe it is not possible to reopen the passageway."

Herefordshire Council has won an enforcement case against two builders found guilty of fly tipping by the River Lugg.

This Breakfast Club starts on Saturday 1st April 2017 - the club dies have a Facebook Group -

It appears that we have yet another idiot camper in our midsts...only this one must a thrill seeker to be camping right on the edge of the dual carriageway.

You see, if you do not move these people immediately it just encourages more idiots to follow. 

The West Mercia Police have put up for auction Vehicle Registration Mark .... AB1 , the VRM was issued to the Worcestershire Chief Constable in 1908 . They hope to raise £250,000.

It appears that this had not gone down well with a number of people including retired Police Officers - they have signed a petition urging the Force to keep the plate. More than 700 people have signed it.

If I were an Officer placed on high within any Council or other public service body in Britain, I'd be very concerned about the tipping point of public tolerance that's been reached following the devastating events at The Grenfell Tower.

Make no mistake, in the months and even years that follow, many public servants in positions of authority and power are going to be arrested, they will be prosecuted and in due course will be required to serve custodial prison sentences as punishment for the part they played in the procurement of unsuitable materials and the failure to protect the lives of their tenants.

Like ducks in a line, the Council, the Housing Association, probably the Fire Service and a host of other public bodies involved in the grandiose scheme of Partnerships that, driven by Common Purpose, have infected all our public services, if they've got any sense at all they'll be twitching and wondering whether or not some tragic event takes place that places them in the firing line.

Whilst we in Hereford have no sizeable high rise apartment blocks, we most certainly have other, in plain sight life threatening problems that have been created by poor public service delivery. Take for example the disgraceful condition of our roads. Is it possible that a motor cyclist can hit one of these holes, lose control of their bike, slide, perhaps into the path of an oncoming school bus and many lives are lost as a result of the collision? Is it so far fetched to imagine such an event? Given what's happened to the poor people at Grenfell Tower I'm not so sure it is that far fetched.

Make no mistake, this awful event at Grenfell Tower will herald a new era of public service accountability and if my hyperthetical Road Traffic Accident ever happens and it's the result of a pot hole then every single public body connected to the Herefordshire Safer Roads Partnership that includes the Council, the Police, Balfour Beattie and anyone else that hides behind the Partnership arrangement will be held to account for their failure to do their jobs and protect the people.

The era of ignoring the people is over, as is public service Reputation Management and their usual raft of excuses that allow the truth and facts to be secreted that were once a guaranteed certainty that nobody in an investigatory position would ever rock the boat and want to lift up the stone to see what lay beneath. As a result of Grenfell Tower and the publics reaction to what was a completely avoidable national tragedy, those days are now gone and anyone in public service who has involved themselves in poor service delivery that places the public at risk now has their neck in the noose of public accountability.

http://www.youtu.be/VSIQAKpaR20

A truck has crashed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, according to German police.

The Guardian is reporting (ok, ok Ragwert - I know we shouldn't believe everything the sandal-wearing muesli-eaters read) that one-in-five of all High Street estate agents face extinction, due to growing internet sales. So what will the city's Broad Street / Bridge Street area look like in a few years time, where there are currently 17 estate agents? Room to shoehorn in a few more coffee franchises and a couple of tattoo parlours perhaps?

Car crime in Herefordshire

Find out what the car crime rate is where you park your car.

With the help of government crime data, the Park Smart tool helps you to see where vehicle crime is most frequent. Pop your location or postcode in to help decide where to leave your car.
 

Ok.

So this evening I received an email from a very good friend of mine - I've known her for years. They are the sort of person that would do anything for anybody, and is always relentlessly cheerful! (Unlike myself!)

Today she took her daughter in law for a birthday lunch at Thai Gallery. ( I've been on a number of occasions myself - the food is great.)

They went in, and although it was very quiet, were shoe horned onto a tiny table. They ordered. My friend deliberately chose a dish containing no mushrooms, with noodles and a few other bits and bobs. When the food arrived, my friend could see mushrooms...and also bits of egg. A waitress was called over, and my friend explained very politely, that this was not the dish ordered. The waitress insisted it was. My friend pointed out the mushrooms, the eggs and the ribbon like noodles ( not the rice ones expected.) The waitress was having none of it.

Her daughter in law then asked to see the menu again. One was duly produced, and the meal description was read out. At this, the waitress did concede - rather reluctantly - that the mushrooms should not have been there. She said the plate could be returned to the kitchen, the mushrooms removed, and the meal reheated.

"And the egg?" My friend asked. Only to be told that there were 'no rice noodles.' My friend asked for the plate to be taken away. This was not a meal that could be eaten.

Her daughter in law ate hers at my friends insistence. Just then, another dish was bought out from the kitchen to go to another table.......containing rice noodles! The waitress was called over again.

"We thought you said there was no rice noodles?"

The reply was beyond belief. "There are no rice noodles in the dish you ordered." My friend pointed out that had they produced the actual dish that was ordered in the first place, the situation would not have arisen. This logic fell on deaf ears.

So.......a dish is ordered, it's not what was on the menu, no real attempt is made to rectify the situation, and the waitress was unbelievably rude!

My friend went to pay, (Still £25. for one dish, a glass of wine, a glass of water and a pot of rice - uneaten - it's rather bland by itself.) and had one final go at getting through to the waitress just how bad the service had been. By now, the waitress looked bored. She did respond - however, the first word she uttered was 'But...'

My friend was in no mood to listen to excuses and left.

This got me thinking.....

Has customer service got better, worse or has it become indifferent?

Any members have any examples of good, bad or downright ugly?

This MEP is absolutely correct. 

http://www.youtu.be/T7fs-91kDH4