Last week the Hereford Times conducted a Readers Poll regarding our departure from the European Union. The Poll asked, now that our exit is imminent, would you now vote to Remain, would you now vote to Leave or don't you know.

This particular news thread attracted a great many comments that supported our departure and the Poll very quickly reflected our people's desire to still leave the Union. Indeed, by the early part of the afternoon the Poll reflected this intent and had the Leave vote at around 69 percent, the Remain vote around 29 percent and the remaining number stating Don't Know.

Around 2.30pm, some five minutes after the Poll showed Leave at 69 percent, I opened up the page of the HT to see whether or not further comments had been added. At this time, the Poll then read 69 percent to Remain, 29 percent to Leave.

The Poll result had been deliberately distorted and its manipulation and single purpose could only be for one reason. To suit the narrative of the media who like much of the establishment want us to remain in the Union.

Worse, today, the Hereford Times has released a piece on their Readers page celebrating the results of their Poll that shows the Remain vote at over 70 percent which, given the clear circumstances of the rigged Poll that adequately displays just how powerful the media have become in controlling our lives, our views, our aspirations and our futures by simply writing and reporting whatever they like whether it's true or false.

This seems to have caused a lot of mirth on the HT comments. Is this the same man who wanted to cut the library service last year?

Not quite sure what kind of reaction I will get to this but I will give it a go. 

With a Cabinet of 7 making decisions that will change Herefordshire for ever - no going back - are our 2 MP's doing enough to look after the county they represent? Two MP'S don't come keep cheap.  Do we ever really hear from them?

No 1 Ledbury Road/sale of HC farms/SLR/Link Road/bypass/ the list is endless these are county changing decisions and from where I am sitting this Council is on track to run this county into the ground and not only that destroying the appearance of the county.

Surely the pecking order should be Norman and Wiggin stepping in and saying steady on chaps don't you think it would be better if you tried this or did this but you don't why?

Whatever your views on Paul Keetch he worked tirelessly when the Foot and Mouth was playing havoc in the country - would either of these 2 do this?  I think not but you people may see it differently to me.

It was waiting to happen but unfortunately there has now been a terrorist attack in London. 

Westminster is on lockdown after a terror attack where a knifeman ploughed a car into pedestrians before stabbing a policeman outside the Houses of Parliament.

It is time to arm ALL our police here in the UK if you agree please sign the petition HERE

Planning Hereford: how to get it right

Annual Civic Society Lecture - March 2017 - Planning Hereford - how to get it right.pdf

Work underway there. Sadly not a newsagent and sweetie shop. However, could be good, apparently a good deli on one side and a decent takeaway sandwich shop to the left hand side, up against the Spread Eagle.

If this is a duplication please forgive me however the clock ticks for No.1.

During the CQC meeting tonight at the Town Hall the friends,family and councillors past and present did a great job of raising the profile and plight of this unique respite centre here in Herefordshire. They were made to understand the shortcomings of WVT in the way the matter has been dealt with and also the lack of forward measures in place.

To exacerbate the situation staff are beginning to leave which could assist in its demise.

If it wasn't on the CQC radar then it should be now and perhaps a visit this week will work positively for the centre.

Should it close right now there are no viable alternative solutions in place.

Let's face it, HC have no money, BB can't be bothered and Highways Agency pass it back to local authorities; so we have Bob's cousin, No Hope!!!

I have started this thread to make us all aware in advance of the potentially dangerous situations of potholes on our roads. Keeping us safer, unnecessary repairs and avoiding them where possible. Most if not all would have been reported to HC directly anyway.

Please post locations and position i.e. nearside, centre, offside. Photos if possible (not if you're driving). Only edit post with FIXED when appropriate. Pease do not digress.

Heard this on BBC H&W Radio today.

Wife of Hereford man to be deported to Philippines

Man fears wife could be destitute if forced to leave UK

The wife of a British man will be left homeless when she is sent back to the Philippines, her husband says.

Rob and Marinel Bristow, from Hereford, married eight years ago.

Mrs Bristow had been refused a permanent visa and they were appealing against the decision, but this month she was arrested, detained and told she would be deported.

The Home Office said Mrs Bristow could not provide evidence of her husband's earnings needed for the application.

Mrs Bristow was taken to the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire as she has been unable to prove her husband's earnings as a photographer meet the threshold of £18,600 for her to stay here on a spousal visa.

Her husband said she would be deported imminently.

"If she's sent back now she will basically be homeless," he said.

After the couple married, Mrs Bristow initially remained in the Philippines.

When a typhoon destroyed her business and property in 2013, she moved to the UK and applied to permanently stay, but her application was refused.

During the appeals process her passport and visitor visa expired and she was told to register at Hereford police station each month.

"We waited and waited for the result of the application and never heard anything and she went in as usual on 8 March and was detained," said Mr Bristow.

"They showed us the letter of refusal and then she was detained in the police station and moved to the immigration removal centre. That's the first we knew of the visa result."

The Home Office said: "Ms Bristow did not submit the required evidence to demonstrate her partner's income from self-employment. The required threshold is £18,600 a year."

Looks like we are turning into a police state with judges and officials using secret courts to determine the fate of established citizens. Won't be long before we are stopped in High Town and asked for our papers. Jesse Norman (our silent MP) has been contacted about this injustice, but so far no comment.

Mayor Jim Kenyon has put forward his idea's of additional river crossings for Hereford to help reduce the city's congestion problems.

See HT article below:

The city's Mayor Jim Kenyon is bringing forward a motion tomorrow (Friday) to Herefordshire Councillors for an eastern river crossing to be built in addition to the favoured western option.

 

The bridge, costing £30 million, would act as a fundamental link to go between Ledbury Road in Tupsley and the B4399 at Rotherwas.

 

Despite the eastern bridge failing to form part of Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy, Cllr Kenyon wants it be considered along with a western route via Breinton.

 

He said: “This bridge would ease traffic in the city and is not instead of the western bypass but as well as.

“The former city Mayor said 50 years ago that within 10 years we would need one or two more bridges.

 

“So let's not settle for one bridge. Let's get both of them as that’s what we need.

 

"The national government says that in Hereford we need more housing so if that’s the case we need money for the western bypass and at a local level for the eastern bridge.”

 

Cllr Kenyon said that a new road leading to the bridge would be built through the middle of the joint housing and rugby development off Hampton Park Road.

 

The Mayor says that this ‘protected road route’ has always been earmarked for an eastern link and would be built alongside the Hereford Rugby Club development.

 

He says that the need for two more bridges in the city was proven only last Thursday when Greyfriars Bridge was closed due to safety fears at Asda petrol station.

 

“An hour after the bridge was re-opened nobody was in the city centre or the shops which cost businesses money,” he added. “Everytime the city centre is gridlocked people hear about it and simply don’t come.”

 

Herefordshire Council has given its backing to a western route near Breinton but the smaller city council agreed in January to start a pressure group pushing for an eastern crossing.

 

Cllr Kenyon’s motion requests that the council’s ‘executive’ support his idea and to bring it forward to the Board of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) with the view to it being included in the LEP’s funding bids to government. 

 

“We need the eastern bridge to be in Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy and I think that’s it’s ridiculous that it is not already,” added Cllr Kenyon â€œThis isn’t a bypass but a bridge to ease congestion and it will act as an alternative for traffic around the city.”

I was unable to attend the meeting on Friday due to work commitments however I understand that only 11 voted in favour with 34 voting against it and 1 abstention.

Okay let's start naming those who objected for a start! 

Both articles in The Guardian this week:

UK Mail driver who was unable to work after car accident charged £800

Delivery company accused of ripping off workers over costs passed on for finding drivers to cover for sickness absences

Delivery company UK Mail has been accused of “ripping off†workers and using “inhuman†practices after it charged a courier nearly £800 when he was unable to work as a result of a car accident while on duty.

The £250m business, which delivers for retailers including Tesco, Homebase and O2, billed 47-year old Emil Ibrahimov £216 on the days he could not work after a car drove into him while he was carrying parcels from the rear of his van in east London.

and
 

Sick Parcelforce couriers can be charged up to £250 if they can't find cover

News of policy at Royal Mail-owned firm, which delivers for M&S, John Lewis and Hamleys, emerges after criticism of DPD

Parcelforce couriers who deliver packages for Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Hamleys can be charged up to £250 a day if they are off sick and cannot find someone to cover their shift.

Details of the policy applied by the Royal Mail-owned business emerged days after rival courier company DPD was criticised for charging some drivers who take time off for illness. And it will fuel concerns about precarious working conditions in the “gig economyâ€, amid a series of disputes about the employment status of people who work for firms such as Uber and Deliveroo.

About a quarter of Parcelforce’s 3,000 couriers are self-employed owner-drivers, meaning they are paid per delivery and must fund their own vehicle, fuel, insurance and uniform. It has emerged that some owner-drivers who take a day off due to illness, but cannot find cover, are being told they must pay Parcelforce £250 per day missed.

It won't be long before we all pay to go to work! This on top of the Conservative government trying to increase self employed taxes in the Budget.
 

Anyone know what's going on in Sherborne Close?
Seems all the fire brigade,ambulance & police service are there

There seems to be a lot of chatter about this: h , mentioned during the Budget, because it mentions a Hereford bypass.

The document is odd - and very repetitive. For example, the only mentions of tourism as an industry are in relation to Stoke on Trent (people visiting ceramics manufacturers) and the Lincolnshire coast. No mention of Stratford upon Avon, Warwick Castle, Alton Towers -to name just the three biggest tourist destinations outside London - let alone little Herefordshire.

It is clear, though, that the authors see the purpose of a bypass as a relief road for the M6/M5. 

Is this a case of be careful what you wish for?

From today's Daily Telegraph:

"Authorities in England and Wales saw their surplus from parking rise to £511.6 million in 2010-11 from £489.4 million a year earlier, according to an analysis of local authority accounts by the RAC Foundation.

Local authorities were warned by Mike Penning, the road safety minister, last year to stop treating motorists as an easy target to raise funds.

Town halls are supposed to use their powers to control parking to improve traffic flow and prevent gridlock on their streets.

They are prohibited from using these powers to bolster their income. However, many councils seek to get round this by earmarking the cash raised for other transport projects.

Westminster came top with a surplus of £38,196,000!

Herefordshire Council was listed at 148 out of 371 authorities with a surplus revenue of £863,000 from parking charges. How long would it take to pay for a ring road at this rate.

The Freedom Church submitted a planning application for signage consisting of 4 nos banners; 4 nos signs and 3 nos advertising boards. 

Planning application P170081/A

Here are just a few of the examples

Planning was refused. 

Dunelm on Holmer Road is undergoing a complete refurbishment, which will include a larger coffee shop as well as many other new improvements.

New replacement signage is also part of the works which have already begun.

Planning application P170131/A

Also 

KFC on Brook Retail Park, Commercial Road have applied for planning permission for a single storey extension as part of their restaurant refurbishment.

The proposal is to extend the building at the rear to provide additional floor area in the kitchen for new & future kitchen equipment to supply the increased menu selection. The proposal also includes to alter the external appearance of the building to bring it into line with the latest KFC brand standards.

Planning application P170616/F

I noticed that the Treacle Mine Pub is closed. There is a paper sign in the window that just states 'closed until further notice' Can anyone throw some light on this?

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/15134196.

Hereford_FC_match_abandoned_due_to_crowd_trouble/

Maybe started by Hereford "fan" who entered the pitch and goaded the Didcot goalie after Hereford scored in 87 minute - score 2 - 1 to Hereford