Royal Mail soared by more than £1 billion in value during a storming first day of trading, netting big profits for investors but prompting accusations that the Government sold it too cheaply.

 

Nearly 700,000 small investors saw their stakes increase by around £280 as the price closed up more than a third at 455p, while around 150,000 postal workers could be sitting on stakes worth more than £3,000.

 

But amid the flotation fever in the City, ministers were facing accusations that financiers have been allowed to profit from public assets being sold off cheaply.

By undervaluing Royal Mail by more than £1 billion this government is as inept as our local council when it comes to dealing with finances. How much money and land have they handed over to developers over the last years?

 

From the BBC H&W radio:

 

Developers want to tell the story of the SAS

 

Developers have applied for a multi-million pound grant to create the first special forces heritage centre in Britain.

 

The team behind Hereford's Enterprise Zone want to turn a former shell factory into a visitor attraction.

 

The factory was built in 1916 to provide artillery for World War One.

 

The structure is 40,000 sq ft and has an unsupported span, meaning there are no pillars or supports inside.

 

The SAS headquarters are in Herefordshire.

 

'Sense of reverence'

Neil Kerr, chairman of the Enterprise Zone board, said the factory building is as strong as ever, even though the walls are not overly robust.

 

"The walls were very thin because they were designed to blow out if the factory exploded," he said.

 

Mr Kerr said he wanted the centre to become a national attraction which would tell the story of the SAS in a sensitive way: "We will establish a real sense of reverence.

 

"Hereford is famous around the world for two things; beef cattle and our friends at the regiment."

 

The project also includes plans for exhibitions of women at war and Herefordshire's relationship with conflict.

 

Mr Kerr said he did not know how much money would be needed to set up the centre, but he hoped some would come from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

I thought the aim of the Enterprise Zone was to attract businesses which will create thousands of jobs. 

Amey need to sort out the drainage on Great Western Way just past Barton Road bridge on the left hand bend. The drain under the mud is completely blocked and the last lot of rain completely blocked the path and people had great difficulty in passing this point for a couple of days.

mail from Cllr Johnson 2 Oct 2013

​Posted in the Hereford Times

Dear Mr. *****
Cllr. Hamiltons’ complaints were about Councillors in other (non Conservative administration groups) The behaviour of those Councillors is a matter for the leaders of those groups. You may wish to enquire of those leaders what actions they propose to moderate the behaviour of their members bearing in mind that, at this stage, these are still allegations. Where staff make complaints about their treatment by Councillors, those complaints are dealt with by an established formal procedure and, where appropriate, sanctions are applied to the offender.
People seeking to make political capital from unsubstantiated rumour which could result in damaging an innocent person should be treated with the contempt they deserve. This comment is not directed at you Mr. ***** since you had the courage at least to identify yourself when making direct contact with me with your opinion.
I was elected leader only last May and you will gather from this e-mail that I have no intention whatsoever of resigning. This administration was elected by the majority of voters to enact its’ manifesto for the benefit of the whole County. It is on track to do just that. Given the dire financial position of all Councils (and particularly small ones like ours) and the problems of managing rising demand with drastically reduced funding, it would be interesting to know what alternatives are proposed by anyone. I can assure you that despite lots of general moans, none has been forthcoming so far.
If I can be of help in any future matters I would be very pleased to do so.
Regards

Tony Johnson
Leader Herefordshire Council
ajohnson@herefordshi
re.gov.uk

 

From Hereford Times website today:

 

Local policing changes in Herefordshire

 

THE delivery of local policing services in Herefordshire changed this week.

 

All areas of the county now have a dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) comprising of police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and special police constables.

 

Each SNT is managed by a police sergeant, while PCSOs will now have more powers when executing their duty and be able to work later.

 

The SNTs in Herefordshire are:

 

• Hereford City, Southside and Rural

This includes St Martins and Hinton, rural areas to the south of Hereford and Hereford city centre

 

• Belmont Southside

 

• Hereford City Northside

This includes Three Elms, St Nicholas, Tupsley and Aylestone

 

• Hereford Rural North - This includes rural areas to the north and east of Hereford

• Kington and Weobley

• Leominster

• Bromyard

• Ledbury

• Golden Valley

• Ross-on-Wye

 

Response officers operating from patrol bases in Hereford, Ledbury and Leominster will support SNTs.

 

And in SNTs in areas of high demand, which includes Hereford City, Southside and Rural, there will be two police officers and four PCSOs (one of which is based at Hereford Academy). 

 

“People told me during my election campaign that local policing is an important way of maintaining or increasing public reassurance and it is high on my agenda,†said West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore.

 

“These changes to the teams, alongside better use of technology and extended powers and hours of PCSOs, will ensure that officers are visible and easily accessible within communities, despite the significant reduction in police funding.â€

I've highlighted the City links for information.

Councillor Chris Chappell representing Hinton and St Martins ward in South Wye, after over twenty years as a Labour councillor crossed the political floor of Herefordshire Council to join the Herefordshire Independents group this week.

I was thinking today...

Colin has the drive, many people here love to dig through paperwork and research and I'm a dab hand with digital media....

Anyone fancy a fortnightly/monthly digital magazine that covers all of the news that the Horrorford Times refuses to and highlights the points and information that others can't be assed with?

If people send me the content, I'm happy to compile it :)

A few years back there was a restructure in one of the large Directorate's. Just for fun let's call it Environment.

At the time one of the assistant directors did not get a job and normally would be made redundant. But they were obviously too valuable to get rid of so was given another job but keeping the salary and position. I believe some of the funding came from elsewhere.

Time moves on and the cost cutting goes on with more restructures and all of a sudden the person concerned gets almost their original job back.

In the Directorate there is, obviously, the Director plus at least 5 Assistant Directors. This at the time when people are being made redundant by the bus load.

it does seem that if you are favoured you are looked after

Police are Searching for missing Hereford Man Richard Arrowsmith aged 35

The local man was reported missing on Wednesday 18 September and officers are concerned for his welfare.

He is described as a white man with blue eyes. He has short dark hair and a tattoo of three hearts on his back. He usually wears jeans and casual clothing.

Anyone who knows of Richard’s whereabouts is urged to contact police at Hereford as soon as possible by dialling 101.

West Mercia Details on this story Here

I was reading this letter on the Hereford Times website about the possibility that the Old House may close within two years, So what's the story here then? Anyone know?

There is a crash on Roman Road today so traffic is really bad.

Roman Road is closed near Bobblestock following a collision this morning between a car and a bus.

Picture from HT

Herefordshire Council is asking residents to help petition for a fair share of funding in rural areas from central government.

The rural fair share campaign is being actively promoted by the Rural Services Network with assistance from over 100 MPs from different political parties across the UK, with the aim to ensure that public services in rural areas receive a fair share of government funding.

Councillor Tony Johnson, leader of Herefordshire Council, said: “This is not a political issue that we are asking people to get involved in, it is quite simply about trying to bring more money into Herefordshire for the benefit of residents and businesses across the county.

“As it currently stands, the government provides rural areas with less funding than other more populated areas of the country.  However, although we may have fewer residents than other counties, we have other important issues to consider and finance such as an ageing population and helping people to travel around a large rural area for work.â€

If you would like to sign the petition and help the council to try and bring more funding into the county, please visit your local info centre or library.

The petition will be available until 5pm on Thursday 19 September 2013.  The Herefordshire petition will then be presented in the House of Commons in October along with petitions from other rural counties.

A press release has just been sent out and you will read shortly about CLLR Alex hempton-smith resigning he has found the pressure of being young,holding down a busy full time job and being a councillor all to much he has suffered with bouts of depression but managed to just about hold it together,I would like to publicly thank him for all the help he has given me behind the scene's I wish him well on his travels and I hope he gets better now a lot of the pressures have been lifted finally I respect him for standing up and being counted at such a young age it may have been too soon but at least he tried to make a difference for the people of Herefordshire judge him on that.

I wonder can anyone tell me what on earth has happened to the once very pleasant walkway that used to run from Southolm Rd to Belmont Rd. I see somebody has decided that the best way to keep Waterfield Rd safe is to fell the dangerous trees and push them into the brook. Along with a wide variety of drinks bottles, carrier bags and numerous other items the brook is now becoming a health risk and a eyesore .
Does anyone know who is responsible and if it going to be sorted ?

Page 2 of the Journal makes interesting reading. There's been a moment of clarification and I sincerely hope it doesn't lose momentum! 

Independent party Councillors are calling for an end to cabinet rule! Well done Cllr Mathews, Bowen and Hardwick. Now take it a step further and engage with front line staff and let them give you all the evidence you need to bring about this change. 

That one step will save Herefordshire Council the millions it needs to make our Council and our City something we can be proud of!

Taken from HT.

A £30m redevelopment of a Hereford estate has been approved by by herefordshire Council planning committee. Councillors voted in favour of the demolition  of the Oval at Newton Farm so that 259 flats, houses and bungalows can be built in its place.

The council cabinet has backed the plan and it enjoys widespread support within the community.

Herefordshire Housinh (HHL) has had designs on the Oval  for some time which included the demolition of much of the area's existing layout. Earlier this year the council gifted part of  the land at the site of the former Vortex Youth Centre to kickstart what will be  one of the most significant residential regenerations projects ever taken in the county.

Yesterday (Wednesday) planning committee members heard  how three storey blocks on Kilvert Road, broxash Drive, Belmont Rd and Beattie Ave would go to make way for the 259 new mixed tenure homes to be built.

The plan also includes improvements to existing shops and open spaces, and a new community facility . Built over a planned six year programme, the redevelopment would be made up of one and two bedroom flats,one bedroom bungalows, and two,three and four bedroom houses.

HHL will manage half of the properties with the rest to be sold by keepmoat, HHL's development partner.

 The committee was recommended to back the development in principle, leaving the final authorisation  to officers once specified conditions are met.

 

As the ward councillor who is a member of the Oval Housing Management sub group for this development, I will be looking at the decant of tenants of the flats, and the re-housing of the tenants. some tenants have already moved from Beattie House flats, with just three remaining tenants to be moved, to enable this block of flats to be demolished. As soon as there is any further news I can tell you I will. be assured I will continue to assist tenants with their move so to make the process as less stressful as possible for them. I have fully supported  the regeneration of the Oval area from its concept, and will continue to do so to enable my residents to live in new, warm accommodation, and for the first time for many have a garden for their children to play safely in.

I wish someone would authorise somebody to turn off the traffic lights at the Asda junction!
The traffic lights are not working today and guess what...
NO LIGHTS = NO TRAFFIC! Turn them off permanently! I took these pictures at 8.40am this morning.

My hats go off to the workforce of builders on site who seem to have got so much done. It's VERY clear to see who was holding up the project for the last, however many, years.

It always baffles me how things in Hereford take so long to get done....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Tz86YBLOM