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

Following all the paths being renewed on the quarry and new fence's erected by central Tupsley community group,herefordshire park rangers are now taking an interest in the sssi area they did some work last autumn for the first time in many years now they are in there re-establishing the ponds by first cutting down and removing the willow trees then they will be digging them out hence the post their is a volunteer day this Sunday 15th September at 10:30 where we will be having a burn up and carrying out general husbandry duties around the quarry if anyone from Hereford Voice wishes to come along you are more than welcome.

Following a Fence being put up and a permissive path being established on bartonsham farm meadow this local group is to being formed to explore the ancient row ditch the first meeting of the group will be Wednesday 19th September at 6:30pm at the wrvs centre if anyone is interested in joining this group please do come along.

When reading through the different forums I have concluded what an intelligent group of posters we have. There are accountants, directors, strategists, consultants and auditors to name but a few reading the different forums. I'm an advocate of transparency because I believe it's one way to utilise that army of experts.

I believe the Current Council are pouring massive amounts of time energy and money into the wrong resources and projects. That's not a revelation and from what I've read many agree with me. I am not the most intelligent person on the planet, I'm apt to let my imagination, passion and morality cloud my thinking and I certainly know my limitations.

So ...... My reason for posting is to throw out a challenge to all you clever people.

Take a look at the following agenda reports pack on the following link and post your thoughts.

There are several things in the document that provoked my thought processes but sadly as I said I'm not intelligent enough to answer myself! For example:

The documents states one of the reasons this initiative is a good idea is because it will encourage more people to shop online. Won't that sabotage the ESG? It would appear the cabinet run with the cowboys and shoot with the Indians?

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=251&MId=4376&Ver=4

Nice to see a smart new cast iron notice board erected at The Oval, just past Subway on the way round to the fish and chip shop. Who is responsible for this board and placing notices within it? At the moment only general notices on view. What about putting the City of Hereford Parish Council minutes and agendas on display. We may then find out what issues in Newton Farm and Hunderton are being considered, before decisions are made.

Police are appealing for information about a sexual assault in Hereford as a woman was using a cash machine.

It happened outside the HSBC Bank in High Town, at about 2.35am on Saturday, 31st August.

The 21-year-old victim had withdrawn some money when she was grabbed from behind and pulled to the ground but managed to get the man off her and get to her phone to call 999 at which point the man then ran off through High Town in the direction of Commercial Street.

She described him as Asian, 5ft 6ins in height, of slim to average build and with short dark brown hair.

At 12.45am on Monday, 2nd September, police were alerted to a man seen acting suspiciously near a woman using the cash machine at the Natwest Bank in Commercial Street. A man was arrested nearby, but police are trying to trace the woman.

Detective Constable Mel Reynolds of West Mercia Police said: “We are appealing for witnesses to the first incident when the town was quite busy, despite the time of night. Pubs and clubs were closing and there were lots of taxis in the area at the time.

“We are also trying to trace the woman in the second incident as she may have information which would be of benefit to the inquiry.”

A man was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and is currently on bail pending further inquiries.

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Reynolds at Hereford CID on the non-emergency number 101 quoting incidents 94-s-310813 or 17-s-020913 or ring the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Urban village group have had their plans for a 10 one bedroom apartments next to the Freedom Church in Coningsby Street Hereford.

Quote from HT: Gareth Scannell, Sanctuary’s development manager, said: “These will be high quality affordable homes, designed to meet the needs of those requiring supported accommodation in Hereford.”

 

I will be upgrading the whole site over the next few weeks, so if you see the odd glitch please just ignore it until I announce that the upgrading process is complete.

I will be extending the site to cover the whole of Hereford, I have been asked to do this quite a few times by some members and I think it's the only way forward, if we are to continue growing our membership.

I have registered another domain herefordvoice.co.uk - Hereford Voice will be our new name


If there is anything that you would like to see or forums that you would like added or any features you think you would like, now is the time to ask and If I can accommodate, of course, I will.

You may see the forum turned off from time to time but this is quite normal when upgrading (can't start a process if a member is in the middle of posting) but once that particular section has been completed the forum will be turned back on, so you may see new features popping up.

Finally, if you look at the forums as they normally would appear click HERE (You will see the top 6 recent posts at the top then all of the various forums listed below, on here however, I have what is called a 'Portal' installed, (Front Page) which allows articles and pictures to appear just like a newspaper, I also need to upgrade this, so again, if everything looks like it has disappeared, don't worry, it's only me messing with the Portal, just go into the forums as normal, photo's and files still appear inside individual topics.

Any questions, just ask.