Hereford Voice

Cabinet members in Herefordshire Council are facing a slew of questions after the city’s major road project careered out of control. Furious residents want answers and have submitted numerous questions to the cabinet about the City Link Road which faces a £6 million overspend, jeopardising the Transport Hub and improvements the Commercial, Newmarket and Blue School Street elements, as well as flood mitigation measures in Hereford. Image | Google The ruling Coalition leaders will meet on Thursday to discuss the matter and have expressed grave concerns about the ‘casual culture of overspend’ they say was the hallmark of the previous Conservative administration's approach to the delivery of major capital projects. Cabinet member for transport, John Harrington, said At a public Cabinet meeting this Thursday, 22nd July, members will debate a report which they say highlights a litany of errors and possible cover-ups which took place at the council under the Conservatives between 2015-2019. The current administration say previous cabinet members and officers played down the ballooning cost of the compulsory purchase orders needed to deliver the road element of the Hereford City Centre Transport Package. Coun Harrington claims the public and opposition councillors who challenged promises that ‘the most expensive piece of tarmac in England’ was delivered on time and to budget, were misled. Coalition members committed themselves to unearthing the overspend on the city road scheme during a purge to improve project management and governance of major infrastructure projects in the council. Cabinet Member for Finance, Liz Harvey said: How Did Hereford’s City Link Road Spiral Out of Control? Investigations commissioned by the current cabinet into value for money around council capital projects have concluded that land block purchases at the station end of the road created an early £3.8m overspend on the Link Road. The Coalition administration say this hole in the project’s finances was masked by combining the original stand-alone City Link Road project with an entirely separate Marches LEP funded project intended to deliver a transport hub at the station, public realm improvements on Commercial Road, Blueschool Street and Newmarket Street, providing much needed safe walking and cycling routes from the city to the railway station. The GP hub and new student accommodation along the Link Road were included and the combined project was rebranded as the Hereford City Centre Transport Package. Coun Harvey said she believed that combining of separate projects: ‘allowed Peter to rob Paul, and spiralling City Link Road costs were paid for with budgets originally set aside for the transport hub and other public realm improvements.’ Of particular concern to the current administration is the unusually high level, over 100, of 'compensation events', according to Coun Harrington, that saw contractors, Balfour Beatty Living Places, revise upwards their original bid to deliver the projects. Coun Harrington said: ‘I am not suggesting that BBLP deliberately underinflated their bid to secure the HCCTP contract, but so many compensation events during the delivery of a project raises questions about how the council managed this contract and how realistic BBLP's original bid was. We simply must not operate like this again in the future and, alongside senior officers, we have put in place procedures to ensure that all major capital projects are run by one corporate department from now on, with cross cutting responsibilities ensuring we do not ever again get the kind of silo working that I believe has led to some of the missteps that have dogged this project.’ Prior to Thursday’s cabinet meeting to discuss the matter Coun Harrington said that Coun Harrington said: Coun Harrington added: Finance member, Coun Liz Harvey, commented:

Hereford’s looking up, with new bee-friendly bus shelters 🐝 When you’re next out and about, you may notice that three ‘green’ bus shelters with living plants on the roofs have been installed at the Red Barn Drive stop on Yazor Road, and the Memorial and Victoria bus stops on Whitecross Road. The roofs are planted with 16 different varieties of Sedum plants, which are known to have many benefits for the environment. As plants they help absorb CO2 and release oxygen, while their flowers are also great for bees providing a haven and a welcome food source for many different pollinators along the urban roadsides. The sedum plants can also filter fine dust particles and so help to purify air, cutting pollution levels and they can help to capture rain water - all while bringing a little bit of nature into the City. Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: Read more about the Externiture City Haven shelters and their benefits at externiture.com Herefordshire Council is also running a Bus Service Improvement Survey from Friday 16 July to Sunday 15 August. To access the consultation, please visit www.herefordshire.gov.uk/bus-survey

Update 10.30am Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service crews from Ledbury Fire Station and Hereford Fire Station are still currently dealing with a fire near the railway track in Ledbury. Fire crews are liaising with Network Rail and extinguishing the fire.

Disruption between Hereford and Worcester Foregate Street expected until 10:00 Ledbury Train Station A fire next to the track at Ledbury is causing disruption to journeys between Hereford and Worcester Foregate Street. Services may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Natioanl Rail anticipate disruption will continue until 10:00. Alternative travel advice for West Midlands Railway customers: Replacement road transport has been requested to run in both directions between Hereford and Worcester Shrub Hill, however, this is not expected to arrive at Hereford until at least at 08:30. 📷 Wikimedia Commons

The future of Hereford’s Town Hall lies in the hands of those who love it, according to Coalition councillor Gemma Davies. Councillor Gemma Davies Regarding news that Herefordshire Council can no longer afford the Town Hall, Councillor Davies said: Councillor Davies said:

The B4362 between Orleton and Woofferton was closed at the railway bridge earlier this afternoon. Rail services between Leominster and Ludlow were disrupted and emergency services attended the scene. Unfortunately one patient sadly died. The road is now open. 📷 Google

Herefordshire Council teams have recently completed a programme of resurfacing and drainage works on the U75235 - Browns Lane, near The Bage, Dorstone in Herefordshire

The incident happened around 11.15pm last night (Friday 16 July) in High Street. A 29 year old man attended hospital for lacerations caused by a knife. A 26 year old man and a 23 year old woman have been arrested on suspicion of assault and are currently in police custody. Officers are carrying out enquiries and appealing for witnesses, in particular two people seen on CCTV in the area at the time. Detective Sergeant Jim Moore, from Hereford CID, said: “We believe we have identified two people we have on CCTV who may have witnessed the assault and would ask they get in contact with us.” Witnesses can contact Hereford CID on 01432 347399 or alternatively online under the Tell Us About section of West Mercia Police’s website (quote reference 00192_I_17072021). If you do not wish to speak to police direct you can speak to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Good to see West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner, John-Paul Campion out on the streets with Hereford Police last night.

In line with government advice on the removal of many Covid-19 restrictions, Herefordshire Council will begin the process of removing some Emergency Active Travel Measures following the 19 July 2021. Some measures will be removed in the weeks following the 19th July, whilst the removal of others will follow after the summer to allow a more sensible and balanced return to pre-Covid streetscapes. The initial elements to be removed are: Footway widening in High Street Bromyard, Broad Street and King Street Hereford Temporary 20mph limits in Hereford and the Market Towns Highway Covid warning signage in Ross on Wye & Kington Friday closure of High Street Leominster Extension to closure time of Widemarsh Street Hereford Elements to be removed at the end of September: Old Wye Bridge Closure Hereford Footway widening in Bridge Street Hereford The following elements are to remain for the time being: Closure of Aubrey Street Hereford Advisory cycle lane on Ledbury Road Hereford Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Transport, said:

The freehold disposal of Hereford Town Hall is being discussed at a meeting set for August 6th It's not a simple 'yes or no question' because this is public money that needs to be spent! There are huge maintenance costs to consider, many of the county's historical buildings require regular maintenance and the Hereford Town Hall needs at least £2.5M spending on it immediately just to bring it up to standard, but there is a lot more work required. This is mainly down to the lack of ongoing maintenance since back to the 1990's. The reason for this consideration, from our understanding, is that the Town Hall could be sold to the Hereford City Council and or including a possible 3rd party (CIC) which will be discussed further at the meeting on August 6th 2021. A community interest company (CIC) is a special form of non-charitable limited company, which exists primarily to benefit a community or with a view to pursuing a social purpose, rather than to make a profit for shareholders. Therefore, access to finance – whether through provide donors, grants or community development finance – may lead a social enterprise to operate as a CIC rather than as a standard company. These funding options such as grants etc are available to CIC's but this source of funding would not be available to a Council. Councillor Gemma Davies, cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets, said that in setting this year’s budget, it was vital £11.2 million in savings was identified, including new approaches to managing council assets. she said. Hereford Town Hall was built in 1904 and is a Grade II Listed building. In order to bring the Hereford Town Hall and other historical buildings across the county up to standard would most likely result in a increase in Council Tax, so the real question here is; 'Would you prefer in increase in your Council Tax or for Herefordshire Council to consider these other options'?

Further to this, our 'Breaking News' article yesterday Herefordshire Council have today also confirmed that the Leominster and Hereford Mayfair 2021 have been cancelled. The fairs were originally postponed earlier this year from their usual Spring dates until the summer, when it was hoped circumstances would be safer and easier for the events to go ahead. While coronavirus restrictions are set to change from 19 July, the 4 week pause to that lifting imposed by central government resulted in a lack of certainty being given as to whether these specific fairs could take place. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the council and the event organisers, it has not been possible to put together viable events within such a short timeframe, taking into account the complexities of street fairs. Dean Deakin, Chairman of the South Wales and Northern Ireland Section of The Showman’s Guild, said: Abie Morris, on behalf of the Morris family, said: On behalf of Herefordshire Council, Cllr Tyler, Cabinet Member Housing, Regulatory Services & Community Safety said,

Thanks for this information

Hereford Voice understands today that the Showman's Guild have pulled out of bringing the May Fair to Hereford in August due to lack of its members willing to change their current commitments. We previously reported back in March here 👉 https://hfd.news/ry1 that due to the Coronavirus pandemic the original 900th May Fair was rescheduled to arrive in the city from Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th August 2021. It was also due to arrive a few days earlier in Leominster from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 July, which we understand has also been cancelled. The Hereford May Fair will celebrate the 901st anniversary as usual in May 2022.

Here is another! - Application

As Hereford bids farewell to the Knife Angel, the official figures have just come in and during the month that the National Monument Against Violence and Aggression was on display at Hereford Cathedral there were 102,000 visitors. £9,200 raised from the generosity of visitors filling the charity boxes - these funds will go toward the continuation of supplying educational resources and workshops for schools and youth organisations. Knife Angel Statue on the lorry heading back to the British Iron Works Centre in Oswestry, photo courtesy of our friend Jon Simpson (official knife Angel Hereford photographer) 284 knives, 2 guns were surrendered and there is still a surrender box at Hinton Community Centre, so we don’t know what is in there yet. Alison Davies looks at the hundreds of weapons and knives handed in. What a fabulous achievement by Alison Davies and Meryl Cain who have worked tirelessly for over 2 years just to bring the monument to Hereford. Alison Davies lost her son Mark to knife crime in December 2018 and together with Meryl Cain and a small group of friends wanted to raise awareness of the catastrophic impact violent crime has on individuals, families and communities. The team’s involvement with this project was carried out on a completely voluntary basis. The group are known as The Knife Angel Hereford Team. Hereford Voice is so proud to have been able to promote and support the Knife Angel Hereford project as an official 'Working Partner' for the many months leading up to the arrival of the statue in Hereford last month and would like to thank Alison Davies, Meryl Cain and the whole team behind the scenes for being hugely successful in highlighting the devastating impact violence has on all our lives and for boosting tourism in Hereford by bringing this fabulous statue to our city.

Today (Sunday 11 July) is the final day to see Knife Angel Hereford before it returns to The British Ironwork Centre The project has truly had a massive impact on our community - as of this weekend we are approaching 100,000 visitors, 250+ weapons have been handed in and the project has worked with over 600 schoolchildren. So many people have been involved in bringing the Knife Angel to Hereford so we have spoken to just a few members of the team to share their experiences. Knife Angel Hereford Summer 2021 | Farewell Video.mp4

Embrace Hereford | It's the last weekend before the magnificent Knife Angel Hereford leaves us. Have you visited this magnificent ‘National Monument Against Violence and Aggression’? The fabulous thought-provoking Knife Angel Hereford has had a huge impact on the city with plenty of daily visitors. Hereford Voice is so proud to have been able to promote and support the Knife Angel Hereford project for many months leading up to the arrival of the statue in Hereford last month and would like to thank Alison Davies, Meryl Cain and the whole team behind the scenes for being hugely successful in highlighting the devastating impact violence has on all our lives and for boosting tourism in Hereford by bringing this fabulous statue to our city. Even after the Angel has left us, Hereford Voice will continue to support the Knife Angel Hereford project who are hoping to continue with a programme of legacy events, so that important messages regarding the futility of violent crime are continued into the future. For further information about the Knife Angel’s visit to Hereford, please visit the website https://knifeangelhereford.co.uk/. Donate to support Knife Angel Hereford 👉 https://hfd.news/u4c #EmbraceHereford and please make time to visit this thought-provoking 'Knife Angel' statue before it leaves us. 📷 Official Knife Angel Hereford photographer Jon Simpson #herefordvoice #positivehereford #herefordnews

Row Sentinel Ian is one very happy football fan and he’ll be cheering England on from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Is he England’s most socially distanced fan?! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 COME ON ENGLAND! - Ian is one very happy football fan and he’ll be cheering england on from the middle of the atlanticocean - Is he England’s mos.mp4 Follow his journey and donate here 👉 https://rowsentinel.com

Update | Statement from Fire Service

Unsafe building St Owen's Street, Hereford, cordon in place, please avoid the area. The building is the Tattoo Parlour which has substantial structural damage, of which the cause is still unknown but early reports suggest that the building was hit by a vehicle a few days ago. Emergency services and structural engineers are at the scene. Photo courtesy of Google Maps & Simon Sloan

WOW What a superb aerial photograph captured 100 metres above the Victoria Bridge in Hereford. Thank you to our friend and regular Hereford Voice Photo Studio contributor Steve Norgrove for this fabulous shot.

Embrace Hereford | There are plenty of superb things to celebrate about our wonderful city. The fabulous thought-provoking Knife Angel Hereford has had a huge impact on the city with plenty of daily visitors. The National Monument Against Violence and Aggression will be on display until 12th July and there is a month-long programme of events. Hereford Voice has drawn up a complete and comprehensive list of interactive medical workshops and creative activities, venues, dates and times etc 👉 https://hfd.news/em9 Hereford Voice is so proud to have been able to promote and support the Knife Angel Hereford project for many months leading up to the arrival of the statue in Hereford and we would like to thank Alison Davies, Meryl Cain and the whole team behind this fabulous project for all of their hard work for the past two years leading up to this fabulous event. There is more good positive news! We have more new shops that have opened recently! Ga&Bi Polish Shop have been open for the past few weeks, check out their delicious fresh Polish cakes! you will find their shop in Bewell Street. En BBQ Hereford have recently opened their superb new Korean restaurant within the Hereford Old Market Shopping Centre where you will also find other fabulous restaurants, coffee bars and shops. Wonderful to see Saxtys Bar & Club thriving once again and if you have not been yet it is a must visit! A new Tapas restaurant is also on the horizon and with the fantastic winning bid from the StrongerHereford team our brilliant city has a lot more new and exciting projects on the way! We love our city and county and we like to shout about it and promote everything positive. It's all too easy to moan but we are privileged to live in such a beautiful part of the World. We will continue to promote local business and encourage people to visit Hereford and Herefordshire. Join us in our campaign and 'BE POSITIVE' about this fabulous city of ours. 'Positive Hereford' and 'Embrace Hereford' #PositiveHereford #EmbraceHereford #HerefordNews

The A49 at Dinmore Hill will remain closed overnight with a view to reopen in the morning following an incident involving an overturned HGV vehicle. DIVERSIONS Road users travelling southbound are advised to follow the solid circle diversion route: At the junction of the A49/A417, turn left on to the A417 eastbound. Continue along the A417 to its junction with the A4103. Turn right on to the A4103 westbound. Continue along A4103 westbound to its roundabout with the A49. Join the A49 and continue your journey. Road users travelling northbound are advised to follow the solid triangle diversion route: At the roundabout junction of A49/A4103 take the exit to the A4103 eastbound. Continue along the A4103 eastbound to its junction with the A417 Turn left along the A417 and continue to its junction with the A49 to continue your journey. Delays are likely on the approach to this closure, with additional journey times also expected on diversion routes. Further incident information is available from Highways England by visiting our www.trafficengland.com website and travel apps, or via our @HighwaysWMIDS regional Twitter feed. Our 24/7 Customer Contact Centre is also available to provide up to the minute information on 0300 123 5000.