Mick

Okay I have been for a walk this morning along parts of the old railways line that we are referring.

 

If I start at the top of Redhill/Newton Farm near to the where the track used to split into two. A turning point was also suggested, well, there are lots of empty fields in this area, the one that comes to mind could be the field in this photograph, which I will name 'The Top Field'. No trees either!

 

 

The Top Field

 

Beaufort Ave 1.jpg

 

You can see where this field is located better from this photo

 

This is the main field as you walk down from the top of Brampton Road in Newton Farm, Haywood School (The Academy) is directly facing you and the skate board part is to the right.

 

Main Field 1a.jpg

 

The existing trains you can see in this photo (good timing on my part lol)

 

Train 1.jpg

 

Train 2.jpg

 

The route into the city is less than the 2-3 miles that I thought it was, it is actually only 1 1/2 miles from this point, so the turn around could be less than 20-30 minutes more like 15 mins.

 

Sign 1.jpg

This could be a good option, I can't see too many people complaining about the use of the top field, there is already trains going past and a tram would be super quiet being electronically powered. I see Preston are thing along the same lines - excuse the pun, see here and also here

It is a great idea and runs through my Ward. Dr Heinz wanted to pay to set it up but not for the running costs. No one came forward to run the trams as it was not considered profitable. This was at the time when Cheltenham were considering scraping their road bus.

 

The two nearest schools were Haywood and Hunderton but not many of the pupils were far enough way to want to use the tram. People from RedHill, And Newton Farm could use the bus which would get them closer to the city centre or Rotherwas. Residents in Hinton and Ross Road area were more likely to bus or cycle or walk into town if they did not use the car. To make it viable the price of a ticket would need to be far more than most people could afford, and it was considered that there were not enough people who would want to use the tram going north while there would be fewer people wanting to go south at peak times. The Great Western. Way is a long way from Rotherwas so this also cut down the number wanting to use the service.

 

It could be linked to park and ride but for that to be viable there would need to be a car park for 500 cars. Somewhere close to make use of the tram. RedHill or Newton Farm, Brampton Road or Marlbrook Road? Both likely to be unpopular with local residents with extra car movements.

 

There was another problem too. There needed to be at least two trams each way every half hour so a passing point would need to be provided for a tram thus taking out space used by cyclists and pedestrians. There was a fear cyclists might catch there wheels in the rails.

 

If a tram service is going to happen along the GWWay it needs to be run by a not for profit social enterprise with funding from the lottery and grants from national and regional government. Maybe the model train group in Broomy Hill could run it but they are only open inthe spring and summer months. For a service that would be of use to the public, it needs to be a regular service.

I am more than happy to put my name forward to start up a social enterprise but I am not sure that it will solve the problems of traffic chaos in Belmont Road and of course with the IOC and Tories both supporting a bus lane down Belmont Road I am worried that the ASDA round about and Belmont Road will become even more congested than now!

Well there is the poo poo that Colin referred too! 

It will work if we all get behind it. In Germany the trams I noticed recently are sponsored by advertisers. You do not need 2 trams you could just have one tram going back and forth every 20-30 mins, which is better than the bus service we have now. The lines from one end to the other is less than 2-3 miles. Chris you mention that people from Redhill and Newton Farm could use buses, there are no buses!! What happened to the good old Hopper service? There is not even a bus from Newton Farm to Bobblestock without changing buses and bus companies.

This idea is the best idea I have heard from anyone in years, it really is, so lets ALL get behind it for Christ sake. 

The advert on page 20 of this weeks HT looks fabulous, and almost jumped out of the page at me. Glad you paid the extra Colin for the half page in colour, well done great effort.

A massive improvement indeed and an excellent job, at least by doing this job properly they will only need to trim these to keep them under control in the future. 

I know the owner of Simply Stunning and he bought the building as an investment, he was made an offer for the premises that he could not refuse, the store in Hereford was never going to be long term, still better than an empty building.

I don't mind joining and lending a hand in this type of project but by doing just that starts an ongoing expectation. 

The review application for Mamma Jammas is obviously listed on the Council Website here

 

The 41 'incidents' are listed in short form .... #8 is a bit flimsy as it seems to suggest door staff refused entry to a male who had turned up drunk from elsewhere. He refused to clear off and the cops were called .... Seems to me like the venue was trying to adhere to the Licensing Objectives .... 

 

Other items on that list are, at face value, worrying ....

 

To compare and contrast I'd like the HT to put in a FOI request in for all nightclubs in Hereford City Centre for the sake of balance .... Including the now defunct Jailhouse .... 

Page 10:

Mr Jones does not accept that there is a high level of crime and disorder connected to his premises and that the level occurring is proportiate to the size of the venue. It was pointed out to him that a level which is acceptable to the police is zero and he should be striving to make his venue a safe place.

To be fare, I think the police are being unrealistic if they expect any club/pub to have a level of zero crime and disorder.  

Ah another cracking subject well I for one will be very weary of this gift from Greece because it could have implications for all of us and sadly Bobby we have to disagree on this. The reason why Greece got into this mess was because most Greeks paid little or no taxes, corruption was rife and life was a permanent siesta. Totally reliant of public services for employment so basically if they walk away from paying their debts they will have no money,no industry and so much uncertainty which in turn will bring disruption and a lot of anarchy ...which in turn will blow its tourism right out the Olympic rings.

 

It's almost certain that should they walk away from their debt others will follow so stand by for even more people coming to the UK for work,stability and a place to live.

 

What I love about the Greeks is that they are so upfront about the fact that the system was abused for so long.

 

Sorry Bobby mate but this is not a good thing.

I totally agree greenknight, bad management over decades of corruption and people not paying taxes, now they see an option to avoid paying their creditors, guess what, yessss the Greek people have voted for the party who want to half the debt or not pay it at all, funny that. 

Greece's debts total around €356bn (£290bn) - or around 165pc of the country's gross domestic product, a broad measure for the total economy. Greece's high levels of debt mean investors are wary of lending it more money, and demand a higher premium for doing so. The yield on Greek 10-year government bonds - the cost of borrowing to Greece - is one of the highest in the world at 29pc, compared with 1.7pc in the UK and 1.6pc in the US. Greece is struggling to repay its debts as it is in the throes of a deep recession. The economy is expected to contract by around 6.4pc this year, while unemployment is at record levels. To add to the economic turmoil, the Greek government is in tatters. Unable to form a coalition government due to fierce differences over how to lead the country out of the crisis, another general election was forced.

 

How did it end up in this mess?

Greece is in a large amount of debt following years of living beyond its means; public spending soared in the past decade and public sector wages doubled during the period. However, as the government upped its spending, tax income was hit because of widespread tax evasion. So when the global financial downturn hit, Greece was not equipped to cope.

Greece is a corrupt, elitist society where tax-evasion is applauded. Since the crisis, more people were found to be owning Porsches than were declaring €40k euros income. That's not to mention the shipping magnates who operate tax-free!

 

Greece should never have been allowed to join the EU. Let them go - but make them pay their debts!

Yes I tend to agree, a lot of this they have brought upon themselves through decades of evading taxes and corruption at all levels. When I was on holiday a few years back on Crete, I got talking to a local bar owner and he admitted that they had it so so good for so long and now they are paying the price, so even some Greek people realise how good they had it but eventually it caught up with the country and they had to be bailed out, so lets not feel too sorry for them. You run up massive debts here and you have to eventually pay it back or face the possibility of bankruptcy. I think the country needs to be careful now following this election, its okay saying goodbye to the Euro and go back to the Drachma but if they fail to meet the repayments then their economy will suffer even greater hardship because they will lose the support of the other member countries.  

Hi Mick, thanks for the reply!

 

We may have very different views on the way forward for Herefords City Centre, but the fact we can listen to each others view point is a real positive!

 

It will be very interesting to see what difference the 2.5 million pounds, which Herefordshire Council have announced has been earmarked for the city centre, will make. Will their priorities be the same as either mine or yours I wonder?

 

I also think if the vote to back Herefords BID goes through, these guys will have plenty to add to the mix, with ideas for revitalising our centre. Made up of local business owners, they more than any other group, have the expertise and know how, we should perhaps be listening to.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to France....au revoir for now!

The world would be a boring place if we all agreed but it is good to share our views. Lets hope they spend the money wisely. 

 

Notice.png

 

Due to the fact that when this topic became archived (until I corrected the admin parameters) we have unfortunately lost the beginning of this topic and a few others within the database and I cannot find a way of retrieving them.

 

I would suggest starting a new topic in which case I will lock this one (preventing any further replies) or if you prefer I can remove a few posts from this one a re-title it with an image, if that is the case please suggest a suitable title and I will make the amendments. 

 

I think you are right Colin, this topic needs to be given a new title or a more descriptive one. Any good work as a result of this topic could be added by the author or a new thread started.

Afternoon Mick!

 

I apologise if my post came across as negative, re-reading it, I guess it does.

 

I still feel that the other stores you mention, Joules, Paperchase, L'Occitane and Tiger could easily have been accommodated within the many empty units we have.....which leaves Debenhams. Many years ago, I believe Debenhams were going to be the anchor store within what was then, the new Maylords Orchard - but the Chadds family scuppered this plan, and so we got C and A instead!

 

However, as Green Knight said, I am not against progress - I just question what that progress is precisely, when we can leave our city centre to rot. My only course of action is to continue to spend my money with independent traders, and support High Town businesses where I can.

 

 Tourists come to Hereford for The Cathedral, The Mappa Mundi, The River Wye....the list goes on. I don't believe Nandos will attract tourists! But we are where we are, which means we do need a radical re think,if Hereford City Centre is to be prevented from falling even further into decline.

 

Imagine for a moment, that all businesses in Eign Gate, were moved to plug the gaps in High Town, Widemarsh Street and Commercial Street. Imagine that Eign Gate became a greener space, with grass, trees and affordable housing for our younger population?

 

Wouldn't this make Hereford feel more vibrant and bustling?? More attractive to both locals and tourists alike?

 

I don't believe we are ever going to fill all those empty shops, so lets re think what the "foot print" of the city centre should be.

 

We all want a better Herefordshire, I believe that making the best of what we have is a good starting point!

There is no need for you to apologise, it is a good sign that at least we are all passionate about our city.    I agree that Nandos might not attract tourist but I do think that the new restaurants play a part in attracting locals and people from the surrounding towns, hamlets and villages. Housing I think she be kept out of the city centre because once you start with housing you then in turn have obstacles when venus and pubs stay open, noise etc.

High Town and the OLM should of been looked upon as one and not split, I was always in favour of Colin's suggestion of a foot bridge, this would not of interfered with the flow of traffic and I am sure that something could of been done with linking such a bridge from the multi storey directly into Maylord Orchards, even better it would of had a roof and in theory people could go directly from the vehicles into shops without worrying about the weather or cold. On the subject of roof's I was disappointed that there was no roof on the shops within the square of Maylord Orchards and along Gomond St and at the back of the Butter Market when that was built and I cannot believe that no roof exists at the OLM (I am sure one could still be built if required). These are all key factors that make up a great shopping experience in my opinion.

I have just returned from France and their like a lot of places, the shopping centres are combined on several floors with hotels, car parks and eateries with nightclubs on the top floors, all of these places have security and it just works. You would think that they would of learned these lessons from the failure of Maylord Orchards.

Unless some serious investment is pumped into High Town to entice company's here, it will die. What company is going to move into a dilapidated old building, with damp and in need of renovation, add this to the fact that a lot are listed and you have your answer.

"....these bigger companies would never have come ...."

 

Hmmm. Such as Fat Face, Pandora, H and M, Dorothy Perkins, TopShop, Clarkes Shoes, Next, and TK Maxx???

 

Stores that were already trading in Herefords High Town??

 

 

Perhaps you refer to Waitrose Supermarket.....to add to the seven supermarkets we already had?

 

Which kind of leaves Debenhams....which, according to staff working in several of the franchises, have so few customers, they are struggling to hit sales targets.

 

The cinema....a definite plus. Much needed, and from what I hear, used by many.

 

Otherwise, it is a food outlet village...chain restaurants which can be found up and down the country.

 

It's a real shame that incentives cannot be offered to our Independent traders, and perhaps a rethink on astronomical business rates on High Town properties, which are currently empty and making such a negative impact on the appearance of our historic city centre.

I was referring to Debenhams and I have a family member who works there and they have had fantastic sales figures since opening which are way beyond the targets that were set, so not sure where you have your information come from there. Then there is Swarovski, River Island, Joules, l'Occitane, Paperchase and Tiger. We can be as negative as we want but I think this new shopping centre has lifted the city and visitor numbers are up, on the flipside of this the city centre has suffered be losing the stores that left to go to the new units, maybe the Council should of tried harder to keep them stores in High Town. With regard to chain restaurants its no different to chain stores but now at least we have a little more choice which hopefully will keep attracting more and more visitors to Hereford. The Cinema was a must.

Is anyone the slightest bit surprised by what is happening in the historic centre? The Council have presided over a strategy that has divided the city. Many of us who opposed the Livestock Market development foresaw the consequences of building a new shopping centre on the other side of the ring-road. Personally, I am only shocked by the fact that the devastation has been far worse than anyone could have imagined.

 

Although the economic effects were predictable, the Council ploughed on with their mis-guided scheme even when British Land squeezed the pips with a classic piece of brinksmanship and negotiated a £500k reduction in the price of the site at the very last minute. Since then, the Council have allowed the developer, Stanhope, to poach the major retailers from the city centre despite paying lip-service to an anti-poaching policy.

 

In case anyone still thinks the Council don't have their fingerprints all over this, Colin's photo #41 is the former H & M store in Commercial Street. With the full knowledge of the Council, Stanhope bought the remainder of this Commercial Street lease - and then closed the store! Surprise! Surprise! H & M have resurfaced in the Livestock Market where, no doubt, they are operating rent-free.

 

If the Council now want to right this situation, they need to come up with some means (rate rebates?) of attracting retailers to the historic centre. Personally, I am not holding my breath.

I do not completely disagree with you, however, these bigger companies who have opened in the Old Market would never of come into High Town without investment and incentives from HC. I for one love the new shopping centre but I think they could of combined the two better than it is. Colin suggested a foot bridge which looking back would of definitely been a good thing, too many people crossing over that road for my liking and a bridge would of prevented all of that. Maylord Orchards is more or less dead now but there has been no investment since the place was built! Huge rates do not help either add this will the closure of public toilets and traffic wardens who act like they are on commission and its all looking pretty bleak.

I can see the benefits of using this service if you have no change on you but being charged for the privilege is not on.

I read this article earlier which address's these idiotic theories;

The horrific killing of 12 people at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo seems disturbingly straightforward. The magazine has a long history of using satire to critique radical Islam (and many other targets). They have published many cartoons depicting Mohammed, something that has provoked violence before. They had previously been firebombed, and have been the target of threats for many years. Several of those killed were named as being "wanted, dead or alive" by 

al Qaeda's 

Inspire

 magazine

 (alongside Salman Rushdie). Witnesses to the shooting say the

 gunmen shouted they were "avenging the honor the prophet"

.

And yet there is a small but vocal subset of people who consider nearly every major story in the mainstream media to be fake in some way. Every time there is an attack of some kind, a shooting, a bombing, even the events of 9/11, they claim that the story has been manipulated, or that the shootings were not done by who the media says did it, or even that the event was entirely staged, with fake blood and "crisis actors" who play out the roles of shooters and victims in carefully choreographed pretend carnage. This has already started to happened with the Charlie Hebdo shootings, and with an event of such significance and potential for incitement, it is guaranteed to continue and escalate, and become part of the canon of purported "false flag" events. David Icke was 

quick to chime in. 

Over and over the theorists will come up with claims of things they think were suspicious about these events. In the Sandy Hook school schoolings, banal things like the lack of video, or the small stature of the shooter, or the facial expressions of the parents of the victims were offered as "proof" that the shootings never happened. After the Boston Marathon bombings armchair experts opined that there was too much blood, or not enough blood, or the blood was too red, or that people reacted in unexpected ways to having their legs blown off, thus proving that the events were just a charade.

These claims, of course, are specious. Just shoehorned cherry-picked confirmation bias by people who have already decided that everything is fake, and so 

everything

 they see is evidence of that fakery. Many of their claims have been examined at length, here and on many other sites, and have been shown to be either straightforward bunk (errors and lies), or meaningless subjective speculation and interpretations.

They hide under the excuse of "I'm just asking questions", and claim they are performing a legitimate role of fact-checking the mainstream media - something, they say, which you could not possibly object to. This excuse has the ring of truth about it, as fact-checking is indeed an honorable pursuit and errors in the media should be exposed and corrected. But that's not what they are doing.

They are finding ordinary and expected inconsistencies in the reporting of chaotic events. They are offering their own subjective interpretations of events as alternative evidence. They latch on to the most trivial of coincidences (with their mantra of "there are no coincidences") as evidence of a conspiracy. Two women with the same haircut is evidence that they are the same woman, and hence an actor, and hence everything is fake. It's self-reinforcing confirmation bias taken to an extreme. It does not seem worthy of response.

And yet here on Metabunk we've taken them on, and debunked many of their claims. We have occasionally been criticized for doing this, as the claims are so outlandish, denying that people died, that they are deeply offensive to the relatives of the victims. This was particularly the case for Sandy Hook, where the conspiracy theorists have gone as far as harassing the parents of the children who were murdered. Should we even acknowledge these people? In debunking them are we actually giving them more attention than they would get if we just ignored them?

It's hard to draw the line. Some things are clearly way over it - suggestions than no planes hit the World Trade Center, or that what people saw were giant holograms, or that Sandy Hook School had actually been closed for years. Indeed you might think that the entire notion of events like Sandy Hook being fake, or the Boston Marathon Bombings being fake, is over the line - obviously ludicrous and offensive.

And yet some people believe it.

Now we are obviously not going to change the minds of the 

David Ickes

 or 

James Tracys

 of the world. These are people who's very identity, their entire reason for the way they live their lives, is tied up in their beliefs of a fake media and all major events being fake.

Nor are we going to change the minds of the "true believer", the conspiracy theorist who has been thinking like this for decades, the type of person for whom evidence that should contradict his beliefs will bizarrely reinforce them. Where pointing out the errors in their evidence is simply more evidence that they are correct. They do come around, but very rarely.

But then there are vastly more people on the fringes of conspiracy theory than there are deeply buried inside it. In particular there are many young people - people who are very impressionable, with flexible minds that soak up new ideas quickly, but who are also able to drop those ideas when they are shown they are incorrect. It is this group that is the target audience for the majority of the debunking on Metabunk.

Conspiracy thinking, conspiracy ideation, is a black hole, a dark rabbit hole that once you get deep enough into, it is very hard to escape from. When I debunk I hope I'm preventing people from falling into that hole, or if they are already in it I hope to keep them close enough to the light so they will eventually climb out themselves.

And that's why I address ludicrous and offensive theories like the Sandy Hook shootings being fake. It's not in the hope of changing the minds of the people who come up with the ridiculous claims of evidence - they are generally deep down the rabbit hole. It's to help people out who are not in too deep, and to help people not fall into in the first place - particularly the young. 

And so yes, I think we should address the inevitable Charlie Hebdo conspiracy theories. But only if it seems like they have some traction, if they might actually be influencing people. We don't need to respond to every single labored YouTube video of "why was this person stood there" type thing - especially if nobody is watching those videos. But if people are being taken in by claims, if their young or overly-open minds are being darkened by bunk, then I think debunking has a place here.

To answer your question Roger - its simple economics.

 

The pubs have trade - and there are more people out in Hereford at midnight than there are at 3am for example.

 

Spoons has a decent trade, Hope Pole has some, Yates does well, as do the Long Bar and of course the Commercial, and Shake and Stir, and The Heardsman, and The Exchange and the Wellington and the Imperial and The Barrels, and Watercress Harrys and Zanes and.......

 

Now - some of those people go to a club, Play/Saxtys/Mammas. 

 

The point is - about the amount of people out at the times available.

 

Simply at midnight - there are still people around to buy food.

 

At three am - there is simply the three clubs that have customers - of which not all will want food.

 

Choice is good - no - its great.

 

But - I personally prefer to spend money locally and keep the local Hereford Business man in business rather than the big chains that will take the majority of the trade and in my view make it unviable for the local to keep open and make any money eventually resulting in only the big corporates open.

 

This then means no choice

AND money taken out of Hereford

 

And that is what I am against.

But both McDonalds in Hereford are owned by a local franchisee.. I don't think you can eliminate a business simply because they are bigger, given the choice for a take away after a good night out I would select Chinese - Indian - Kebab over a McDonalds everyday of the week but on the flip-side of that my brother cannot eat spicy food, so he would take the McDonalds option. People can choose to spend their money where they prefer.

Colin has pointed out that it is about having a choice and I tend to agree, today we have no choice do we?

Herefordshire Council have rejected an application for an Islamic Centre in Holme Lacy Road Hereford.

 

 

Full details of this application here

 

Original application form and Decision notice attached.

 

AppForm.pdf

 

Decision Notice 167100.pdf

A lot of objections to this I see but I can see that there was inadequate parking.

I think that you might be able to request a larger bin but not 100% maybe a Councillor can advise?

I know that HV is nothing like the HT and rarely does Colin edit or remove topics and that is why I appreciate the facility that he provides us with. I never got involved in the recent topic only read the content. In the end I think removing the whole discussion was the best decision for HV and it's members and long may it continue.   

We ate there last week and had a really good meal. It was busy too which was good to see.

Wow, nice to see, welcome to HV

It's all a con, the place has not even been open 6 months! So these shops have not given it a full year yet, secondly, I was still charged full price for the car park the other night when I was there, so where is the reduction in parking fee's if half the shops are not open??     

We had the same experience a few weeks ago. I am really surprised because this new centre is not fully operational and not all the units are open yet, so this is very poor. Surely this should be part of the contract of renting the units, once one starts to close early others will follow.

We had a coffee and saw several people wanting to go into Fat Face and you could see their disappointed expressions when they realised it was closed and this was only around 6.30pm.

Once people realise that these shops are closed after 6pm they will just stay away, so the numbers will just continue to fall, simple economics..

It looks absolutely lovely I wish them all success with this venture

I echo Denise, so good to see it open again. 

I am someone who knows and have worked alongside Nick Semper for sometime in my role as councillor, I have always found him to be honest, a good officer and someone who cares deeply about Herefordshire. I know that he has come onto this site many times to see what is being said but has never commented on the site one way or another.

He is a good guy but I think you might be wrong there CVP about him never commenting on this site and that is all I am saying on the matter.