Roger

Saw that ... Took this today ... Triffid type plants' are even growing ... It's totally gone to the dogs'!

I don't know the answer to that but with all the doom and gloom floating about (suggesting that the old centre is dead on it's feet) I'd suggest the Council would be inclined to look at this application favourably ... What more interests me is that a 'business' that started off selling coffee from something virtually no bigger than a handcart in town has morphed into something entirely different. With it's third or fourth generation 'cart', with fenced off seating and booze/food aspirations (and possible later opening), it would be a restaurant. If it got a licence for an 11 PM finish then there would come a point where for most of the year it would be virtually pointless carting it all away at midnight to bring it all back at 5 AM. You might as well pay someone for 5 hours to sit there to make sure it wasn't all wrecked by passing drunks! I don't really have a personal view on this either way (as I don't use this sort of venue in Hereford) but Saxty's, who you could argue might offer something similar but in a building, probably pay a lot of business rates and this cart is zero rated for business. They might have a view.

I suppose the argument is all a bit academic at the moment ~ until some sort of application is made to serve hot food past the 01.30 hrs cut off and we can see some sort of comment as to why it was either granted or refused. However there doesn't appear to be anything on the Council website for that type of application. Just the coffee cart one that caught my eye. And the one for Bar Spirit. I doubt that the venue will attract a more sophisticated, older, clientele if they got to drink out of plastic cups ... That is the key phrase for the McDonalds refusal last time. It suggests that there would be additional demand that would require Police Resources in some capacity. And it suggests that this would lead to reduced cover elsewhere. I don't think that the late night economy has drastically changed over the last couple of years so there would probably be a similar additional demand. And unless a few more spare boxes of cops have been found unused recently then there probably isn't this pool of people available to look after the food outlets without impacting on other areas. I don't think 'softening of attitudes' could have any bearing on the quoted statement. I was just suggesting that to potentially withdraw that type of objection in the future would make it look pretty stupid for being used last time.

McDonalds in town was refused a 4 AM licence in 2012 after objections from the Police. They raised various points including a High Court precedent. Link here to press release Can't see the Police changing their standpoint. If they did they would look pretty stupid.

Hereford City Council have released a statement about grass cutting on Twitter today. Link

I see that the Coffee Cart people have applied to the Council for a licence to serve alcohol ... Link to application It is bang in the centre of the No Drinking zone but that doesn't seem to count for much these days as the Castle Green is a booze free zone and that regularly gets a beer tent when the great and the good decide they want booze at their event. I see the rateable value for the business is £0 ... but I don't know how much rent they pay the Council for their pitch ...

I'm gonna sound like a broken record here but there are no fights/scraps outside when booze is not a factor. So the clampdown is on the food after the damage has been licenced with the Council with the booze ...

It doesn't seem overly simple to see what the ticket price is for an evening viewing for a typical new film ... I would never be interested in a matinee or teatime performance ... Not in the UK anyway!

There is no 'bedroom tax' ... It's just that the Govt. are not giving you free money to rent a property with a 'free' room ... The money run out ... Been in the news since about 6/7 years ago ...

I don't think I missed your point ... Anyhow ... I don't really care how it's done (within reason) but that building needs to get sorted out ....

How unsafe is the incorrect surface that has been applied? It's probably more safe than all the wrecked roads around the County. Leaving aside the criticism of the actual design of this new lay out ~ and narrowness. Seems like a technical moan that's been blown up possibly?

Is this online? Or just in the physical paper at the moment? Anyway ... Hereford Times Seems like a 6 hr day ... Once you factor out the tea and coffee, and lunch, and a bit of time messing about on the internet (and everyone tweeting away) I think it's probably a 3 hr. working day! I suppose it is all 'Blue Sky Thinking' tho ... Hey Ho!

Legal Link The Business Rates lost for that eyesore in High Town is already substantial! Council in no hurry to speed up the works tho ...

Empty propertiesYou don’t have to pay business rates on empty buildings for 3 months. After this time, most businesses must pay full business rates. Some properties can get extended empty property relief: industrial premises (eg warehouses) are exempt for a further 3 months listed buildings - until they are reoccupied buildings with a rateable value under £2,600 - until they are reoccupied properties owned by charities (only if the property’s next use will be mostly for charitable purposes) community amateur sports clubs buildings (only if the next use will be mostly as a sports club) Government Website

I've been in the John Haider Building many a time ... I think it should be knocked down ... It is really grim ....

I'm against unsympathetic developments of any sort .... But this is virtually opposite the John Haider (John Venn) Building which is pretty rubbish and dated to be honest ...

I totally buy into the fact that the Fire Station has to be within the high risk area. I also realise that a new, modern, station will have certain inherent features that would never comfortably fit within a conservation area ... I think that the need to put out fires/respond to other Emergencies might well carry this through as a sort of 'exception' to the rules ...

Morrisons are tackling the abuse of their car park by targetting their own customers' .... I haven't shopped there for 2 weeks due to their prices and tactics!

Not so sure going on Free Radio would achieve very much ... What's their listener base? Andrew Easton on the local BBC radio show is the most obvious choice to have any sort of debate about this ...

Any hole anywhere near that area will gridlock the City ... Gas Leak 2012 - HT link

It would be boring if we agreed all the time ... I think the size/shape of the existing shops (empty or not) is demotivating for any major retailer to move in. So you are left with niche shops. Or phone shops ... Or Charity shops ... etc ... I did look into this a while back and couldn't work out how Philip Morris & Son is still going ... But I looked into it and saw that they had a fairly visible online presence where their best seller (at the time I checked) was a weather vane ... Maybe this is subsidising their shop? But they are a gun shop as well so maybe that is helping? I don't know! But what I will say is that I don't use town to any extent at all for anything. As I perceive it to be unattractive ...

The same parallel could be drawn with the scruffy 3 ft long grass/weeds around town. That is going to have a knock on effect with visitors being attracted to the City. Or rather being put off visiting. Money saved from the budget but no vision to see what a rubbish visual image (and negative social media comments) will cause ...

Even harder to detect when you dig the hole, put a barrier around it, then clear off home ... leaving no one with the hole ... I just checked the traffic flow map and the congestion levels are back to normal for the time of day so the hole must have gone ...

Ross Rd at 11.30 am ... Gridlock

More to the point, I think, is why was that gas hole not being worked on yesterday evening when the traffic situation was quieter? It was totally closed down for the evening when I drove by at 17.45. There seems to have been a total lack of urgency in fixing whatever was leaking underground. The only reason for no activity would be that a spare 'part' was being waited upon. But the hole was there all day so there should have been plenty of time to get one across to Edgar Street.