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BBC Crimewatch tonight at 9pm. The senior investigating officer (SIO) of the investigation, DCI Leighton Harding, said: We are offering this reward to encourage people to come forward with information to help us identify those responsible for Christians death. We firmly believe that someone has information which could lead us to those responsible for Christian's death but has not yet come forward. My appeal to them is to think about the impact Christians murder has had on his family, in particular his young daughter who faces a life without her father, and to do the right thing by contacting us. If you have any information it is imperative you come forward to police and allow Christians family the justice they deserve. #speakupforchristian

Can no one at Balfour Beatty and our councillors see the state of our urban roads in the city which are now getting out of hand. When the use of a garden hoe along the kerb would have removed most weeds we are now in a position that the weeds are so established that the only way to treat them would be with herbicides which in turn cause pollution. So the only answer appears to be is do nothing and our streets on our estates take on the appearance of an outback town - the only thing missing is tumbleweed. Together with the inability to get on top of the litter and fly tipping problems and blocked drains around the area it is apparent that the majority of citizens and those elected to represent us have no pride in our environment - a sad state of affairs. The picture of Glastonbury Festival and the accompanying litter say so much about the state of our country and mindset of those responsible. In Australia they appear to have come up with a safe, pesticide-free method of keeping their streets clean and tidy. And ironically this method is used by Glastonbury Town Council to keep their town clean and weed free. Belmont Road Hereford:

'We have lost a National Treasure' Professor Stephen Hawking dies aged 76 and was one of the most brilliant scientists of his generation. The man who made astro-physics understandable His most famous book 'A Brief History of Time' explained the origins of the universe in terms a non scientist could relate to. Published in 1988, A Brief History of Time became a huge hit, selling 10 million copies and being translated into 35 languages. He had visited Hereford several times, most recently in 2015 when the Professor dropped in on a Roller Derby training session and also back in 2014 as one of a party of eminent physicists visiting the city’s cathedral, where they saw the famous Mappa Mundi. Following the cathedral visit, Professor Hawking and his colleagues visited Saxty's bar for a champagne tasting event.

Planning permission has been approved (with conditions) for a 65 bedroom Premier Inn hotel with ancillary restaurant, car park and associated works in Blackfriars Street Hereford. Once complete the hotel will employ around 25 people. Application P174776/F

The scaffolding erected at the Town Hall in Hereford in December 2015 was finally removed today after almost three and a half years! The entrance canopy has undergone extensive repair work as it had settled by approximately 50mm and required additional strengthening steel rods to be placed in order to give additional support and a large part of the canopy has been completely replaced together with remedial terracotta and stone work. There is still some cleaning to be done to complete the project but this fine iconic Hereford building is almost back to its former glory.

The prefabricated bungalows in Beattie Avenue Hereford will soon just become a pile of rubble once the demolition work begins. Hereford Voice previously reported on plans submitted by Hereford Housing back in March of 2018 in this topic for the proposed demolition of 41 existing (prefab bungalows) in Beattie Avenue Hereford and the subsequent construction of 71 bungalows and houses with associated parking, private amenity, access and alterations to highway.

Planning permission has been granted for a new student accommodation block at Station Approach. The application was submitted by the council’s development partners, energy and regeneration specialist ENGIE and Cityheart Partnerships, for purpose-built student accommodation at Station Approach. Hereford College of Arts (HCA), which has a proven need for good quality student housing to support its growth plans, will be the main customer of the Station Approach project. There will also be rooms allocated for students of NMiTE, supporting its development. Station Approach is part of Herefordshire Council’s Development and Regeneration Programme (DRP) in partnership with ENGIE which will deliver the programme over the next 10 to 20 years. The programme will support the council’s economic vision for the county which includes support for the delivery of the new university and Hereford’s existing colleges. The site is located at the heart of Hereford’s transport system, to the north east of the new Hereford City Link Road and provides easy access to Hereford College of Arts (HCA), Hereford station and the city centre. Along with accompanying hard and soft landscaping, cycle parking, and accessible parking with fast charging points for electric cars, there will be public art designed and made by the students. Cllr Harry Bramer, cabinet member contracts and assets, said: Jake Fellows, Major Projects Director for ENGIE’s Places & Communities division, said: Abigail Appleton, Hereford College of Arts, said: Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, CEO of NMiTE, added:

What's all this nonsense about saving the planet. It all started to go downhill when schools dropped home economics in the 1970’s with a switch to computer and design technology, so that all you need to know now is how to handle a tin opener. The demise of home economics skills (cookery, laundry and budgeting) result in a scruffy mindless herd eating on the streets and throwing their tins, wrappers, plastic bottles and lottery tickets anywhere but into a waste bin. The specialty disposal method favoured locally is to deposit waste into someone’s garden hedge. What does this mess (not politics) tell us about our future citizens and their minds. This is the outcome of the Liverpool and Tottenham match in Madrid. No wonder the Spanish get the wrong impression of British tourists.

I have just read this article: It is a pity that there is mention of Colin or Hereford Voice within any of this publication.

I have for a long time campaigned to have the traffic lights on the southern routes into Hereford to be turned off becuase from evidence obtained in various formats it has been proved that the traffic certainly flows better when these traffic lights have been off or out of order. They could certainly been made to operate part-time at off peak times 8pm-7am I have also pondered on how to take some of the pressure from these main roads and after a lot of thought I suggested turning the Great Western Way into a road, then after debates with some other members we came up with an even better idea, use a tram system! Back and forth still allowing room for pedestrains and cyclists. The GWW in Hereford runs right from the top of Redhill/Newton Farm and could go all the way down through Hunderton and over the river bridge past the rugby club and Sainsburys, continuing down parallel with Edgar Street at the back of the Theatre, continuing past Currys and almost to the back of Dunlem opposite the Leisure Centre. I am not 100% sure where the track ends but I will take a walk this weekend, weather permitting and have a look. Campaign For Better Transport Website Mr Albert Heijn from the Left Bank, I beleive once offered some years ago to fully fund such a project but from my undersatnding the HC refused the idea. As most of the traffic, according the the HA is 90% for local trips back and forth surely this is an option worth consdering especially as we already have the old railway line available with some work to bring it up to date of course. Your thoughts on this idea/campaign would be appreciated.

Things are steadily getting worse on Hereford's estates with not much activity on the ground. Here on Newton Farm not only are Herefordshire Housing cutting the bulk of the grass, but also the Council's agents (used to be Amey and now Balfour Beatty), and in the case of our street, we pay a service charge for Muir Group Housing to cut the grass and keep the area tidy. There is no co-ordination between these bodies, so some grass gets cut and other areas are left to be cut at a later date. This results in an unkempt appearance and local residents not knowing who is responsible for which piece of land. There are pieces of land which have never been cut this year. The problems around the electricity sub-station in Sherborne Close still continue, with fly tipping amd split rubbish bags spewing their contents over the pavements every weekend. Not much hope of anything been done as this has been occuring and visible to anyone passing through this area since the first post here in June 2010. This lack of co-ordination and co-operation to maintain our estates goes back to 2002 when the council handed over most of our green, open spaces to Herefordshire Housing and other Registered Social Landlords, when they got rid of their housing stock. Since then and several recessions later we were told these alterations and efficiency savings would benefit us the council tax payers and be easier to manage in the future. As we can now see this way of working has failed. There should be one contractor to cover the whole area by adopting all the open space. Balfour Beatty having got their £200 million contract with the council, and possibly a phone line connected in the near future, things could be different, but I doubt it.

Plans to demolish the Broadleys Pub! - ( 3 years on from the original proposal here ) Co-Op proposal dampens the Christmas Spirit. Residents are up in arms that the Co-Op have drop leaflets to their houses this evening with proposals to demolish their local The Broadleys Pub and replace it with a Co-op store! Tonight is the annual community carol service which is always well attended by the community and disappointment in the Co-Op is palpable. Mark Haslam from Herefordshire CAMRA said:

The new timber walkway construction on the embankment of Belmont Pools (to improve the safety of pedestrians/cyclists across the causeway) has now been completed and looks fabulous! We originally broke this story back in April on our Facebook Page here but forgot to add it to our forums, so here are the photographs we took at the time.

My son recently moved out and I decided to redecorate his old room. I will purchase a double bed and keep it as a guest room. I removed his old tiny 2.6 small single divan and thought I would take it to the tip yesterday (Sunday 27th January). If only I know what a palaver I was in for I would not have bothered! I drive a people carrier (Mercedes Vito), like the one below complete with rear seat and glass rear doors as per the photograph. We arrived at the tip at Rotherwas and I was asked by a chap who's name was Tim, what I had to tip, I replied just my sons single bed, he told me it would need to go into land fill and showed me where to park. As I parked up he then seamed to change his mind and asked me if I had a permit? A permit? I have not been to the tip in years so I was not sure what permit he was referring too, I explained that I was driving a people carrier and I was tipping just a bed, he then went to his little office and came out with a lithograph and pointed to a commercial van, I again explained that I have glass panels and seats in the back, he said you cannot tip here without a permit, I asked where do obtain a permit? Because I had the bed loaded already. He explained that it takes a few weeks and that I need to apply online but basically I could not tip this bed, I was frustrated and told him I would dump it on the side of the road (clearly I was not going to do that but I was angry). I telephoned a friend and he told me to take it to Ross on Wye, yes Ross on Wye! So I drove to Ross and I was told I could park outside and carry the bed onto the site, which is exactly what I did, how pathetic is this?? It is no wonder we so much fly tipping when they make it so difficult to take our old items. I am also confused as to how they expect anyone to drop off a bed in the absence of a larger vehicle of a van, you could not get it into a average car anyway, so had I not have the vehicle I would of borrowed my mates van anyway...

A great view of this iconic building occupied by Laura Ashley as you leave the passage leading to Gilbies Bar, (St Peters Close)

I have just been listening to the live stream from Full Council held yesterday at the Shire Hall in particular, the reactions from various Councillors about the alternative budget proposed by IOC. Live Stream can be found here At around 228 of the live stream Cllr Paul Rone speaks, during his brief response I notice that he says that if turning off the traffic lights is such a good revolutionary idea, then why has nobody else done it? Well actually Paul, quoting you using your own words from yesterdays meeting, "Seek Before You Speak" Turning off traffic lights has been successful in several towns and cities, one that comes to mind is Portishead, check out the video below: Portishead Traffic Lights Furthermore, you suggest that nobody has done this other than Invercargill in New Zealand, you also suggest that this place has a mere population of 7,500 people, well actually you are wrong sir, it is almost as big as Hereford! Education Lesson below: You also say that it would be dangerous for pedestrians?? I am confused as there is no suggestion that any of the pedestrian traffic lights would be turned off at all, they would still be working, if this was given a trail and yes that is all we have ever asked for, a trial. Cllr. Rone also suggest that it would work for maybe 12 hours and then there would be mayhem? Again, we have video evidence much of which you will find on our youtube channel where the traffic lights have been out of order for several days and it is common knowledge that when these lights are out of service and using our words, the 'traffic just flows' in Hereford. To suggest that the members commenting on here are irresponsible keyboard warriors is totally unfair, there has been a lot of research over the past 20 years including that of one of our members Martin Cassini, you can check out his credentials here Martin Cassini on the One Show Finally, you also ask why is nobody else doing this? Because people like you are all too quick to reject these proposals. Well as you can see above other towns and cities are doing this successfully or is your dismissal just down to the fact that this is not your or Cllr Edwards idea? Cllr. Rone and Cllr. Edwards, I am passionate about our city and keen to explore all ideas that may eliminate the terrible daily congestion in Hereford, I just wish others would look and explore some of these ideas.

Here are a few photographs taken along the river path opposite the Hereford Rowing Club this evening.

Some residents will see changes to their waste collection day from 18 March There will be changes to the waste collection day or week for many Herefordshire residents from Monday 18 March. Collection times across the county could be affected, so everyone’s bins should be put outside by 6.30am on collection day, or the evening before. Herefordshire Council will write directly to residents who will see a change to their collection day, the majority of which are around the Ross and Ledbury areas. Herefordshire Council has been working with FCC Environment to make collection routes more efficient, and to prevent missed collections. Very few changes to collection routes have been made since 2014 but many new properties have been built across the county since then so changes are needed. Collection areas have been grouped together to ensure that all the waste in that area is collected on one day, rather than over several days. In the long term, this will mean that we reduce vehicle emissions and save fuel. The time saving also means there will be more flexibility to cope with seasonal changes in the amount of waste and recycling being collected, and create more capacity to allow for future housing developments. Residents can check their bin collection days, download a collection calendar and find answers to further questions online at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/bincollection

It's coming up to 18 months since scaffolding appeared at the front of town hall, surely on such a significant building in Hereford this should have been sorted by now. This and the scaffolding in high town my walk into town was pretty depressing & made worse by Talk Talk canvassers preying on every single person in their sight including me.

Does anyone know where this will be situated? I've heard conflicting things. One friend has said it's going in the former Lakeland shop on commercial street and another has said it's going in the former poundworld shop at the Brooks retail park. More entry level employment opportunities can only be good for Hereford Jobs advertised here

Two new businesses will be opening soon in the building formerly occupied by Chadds. Coco Nail Bar is due to open this Friday and a new Barber Shop will also open soon just next door in Commercial Street. Hereford's largest independent department store Chadds closed in June 2008 after trading in Hereford for almost 80 years.

Hereford's main Post Office in High Town will be operating from inside WHSmith from next month from April 11th. The existing Post Office on St Peter's Street, will close. Plans have already been submitted for new signage here

A Hereford woman has won £125,000 on TV's 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' Katy Chambers, a human resources officer, won £125,000 this week on the show hosted by Jeremy Clarkson.