Good news at last. Following several months of a protracted battle with Herefordshire Council's Licensing Department, new landlords Gary & Sonia CALDWELL have received their premises licence following the Licensing Department withdrawing their objections earlier this week. The new team received a wealth of support, ranging from other local landlords, the RW Mayor, Hereford BID, Herefordshire CAMRA to name but a few. This lost jewel of an ancient inn is now open, offering a wide range of Irish food, drink and live entertainment. Let's hope that Herefordshire punters can support this new venture by sampling some real Dublin-brewed Guinness etc, all in moderation, of course.

Plans have been submitted for change of use of the ground floor below the Travelodge, from a public house (Class A4) to gym (Class D2) use. (formally restaurant) 

Security

• We are private club open to members only
• The club is locked at all times, with secure door access only via a unique member ID card
• Less than 1% of our members workout after 11:00pm and before 5:00am
• We install and monitor at least 16 surveillance cameras covering all internal and external areas of the facility
• Duress alarm systems are installed in every club including wearable pendant alarms and hard wired duress alarms that dial direct to a live emergency services operator and are connected by 2-way voice
• Entry is via an electronic security tag that holds of of the member's information and is recorded in our computer system as well as our security monitoring system every time it is used. The doors are locked 24 hours a day and all members must swipe in even during club staffed hours 

Sound + Lighting

• ​We engage regularly sound and acoustic consulting services when working with council during planning applications - example Noise Impact Assessments available on request
• Considerable effect is placed in taking account of importance of location and type of A/c units, plus flooring and suspended ceiling solutions that mitigate sound and vibration levels
• Lighting is sensor operated and will automatically turn off when no members are active in the club
• Lighting levels of 320 LUX

Snap Fitness Website

See planning application P163878/F here

Landlord Pack PDF

Misc.pdf

Remember where you heard it first!

We are hearing reports that there is a massive fire on the Blackpole Trading Estate in Worcester, early reports suggest that the source could be Arrow Excel (delivery company).

Let's hope that nobody is hurt.

Paid my customary Bank Holiday Visit here today ... Very amusing as always! Quirky staff ... Busy! Loads of people getting rid of their 'green' debris! Love this place! 

These flats have not been up 2 years yet and already they have had to repair the roof, now I see mould appearing in different areas on the external walls, see photographs I took this morning.

These flats are starting to look a little shabby already, I wonder how they will look in 5 years time...

A 3 storey sheltered housing project in Belmont Avenue Hereford has been approved. The new homes are to be built in the little car park with garages near to the footpath into Asda. I assume the footpath will remain?

West Mercia Housing Group applied to build a three-storey building with 10 one-bed flats, and three off road car parking spaces.

Full planning details here

Armed Police stopped a train near Belmont this morning.
Suspect jumped off train and ran but was soon caught and arrested

Today was the first time in ten years that Mrs U and I travelled from our home 4 miles to the NW of Hereford on a Sunday lunchtime . Our intentions was to meet up with relatives for lunch at one of the eateries in the Old Market .

Table was reserved for 12.30 , because we had a bit of shopping to do we left our home at 11.45 , we travelled along the A49 , around the Starting Gate roundabout and joined a long line of stop / start traffic - to cut a very boring story short we parked in the Waitrose car park at 12.20 pm . 35 minutes to cover 4 miles !

Our relatives travelled into town from the Ledbury direction, they left their home at 1205pm for their 20 minute journey into town - they arrived at our chosen Resturant at 1pm !

Other than volume of traffic does anybody know of any reason for the delays - no road works were seen - or is this normal for a Sunday lunchtime. .

The main A49 Ross Road into Hereford will be completely closed in both directions from Monday April 24th - Saturday 6th May 2000-0600 for essential roadworks. A diversion will be in place see below:

Last week the Hereford Times conducted a Readers Poll regarding our departure from the European Union. The Poll asked, now that our exit is imminent, would you now vote to Remain, would you now vote to Leave or don't you know.

This particular news thread attracted a great many comments that supported our departure and the Poll very quickly reflected our people's desire to still leave the Union. Indeed, by the early part of the afternoon the Poll reflected this intent and had the Leave vote at around 69 percent, the Remain vote around 29 percent and the remaining number stating Don't Know.

Around 2.30pm, some five minutes after the Poll showed Leave at 69 percent, I opened up the page of the HT to see whether or not further comments had been added. At this time, the Poll then read 69 percent to Remain, 29 percent to Leave.

The Poll result had been deliberately distorted and its manipulation and single purpose could only be for one reason. To suit the narrative of the media who like much of the establishment want us to remain in the Union.

Worse, today, the Hereford Times has released a piece on their Readers page celebrating the results of their Poll that shows the Remain vote at over 70 percent which, given the clear circumstances of the rigged Poll that adequately displays just how powerful the media have become in controlling our lives, our views, our aspirations and our futures by simply writing and reporting whatever they like whether it's true or false.

This seems to have caused a lot of mirth on the HT comments. Is this the same man who wanted to cut the library service last year?

Not quite sure what kind of reaction I will get to this but I will give it a go. 

With a Cabinet of 7 making decisions that will change Herefordshire for ever - no going back - are our 2 MP's doing enough to look after the county they represent? Two MP'S don't come keep cheap.  Do we ever really hear from them?

No 1 Ledbury Road/sale of HC farms/SLR/Link Road/bypass/ the list is endless these are county changing decisions and from where I am sitting this Council is on track to run this county into the ground and not only that destroying the appearance of the county.

Surely the pecking order should be Norman and Wiggin stepping in and saying steady on chaps don't you think it would be better if you tried this or did this but you don't why?

Whatever your views on Paul Keetch he worked tirelessly when the Foot and Mouth was playing havoc in the country - would either of these 2 do this?  I think not but you people may see it differently to me.

It was waiting to happen but unfortunately there has now been a terrorist attack in London. 

Westminster is on lockdown after a terror attack where a knifeman ploughed a car into pedestrians before stabbing a policeman outside the Houses of Parliament.

It is time to arm ALL our police here in the UK if you agree please sign the petition HERE

Planning Hereford: how to get it right

Annual Civic Society Lecture - March 2017 - Planning Hereford - how to get it right.pdf

Work underway there. Sadly not a newsagent and sweetie shop. However, could be good, apparently a good deli on one side and a decent takeaway sandwich shop to the left hand side, up against the Spread Eagle.

If this is a duplication please forgive me however the clock ticks for No.1.

During the CQC meeting tonight at the Town Hall the friends,family and councillors past and present did a great job of raising the profile and plight of this unique respite centre here in Herefordshire. They were made to understand the shortcomings of WVT in the way the matter has been dealt with and also the lack of forward measures in place.

To exacerbate the situation staff are beginning to leave which could assist in its demise.

If it wasn't on the CQC radar then it should be now and perhaps a visit this week will work positively for the centre.

Should it close right now there are no viable alternative solutions in place.

Let's face it, HC have no money, BB can't be bothered and Highways Agency pass it back to local authorities; so we have Bob's cousin, No Hope!!!

I have started this thread to make us all aware in advance of the potentially dangerous situations of potholes on our roads. Keeping us safer, unnecessary repairs and avoiding them where possible. Most if not all would have been reported to HC directly anyway.

Please post locations and position i.e. nearside, centre, offside. Photos if possible (not if you're driving). Only edit post with FIXED when appropriate. Pease do not digress.

Heard this on BBC H&W Radio today.

Wife of Hereford man to be deported to Philippines

Man fears wife could be destitute if forced to leave UK

The wife of a British man will be left homeless when she is sent back to the Philippines, her husband says.

Rob and Marinel Bristow, from Hereford, married eight years ago.

Mrs Bristow had been refused a permanent visa and they were appealing against the decision, but this month she was arrested, detained and told she would be deported.

The Home Office said Mrs Bristow could not provide evidence of her husband's earnings needed for the application.

Mrs Bristow was taken to the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire as she has been unable to prove her husband's earnings as a photographer meet the threshold of £18,600 for her to stay here on a spousal visa.

Her husband said she would be deported imminently.

"If she's sent back now she will basically be homeless," he said.

After the couple married, Mrs Bristow initially remained in the Philippines.

When a typhoon destroyed her business and property in 2013, she moved to the UK and applied to permanently stay, but her application was refused.

During the appeals process her passport and visitor visa expired and she was told to register at Hereford police station each month.

"We waited and waited for the result of the application and never heard anything and she went in as usual on 8 March and was detained," said Mr Bristow.

"They showed us the letter of refusal and then she was detained in the police station and moved to the immigration removal centre. That's the first we knew of the visa result."

The Home Office said: "Ms Bristow did not submit the required evidence to demonstrate her partner's income from self-employment. The required threshold is £18,600 a year."

Looks like we are turning into a police state with judges and officials using secret courts to determine the fate of established citizens. Won't be long before we are stopped in High Town and asked for our papers. Jesse Norman (our silent MP) has been contacted about this injustice, but so far no comment.