Saving The Working Boys Home *UPDATE*

[Cambo]

Apologise twowheelsgood it's not a personal attack aimed just on cllr Vaughan-Powell but on this whole process on how decisions are made, it just seems so undemocratic & the fact only a group leader can speak or ask question sounds more like a dictatorship than a democracy?

[Cambo]

Point taken cllr but I'm not hiding behind an avatar? because if you knew me then you'd also know me as Cambo as that's wot most people, who do know me,know me as!!

[Glenda Powell]

then why don't you put a photo with your name?

this administration brought in that only leaders of groups can speak for their group at cabinet, this was not the case until 2011, where we all went to cabinet and could speak! this administration has a lot to answer for, there actions in the past 4 years will be remembered at the ballot box next year!

[Cambo]

Well then hopefully after the next elections all the good councillors will still have there seats & we get lots of good new ones to replace the bad old ones?!

& as you say your a good one cllr Vaughan-Powell I also hope you get relected too.

my real name it is Michael Hayes!

Ps but your not having a picture! I'm sorry but I'll have to draw the line somewhere!

[Cambo]

Earlier this evening I gave councillor Harry bramer a call to get his thoughts on the idea of using the county bus for the location of a new fire station?…but unfortunately Harry was none to please to hear from & refused to discuss it & in fact he hung up?!…so I decided to send him a txt message…

 

Harry you might think I will go away quietly? but you are very much mistaken as you are a councillor? I regard you as a public servant who is suppose to be serving the greater good of the community?(although I don't see a lot of that going on in Herefordshire in recent years) & as such answerable to the public unless I'm very much mistaken & the uk is no longer a democracy? So I will be in touch speak soon!! Luv u x

[bobby47]

There's a piece on the Hereford Times. If you all have the time, look at it and if possibly leave a comment. The leadership do read them. I promise you they do. They simply can't help themselves. They need to know. They like to read about themselves. They add these things to their personal 'scrap book' that's titled, 'Things I F.U.Cked up whilst in Office'.

Please leave a comment folks.

[dippyhippy]

Right then!

I still think one final push ahead of Thursdays meeting would be worthwhile! Please take the time to email the following, with a polite, heartfelt plea, that this irreplaceable building is saved. We simply HAVE to give this a go, and make our feelings known - remind them there's an election looming, they really do need to be seen to be doing the right thing.

It doesn't matter if your personal take on this is that the Boys Home is converted for housing, or you feel the bus station would be a better alternative site for the fire station....just email and say how you feel!!

 

Here is the list.....please be aware, in case my typing takes on a will of its own, they are all lower case EXCEPT Anthony Powers!

Here goes...

 

1. hbramer@Herefordshire.gov.uk

2. tjames@herefordshire.gov.uk

3. ajohnson@herefordshire.gov.uk

4. pmorgan@herefordshire.gov.uk

5. grahampowell@herefordshire.gov.uk

6.pprice@herefordshire.gov.uk

7.aseldon@herefordshire.gov.uk

8. AnthonyPowers@herefordshire.gov.uk

 

Phew! That's the list....now we need to hit that email......let's try and do a mass inbox explosion on Wednesday evening!

 

Good luck.....and remember guys, be careful out there!!

[Cambo]

This is it folks the battle for Herefords heritage is nearing critical?! As dippy says we all need to unite as in unity there is strength!!!

Now that HWFRS have agreed this dumb ass deal?!

We should all focus our attention onto that of the cabinet. So if we can start hitting those keys & letting our emails go again,making sure that we target those councillors dippy has listed!!!

Then that would be fab thanks everyone!!

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

This thread just received it's 6000th visit - surely a Voice milestone.

 

It behoves us all to follow Dippy's example by e-mailing the Cabinet members who are due to discuss the fate of the former Working Boys Home on Thursday afternoon.

 

I have no doubt the Hereford Times' website will bring us a result of the discussion on Thursday evening.

 

Get tapping!

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

...and there needs to be a full stop between Anthony and Powers if you don't want it bouncing back!

[dippyhippy]

Thanks for that GK!

And thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I am overwhelmed by the support that this subject has attracted!

One final push folks....and we could get a result with this!

[Mark Hubbard]

Dear All,

 

6000 visits is a colossal number, have all of those visits been generated by the 33 users as listed below? Or are people able to view without being listed below?  Confirmation of the way these statistics work would give me a clearer picture.

[dippyhippy]

Hi Mark, as far as I am aware, these page views have been clocked up by many visitors to this thread, not just the members who have visited - I am sure Colin could clarify/confirm this!

Hope all is well with you, please update us if ,you have any news!

Thanks so much for your continuing support and contributions!

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

Its the 'Big Push' tomorrow, using Dippy's e-mail crib sheet above.  Two additional facts which emerged only today, which I'll throw into the pot for your consumption:-

 

The council's Chief Architect & Planner Andrew Ashcroft has confirmed that his department was first approached by the fire service last September to discuss the feability of building a new fire station on the site of the former Working Boys Home.  Clearly they didn't just pluck this site at random out of a hat, so they must have been pointed in the direction of Bath Street.  It was around this time that Cllrs Prodger and Johnson met - and Ward Councillor Hubbard was accidently omitted from the talks.

 

Asked specifically how long it would take them to have a new fire station operational at Bath Street, H&WFA said that the submission of a fully-developed planning application could take place this summer, followed by a 12-month construction programme (if planning permission is granted), with the new station operational some time in 2016.

[Glenda Powell]

Dippy, I have just read your post on HT, I could not agree with you more. WOW! 17 point that must be a record!

[dippyhippy]

Hi Glenda!

I only posted it last night, so I shall pop over to HT and have a look!

I am none too keen on the "Thumb Vote", but somewhere on this thread Megilleland kindly posted a link to Patricia Morgans letter, the comments underneath far surpassed 17!!

Have a read through, it will make you chuckle!

Thanks for posting your support on here, it's great to have councillors publicly state where they stand on issues such as this.

[dippyhippy]

Page 9, Glenda - post 210!!

Click on the blue link......Unfortunately comments are now closed, otherwise I can think of a few more that could well have been added given recent events!

[dippyhippy]

Actually, now I think about it, would somebody be able to post a link to the HT update?

It only went online yesterday, but is already in danger of being bumped off the page - ridiculous situation! HT actually have a news story, and it will disappear from view in favour of a piece about mutant daisies!

[twowheelsgood]

dippy - HT link here http://tinyurl.com/ppuf7ac

[dippyhippy]

Two Wheels, you are just brilliant! You are now officially my Favourite Poster Of The Day!

[megilleland]

 

Hereford Times 1:37pm Monday 7th April 2014 in News By Bill Tanner

 

Last ditch bid to save Hereford heritage site

 

A LAST ditch pitch to save a Hereford heritage site will go straight to Herefordshire Council’s cabinet on Thursday.

 

Campaigners fighting for the former Hereford Working Boys Home, now the council’s Bath Street offices, say the site doesn’t have to be a new fire station when the current County Bus Station will do.

 

The council wants a land swap with Hereford & Worcester Fire & Rescue Authority (HWFRA) that sees the Bath Street offices making way for a new Hereford fire station.

 

In return, the council gets the current fire station site in St Owen Street as, at this stage, a car park.

 

On Thursday, cabinet will be urged to hold off on any deal and re-engage with the idea of a Hereford transport “hub†based around the city's railway station - as proposed in the initial stages of  the Commercial Road-Edgar street link road plan.

 

The fate of the former Working Boys Home is the latest issue to challenge the council over its approach to asset disposal and decision-making.

 

Hereford Civic Society, which has lead much of the opposition to the land swap, has directly accused the council of not sharing its intentions in its haste to get a deal done.

 

Both the Bath Street offices and Hereford Fire Station are said to be unfit for contemporary and future operation.

 

English Heritage rejected an application to have the Bath Street offices listed.

 

Campaigners for the Boys Home will now make a direct pitch to cabinet on Thursday over the idea of a hub and its “immediate†consideration.

 

They make a case for a hub at the railway station freeing up council-owned land behind the city’s Odeon cinema for the new fire station - with three access points, the widest of which in Commercial Road being just metres from the eastern end of the proposed link road. 

 

The Hereford Times has seen a copy of what cabinet will be asked to consider. It’s a plan that puts a “much reduced†county bus station close to the railway station and the National Express stop in a parking bay on Commercial Road.

 

With the co-operation of the four principal bus operators and Arriva Trains - Network Rail’s tenant at Hereford Station - it should, the plan says, be possible to “plan and execute†the move of the bus services to the station in parallel with fire station's design preparations and needs.

 

The pitch ends with a call on cabinet to set up a round table of all the interested parties that could make the “ visionary concept†happen.

 

Can't this council do anything other than create car parks all over the place. How about some green spaces for a change. Why a National Express stop in a parking bay on Commercial Road surely it needs to be part of a transport hub. Why dump passengers in a busy street with lots of traffic to contend with?

[dippyhippy]

Thanks so much Megilleland!

I have changed the rules , I now have two Favourite Posters Of The Day!!

 

We are now on Page 15!

This is truly brilliant! If nothing else, this shows that we are no longer going to take these ridiculous decisions lying down!

We WILL challenge!

We WILL kick up a fuss!

We WILL not be silenced!

 

This is OUR city, and we will do our best to hand it over to the next generation in a better state than its in now!

 

Dear Lord! I am so fired up about this....I may have to have another glass of wine!

(Medicinal purposes!)

[Glenda Powell]

Dippy, unfortunately I cannot find patricia Morgan post, I  am afraid she doesn't like me because I tell her straight, she doesn't like anyone questioning her. I asked her to clarify her actions at council when she was cabinet member for adult social care, she either couldn't or wouldn't answer me so I called for her resignation, a fortnight later they had moved her to another cabinet post.

 

Bobby 47, don't be had Harry Bramer knows exactly what hes doing and you will wait for hell to freeze over before he would change his mind, he holds the purse strings in the cabinet and runs his cabinet post like his own personal businesses, he is a multi millionaire.

[dippyhippy]

Hi Glenda!

Its on Page 9 of this thread, post number 210!

 

You will see from the comments, that I don't hold Pat in high regard either!

She should have resigned. Simple.

I am hopeful that come next year, folk will remember, and not re-elect her.

[Cambo]

I've just had an email from my aunts from mr featherstone.

 

Mike,

 

This is the response I received to my email, sounds as if it is all cut and dried.

 

Mary.

Dear Ms Hayes

 

Thank you for your email that the Leader has asked me to respond to on his behalf.

 

If you see below, the responses are annotated to the suggestions made in red.(it did not copy over in red but I'm sure you clever lot will see where mr featherstone has responded)

 

Regards

 

Tony Featherstone

 

Dear Cllr Johnson,

 

I am writing to you regarding the Proposed land swap with Hereford & Worcester Fire & Rescue Service, and the former Hereford Working Boys Home, Bath Street.

 

I strongly object to this proposal.

 

The former Hereford Working Boys club is a very beautiful and interesting building with a long history. It may not have achieved a listed status but that does not mean it should be pulled down. We should not have to lose our history to relocate the fire station, there are far better places it could go within Herefordshire, without having to demolish the former Hereford Working Boys Home.

 

Hereford people do not want this. We want to retain our old buildings and have something beautiful and interesting made out of them, not pulled down and replaced with yet another ugly concrete block.

 

I am disappointed with the Hereford Council for keeping this all so quiet, this matter should have been out in the open and brought to the public attention immediately. This has not been kept quiet, the Cabinet Member report, the Fire service resolution and any planning application are public documents. The first 2 are already in the public domain. We should have been consulted so that we, the people of Hereford could say what we want, not what is pushed on us because it’s all too late to do anything about it. If it was not for those public spirited Hereford people sick of what is happening to our town, standing up and letting us all know what is going on, we would be none the wiser until the bulldozers move in.

 

I urge you to reconsider the proposal of Knocking down The Former Hereford Working Boys club and moving the Fire Station to that site. I urge you to listen to the people of Hereford who you represent. There are far more options that should be considered including:

 

· Move the Hereford Fire Station to the old Hereford Bus Station Site, or on the new Hereford link road we all are hearing so much about.

 

 

Unlike the Bath Street Site which has been declared surplus to the Council’s operational requirements, all parts of the bus station, car park and associated buildings are fully operational and essential for service delivery. There is no suitable accommodation/sites to relocate the services to and no budgeted funds to do so.

 

· Move the bus Station next to the Train Station, makes sense to have two transport hubs together.

 

 

There is no capital allocation to undertake this move.

 

· Refurbish The Former Hereford Working Boys club, use it for apartments/flats, who would not want to live in such a beautiful building, or use it for student accommodation for the new Hereford university.

 

There is no justification to do this. The present building bears no relation to this former use. It is beyond economic repair/refurbishment . It will be demolished to accommodate a new fire station or the whole site will be sold on the open market for total redevelopment. The Council will not be restoring any part of the site. The council has identified other sites for providing potential University accommodation.

· If and when the Hereford fire Station is moved, don’t knock that beautiful old building down. Refurbish it and use it.

Should the fire station project be delivered, then the total site will need to be demolished.

 

We want Hereford to stay beautiful, we want to save our heritage. we will not get visitors coming here to see yet another car park or another concrete monstrosity.

[dippyhippy]

I don't get this....how long would it take to erect a few bus stands? Then, inform the public that the station has moved just up the road? Job done. A fully functioning bus terminal!

How hard can this be?

This is an excuse, and a pretty poor one at that!

Consider when the May Fair comes to town, and all the temporary measures that have to be put in place then, for just three days. Yet every year, its done.

I cannot fathom why resiting the bus terminal should be beyond the realms of possibility.

[Cambo]

I've got to say I take issue with all of wot mr featherstone is saying I'd also add he's being very very economical with the truth?!

[dippyhippy]

That goes without saying, Cambo!

[Cambo]

Well said dippy couldn't agree more!!

the council cabinet & lying seem to go hand in hand?!

Also mr Johnson doesn't seem to have the balls to respond to emails sent to him by the public? But instead gets his lap dog to do it for him!!

[bobby47]

This is what we do. We allow them their meeting, we even give them a little wriggle room and give them the opportunity to revisit this deluded plan and then, if it all goes belly up and they grow increasingly intent upon knocking everything down and thus increasing the depth of the bloody rubble we are required to trudge over, then we all meet.

Yes, we meet. We meet at HQ, namely the Commercial, we organise ourselves, we produce some placards and we protest in a lawful way outside a Council building.

That's what we do. And we do it to create publicity. We suddenly become the news rather than them and their bloody holier than thou public service which they so graciously bestow upon us. That's what we do and when I get back to the United Kingdom, unless I get deported sooner than I'd wish because of 'ale' and the impact it has upon my bewildered mind, we are going to do this.

We ain't just going to talk and mutter about it. We'll do it. Me and the older members haven't got jobs, we've little or no responsibility so we'll pick up the slack and take on the burden. The others, who've got jobs and family will chip in when they can.

This is what we are going to do.