Planning Committee Approves Southern Link Road

[Denise Lloyd]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

A49 proposed to take traffic off M5 & M6?

In the Council’s submission for funding for the Hereford Transport Package, it has been generously proposed that the “bypass will make the A49 an alternative for M4/M5 traffic to ease congestion on the motorway network.â€

In questions to the full council meeting last Friday, Carole Protherogh, the chair of HTA asked if the Council could provide statistics for the likely resulting increase in through traffic, both car and HGV, on the A49 between Ross on Wye and north of Leominster, and they would confirm that these figures will be widely available in public consultation on the bypass in the future?â€

Councillor Price replied “The A49 forms part of the strategic road network managed by Highways England, which is responsible for maintaining journey times for longer distance traffic. Modelling of the strategic road network to 2040 identifies increasing congestion on the M5/M6 corridor with only limited deterioration on the A49 corridor, most notably in the vicinity of Hereford city. This modelling information can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/…/attachment_…/file/387222/npsnnprint.pdf

The large local majors bid submitted by the council referenced this information and noted that, with a bypass for Hereford, the A49 could have an enhanced role and provide an alternative for some traffic on the parallel M5/M6 which is forecast to become increasingly congested. As modelling work is progressed the scale of this will be established, and will be made available when it is completed and agreed with Highways England.“

The document Cllr Price refers to is

National Policy Statement for National Networks 2008

This outlines the considerations needed in transport planning and has an illustrative map showing relative congestion.

In the meeting Carole asked a supplementary question:
“Cllr. Price is unable to provide even a guesstimate about the potential volume of induced traffic, on a road which otherwise is expected to show only a limited deterioration in respect of congestion. As a result of this 'under the radar' carrot for funding, can he comment on the likely results of this increase in through traffic, which will have no direct economic benefits for the county, and in terms of increased air pollution, road safety, highway maintenance, and general impact on communities along the whole length of the A49 through the county produce a degradationâ€

Councillor Price was not prepared to answer in any detail but referred again to the National Policy Statement, and said all the issues will need to be explored and that it is “a very big question,“ but that much of the extra traffic will be coming to Herefordshire because of economic growth etc.

In an interview after the meeting Carole Protherough, chair HTA said “ Cllr Price has agreed that the Council in its major bid is promising that the A49 would become a relief road for the motorway system, attracting additional traffic with destinations such as Wales and Bristol. Far from reducing through traffic this is likely to pour much more on to our road system, including increased freight traffic, with no benefit for the county.

The village communities between Ludlow and Ross, many bisected by the A49 , will be severely affected . As we know the A49 already has a bad accident record. The Herefordshire public is totally oblivious to this almost hidden agenda, believing heavy traffic will be alleviated by a “bypass,†whereas in fact it will be increased. As Cllr Price has said, it is a "Big Question." One of course, he has yet to answer.“

[Maggie May]

If the Council have no idea of the impact of traffic on the A49 by promoting it as an alternative to the Motorway network, then they shouldnt be doing it! I worry when relatives are travelling on the A road network as it is much more dangerous than the motorways for accidents, and alot more deaths happen on these unlit rural A roads. This seems to be the Council trying to justify their pet project the "Hereford Bypass" when there are no reasons or evidence to support their claims for this road. Suggesting that the A49 could be an alternative to the M5/M6 will be a nightmare for all those people living in the villages north and south of Hereford, such as Much Birch, Wellington, Moreton -on-Lugg, etc. I wonder what our local MPs think of this approach and whether they are supporting the Council's bid for funding on this basis? 

 

This week with the schools broken up, despite Christmas shoppers the roads in and out of Hereford in the mornings have been pretty clear of traffic. Why cant the Council improve the bus services for our young people to travel to and from school and college?

[ragwert]

Cllr. Price is unable....Yep,about right

Why do we have people like this (Councillors) involved in our transport problems?Really really annoys me..
 

[Maggie May]

With Cllr price & so many other councillors entitled to free bus travel, why do we pay them travel expenses to meetings in Hereford? I think requiring councillors to use public transport might make some of them wake up and realise what life can be like for so many of our young, old and disabled people to get around when they cut bus services and yet spend millions on new roads. It would also save us all alot of money in expense claims and they might even get to meet ordinary local people who value and rely on local services. Instead they seem determined to spend millions more on roads for the Nation whilst cutting buses.

[Cloudberry]

Rather than road building, I wish there could be more investment in the railways: better connections, more carriages, more freight, maybe even open parts of some old lines. It disappointed me that Councillors rejected a rail link to Rotherwas. The good location of Hereford Station means that many people can walk to where they want to go from there (shops, pubs, restaurants, cinema, hospital, college etc.) and if there were bikes for hire, perhaps even electric bikes, that would help even more, and then fewer people would need to bring cars into Hereford at all.

 

It's certainly a horrible idea to think the A49 could be turned into an alternative route to the M5.

[greenknight]

Sadly sometime back I mentioned that this would be the ultimate use of the A49 you only have to regularly use the M5/M6 to understand why.Its an almost perfect North /South route. As for the rail network.. well again this has been discussed previously and plans to push more freight traffic through this route are being drawn up so it can keep off the central rail lines.

 

We may have been fighting the southern link road as a local issue however there is a grand plan a bigger picture so to speak.

[herefordman75]

The A49 wouldn't be viable as an alternative to the M5/M6 unless it was duel carriageway from Shrewsbury to Ross, it just doesn't have the capacity - think Dorrington, Church Stretton etc

 

Wales have done it right with the duelling of the A465 from Abergavenny all the way to the M4 (eventually anyway - Merthyr end by Asda is next to be done after they finish Black Rock) it really is a nice journey from the top of Black Rock to Merthyr now

[greenknight]

The A49 wouldn't be viable as an alternative to the M5/M6 unless it was duel carriageway from Shrewsbury to Ross, it just doesn't have the capacity - think Dorrington, Church Stretton etc

 

Wales have done it right with the duelling of the A465 from Abergavenny all the way to the M4 (eventually anyway - Merthyr end by Asda is next to be done after they finish Black Rock) it really is a nice journey from the top of Black Rock to Merthyr now

I believe there is a plan ultimately to do just that...extending the A465 from Abergavenny to Hereford would be easy apart from the Pontrillas bridge....it's almost a dead straight road in open country. Dual carriageway sections will almost certainly come for the 49.

[Cloudberry]

On paper, and especially for those who have never visited Herefordshire, enlarging the capacity of our A49 looks like the perfect solution to take pressure off the M5! It's a straight line route apparently!

 

Highways England are consulting on their "Road to Growth" discussion paper right now:

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/strategic-economic-growth-plan/supporting_documents/The_Road_to_Growth_discussion_paper__FINAL__high_res.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[herefordman75]

@Greenknight that would make more sense than altering the A49 to Ross to accept more traffic, especially as it would then be a quick link to the M4 and the motorway network. It would also shorten journey times for HGV traffic as they wouldn't have to go along the M50/M5 to go southbound M4 etc

 

The Pontrilas bottleneck wouldn't cause too many issues as I suspect they would either build a bridge over the railway line, or construct a new bridge for the line to pass over it.

[Ubique]

Greenknight - what you are suggesting is ( some say sadly) very possible and appears very practical.

 

You have been through a lot in 2016 - look forward ,as we know you are to 2017 - a new era in your life - hopefully you are staying in the area so that we , as a gang from the past , meet up in the New Year .

[megilleland]

 

From Woodland Trust

 

Herefordshire Council: Judge, jury and executioner

By Jack Taylor , 8 June 2016 , Comments:  0

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Grafton Wood is a real haven for wildlife (Photo: WTML)

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What is Scrapbook? Scrapbook

   

When the applicant for a destructive relief road proposal is also the decision-maker then you’re never left with much hope for ancient woodland. Unfortunately for the ancient woods and veteran trees south of Hereford this case was no different.

On 6 June, Herefordshire Council played the part of judge, jury and executioner to a T when they approved their application for the Herefordshire Southern Link Road.

Disappointed and saddened

We are left disappointed and saddened by the outcome of the meeting, though based on the circumstances of the application we would be hard-pressed to say it was an unexpected result.

The locals gave their all in helping us with our campaign, providing us with local knowledge, giving evidence on rare and important species within the woodland and keeping us updated on all current matters. We extend no end of gratitude and sympathy to those locals who fought so diligently in trying to protect the ancient woods and veteran trees south of Hereford.

Perhaps the outcome would have been no different if the decision-maker wasn’t also the applicant, however it still brings to question how fair a decision can be in this situation; particularly when you consider how much is on the line for the area’s natural habitats and wildlife.

What now?

Unfortunately this is how democracy works when it comes to Local Highways Authority applications, which have the right to decide their own planning applications. These applications are known colloquially as‘Regulation 3’ applications. As they are permitted under Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992 SI 1492.

But is this a true representation of a democratic process? Does the current system really allow the voice of the people to be heard? Surely local councils can’t simply place a development wherever they like, ignore the overwhelming number of objections made against their proposal, then push ahead with it anyway?

Perhaps there needs to be a change in the way that matters such as this are decided on. Should applications such as this be elevated to higher authorities for a decision? These are all questions that need some thought and consideration, from both the Woodland Trust and Local Government.

Thanks for your support

We would like to thank all those who took part in the campaign and sent their objections to Herefordshire Council. While the outcome was disheartening, we were massively encouraged by the overwhelming support for our campaign – over 1200 of you registered your objection to the application.

The silver lining in this case is the number of you that have shown your allegiance to protecting the ancient woodland. These numbers are certainly something to build on.

We are forever looking to influence change and prevent ancient woods from being subjected to damage and loss from new development. With threats like this occurring nationwide we are asking for your support in identifying threats to ancient woodland around the UK. How about signing up with us as a threat reporter?

All we ask of you is that you keep a watch over happenings in your local area and flag up any potential threats to ancient woodland to us.

Once again, thanks for your support.

 

Today in the Independent:

 

Hundreds of previously undiscovered ancient oak trees found in English countryside

 

Exclusive: Scientists discover England has more ancient oak trees than rest of Europe put together

 

(extracts)

 

The mighty oak has been central to English history and culture for centuries. Now new research is revealing precisely why.

 

A nationwide survey has just revealed that England has more ancient oak trees than the rest of Europe put together.

 

Over the past four years, tree historians have discovered 1,200 previously unknown but still surviving mediaeval and Tudor oaks, pushing the grand total for such trees in England to a remarkable 3,400.

 

About 85 per cent of them are between 400 and 600 years old, while some 12 per cent date back 600 to 800 years, with 3.4 per cent (117 examples) dating back 800 to 1,000 years. The survey work has been coordinated by the Woodland Trust, working in conjunction with the Ancient Tree Forum, the Tree Register and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

 

Oaks are more slow-growing than those latter two species – and as a result can easily become overtopped (and therefore deprived of sunlight and thus killed) by them in dense forest environments. By contrast, deer parks, consisting of more open woodland, were ideal habitats for oaks to become truly ancient in – and that is what, courtesy of William the Conqueror and his nobles, seems to have happened in England.The Royal Forests and Chases contributed to the preservation of the ancient oaks in a similar way.

 

Partly because England’s oaks were able to grow particularly old in so many deer parks, the distribution of ancient oaks around the country is very uneven. About 55 per cent of England’s ancient oaks are to be found in just ten counties – Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Herefordshire is the top county, with 366 oaks older than 400 years.

 

 

 

Herefordshire top of the league. Although for how long once the road building starts. Did the council take this into account - I don't think so.

[Cloudberry]

The Woodland Trust are doing a great job, and their trained volunteers are spending a lot of time recording trees. New records of ancient, veteran and notable trees are being put on the open-access Ancient Tree Inventory lists and maps: http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/ 

 

Anyone can add records of trees to this site (subject to verification) and this is very important for older and special trees on private land, where Woodland Trust Recorders cannot access easily. No-one else has spent any time recording the locations of our best trees for years and years, so without this initiative no-one would know they were there.

 

Herefordshire is already the top County for old oaks, but there are many more important oaks, ashes, yews, etc. here yet to be recorded! These trees really matter. You would be amazed at the huge biodiversity of creatures and other plants depending on, and living on, in and under our older trees.

[Denise Lloyd]

Megilleland another excellent find.  I took the liberty of copying the link over to Facebook and Dr Nicky Geeson was more than pleased with your find.  How do you do it? 

[Cloudberry]

Here's a Woodland Trust/ Ancient Tree Hunt map of ancient, veteran and noble trees around Hereford.

[Maggie May]

Thank you for this Cloudberry. It looks as if Herefordshire could drop down the listings in future years as it seems the majority of these fantastic, ancient trees lie  to the west of Hereford where the Council are looking to build the Bypass. So they wont be ancient and venerable for many more years. A real shame for the trees and future generations, who will only have the pictures to look at. 

[greenknight]

It seems that the larger picture of an M4/M5 relief road from the heads of the valley is gathering pace. Anyone that's travelled on this road out of Abergavenny has to be impressed by the engineering that has taken place, in comparison the pretty modest obstruction at Pontrilas means a pretty straight road could be converted to a bypass with ease. This road could be banging on the outskirts of Belmont before you know it. There is more chance of the western bypass starting here and heading north across the river well before the element between Rotherwas and the A465. Funded centrally it might even come before the housing infill.

[Maggie May]

It seems that the larger picture of an M4/M5 relief road from the heads of the valley is gathering pace. Anyone that's travelled on this road out of Abergavenny has to be impressed by the engineering that has taken place, in comparison the pretty modest obstruction at Pontrilas means a pretty straight road could be converted to a bypass with ease. This road could be banging on the outskirts of Belmont before you know it. There is more chance of the western bypass starting here and heading north across the river well before the element between Rotherwas and the A465. Funded centrally it might even come before the housing infill.

 I think the Hereford Civic Society proposed developments at Pontrilas a year or so ago as it was thought to be a "sustainable" location and nearly the entire population descended on the Civic Society meeting including a large number of local county councillors. On that basis I cant see Herefordshire Council looking to improve the river crossing at Llangua and avoid the height restriction under the railway bridge at Pontrilas. Herefordshire Council are much happier claiming a parallel road to the M6/M6 from Ross-on-Wye up the A49. If this needs to be done alot of work will be required around Woonton, Craven Arms, etc to enable HGVs to travel through there in larger volumes and at higher speeds. I would have thought improving the railway service and carriages would be much cheaper as you can travel from Cardiff all the way to Manchester by train and work whilst travelling. If freight needs to be used what about freight on rail? Freight now travels from China to London by trains http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38654176 .

[Cambo]

Building new roads makes traffic worse, say campaigners

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39328643

 

You just know this new road will not help Hereford's traffic problems because our short sighted council along with planners will not have done their research properly or learnt lessons from past new road schemes in other areas which have failed to alleviate traffic congestion where they promised beforehand to do so.

[megilleland]

Agenda
Cabinet
Thursday 16 November 2017 2.00 pm

South Wye Travel Package

To confirm making of the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and Side Roads Order (SRO) and to approve commencing the procurement of a contractor for the Southern Link Road (SLR).

Recommendation(s)
That:

 

(a) the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the County of Herefordshire District Council (South Wye Transport Package – Southern Link Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2017 pursuant to sections 239, 240, 246, 250 and 260 of the Highways Act 1980 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 for the acquisition of the land interests and new rights within the areas coloured pink and blue respectively shown on the plan attached at appendix A (subject to any minor or technical amendments to the said plan as the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate considers) and for compensation payments to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation;  

(b) the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the County of Herefordshire District Council (South Wye Transport Package – Southern Link Road) Side Road Order 2017 under Section 14 and 125 of the Highways Act 1980 as shown in the plan attached at Appendix B (subject to any final amendments of the said plan the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate considers necessary);

© the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the Compulsory Purchase Order and the Side Road Order and to take all the necessary and ancillary steps, including the publication and service of all statutory notices and the presentation of the Councils case at any public inquiry, to secure the confirmation of the orders by the Secretary of State;

(d) the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to implement the Orders, including the acquisition of all necessary land and interests and new rights, and to pay compensation including acquisitions agreed by negotiation and to carry out any other additional steps needed for the implementation of the Orders for the Southern Link Road;

(e) the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to take all operational decisions necessary to establish and implement a procurement strategy to inform and enable a decision to award a contract to the best value tender for the construction of the SLR within a budget up to £150,000.

[Maggie May]

How can the Council afford this road? The other City Link Road was apparently going to cost £27million but ended up costing £34million, and that road is less than half the length of this new road. What is the point of it?

[Denise Lloyd]

Worth reading and copied from Facebook

Wye Ruin It?Like Page

6 hrs Â· 

The Herefordshire Council Cabinet meeting 16 November 2017: The South Wye Transport Package Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs)

We demonstrated our determination to object to the Hereford Transport Package as it stands. We witnessed the ineptitude of council management and were forewarned about the missing fact-based current, professional, independent, cost-benefit analysis on which to recommend a development. Your primary questions were all asked but received few satisfactory answers.

City congestion remains the issue but Council will not solve it with bigger roads. More traffic will lead to increased pollution and greater health costs. The required solutions include better public transport, a mass transit system and sustainable transport measures. The capital management and initial modelling should be upgraded to include a full cost benefit analysis including human health costs and attaching higher value to biodiversity and unique habitats.

The result of the meeting was a done-deal. Cabinet members had little or no intention of discussing the pros and cons of the matter in public. They met with the sole intention of pressing ahead with their antiquarian plan for increasing road capacity at any cost: more traffic pollution and another blank cheque for the property developers. You can forget better public transport options because they wrote-off modern transport solutions, including trams with a survey, now 16 years out of date. The councillor for infrastructure demonstrated his ignorance on current transport research and development with his instant dismissal of any talk of city trams. Buses are not profitable for the private sector and funds are short. The 62% fall in bus and coach services crossing the bridge over the last five years reflects a dereliction of public duty to provide adequate and affordable transport options to school children and their commuting parents.

FUTURE CONGESTION ISSUES DENIED
The Southern route is all part of the Western Bypass and the plan for M5/6 traffic relief along the A49. However this motorway congestion relief is not reflected in any public traffic modelling used by the council to build its case and future cost-benefit analysis. If it was, it would show a marked increase in congestion and defeat the object of the bypass. The current models assume a 29% increase in road usage over the period reflecting the new households but not the motorway relief.

Based on published Highways Agency traffic counts on select points of the motorways and the A49 we observed annual traffic flows are ten times higher on the M5/M6. This is clear evidence, even to a layman, that 10% relief of the motorway would double A49 through-traffic and a more financially attractive 20% level of motorway relief would see a trebling of total traffic volume using the A49. Worse still is the volume of HGV traffic using the A49. This will increase 5-7 times with the proposed relief of M5/M6 motorway traffic assuming the 20% level.

These figures were described as pure speculation by the Councillor for infrastructure, but he did not have any non-speculative estimates of motorway traffic relief volumes. The Council is in denial about future congestion issues claiming it is for economic benefit but failing to demonstrate them. The models used were produced without any meaningful motorway relief volumes.

Our initial observations are consistent with historic data. CPRE reports demonstrate bypasses increase congestion. Proposed motorway relief traffic will flood new networks as capacity is increased. City traffic will only get worse as a result of 26% increase in city housing. The financial case for the southern link road has not been made clear to the public in any consultation. 
HEALTH ISSUES
The cost-benefit analysis will exclude future health costs arising from ill health related to fine particulate pollution from motorway traffic and commuting in private cars. These health cost are not included. Why? Because current planning procedure ignores the increased fatality rates in polluted cities and cost of treating humans suffering from mental or physical complaints related to ingestion of diesel particulates and inactive lifestyles, despite generations of research and new government guidelines. 
COST ISSUES
Whilst capital costs run riot, budgets based on ill-defined estimates will prevail because according to Councillor Price for Infrastructure, ‘that is how they do it in the public sector’. (They plan to start with a stab in the dark and end up with a much bigger cost guided by their cost-plus contracted consultant Balfour Beatty). Don’t ask for a fixed cost or a guaranteed cost because it is not industry practice for public sector works. Why not? Because, this Councils’ advisors says so and Council is guided by construction industry consultants (with substantial conflicts of interest). 
In fact it is industry practise to fix prices where possible, but fixed cost contracts cost more at the outset because the contractors take on more risk and the project parameters are better defined. This potentially provides better cost definition for the public purse and better management of long term development contracts. With the current city link road originally designed to cost £27m but coming in at £34m we would be silly not to ask if all new projects can be expected to rise 25%-50% under their methods of capital management.
LACK OF DUE DILIGENCE
The meeting was well attended by the public who submitted many questions, 30 of which were accepted for discussion although the Cabinet tried to defer discussion to just a fraction given their derisory 15 minute time constraint for public questions. After a polite but stern response from the gallery Council was forced to listen to the full list of 30 questions.
If we learnt anything today, it was the Cllr Price is not in command of the details of his portfolio. He did not respond in detail to questions on costs-benefit analysis, health issues arising from greater HGV volumes or indeed the basic traffic modelling data. What is he doing running a portfolio without the wherewithal to retain and communicate the key facts? Time and time again he merely pointed to out-dated and inadequate traffic models published before the issue of M5/M6 traffic relief and the A465 improvements were included. Time and time again he brushed aside questions on the cost benefit model that exclude human health costs and environmental costs. 
POOR GOVERNANCE
This scheme is going ahead without a proper public consultation on the traffic implications because the responsible parties do not have the figures at hand or most likely, like the environmental biodiversity data, Cabinet plans to withhold relevant factual reports until after the decisions are made to proceed. 
This is poor governance and would be treated with appropriate redress in the world of private business but because its public works it is duly noted and ignored. The emergence of a Marches LEP Loan document due for repayment, that became a grant, during the course of the meeting, then a loan based on freedom of information disclosures. The CFO finance was not aware of the shenanigans but will catch up in the next meeting with the Marches LEP. Meanwhile the public witnessed a perfect example of the duplicity of council management.

 

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[Denise Lloyd]

From Here for Hereford

 

↠City Link Rd £7 Million Over Budget

 

More Confusion over Herefordshire Road Building Budgets – When is a Loan a Grant?

Posted on November 18, 2017 by Liz

Cabinet met on 16 November 2017 to progress the Southern Link Road, and look at the current state of the Council’s Budget. As the meeting started the large number of public present were advised that the Cabinet report mentioned repayment of a loan of £1.697million. This was apparently incorrect – the ‘loan’ was to be re-profiled, not repaid.

It appears that the S151 officer (Herefordshire Council’s Chief Finance Officer) was not aware that in early 2017 the Marches LEP had made advances of money totaling £1.697million to Herefordshire Council. This was not a grant as the money was to be repaid to the Marches LEP in full by 31st March 2018. Just one of a number of draw down agreements, for January 2017, signed by Herefordshire Council officers, can be seen here – SWTP Drawdown Notice 9.1.17 of £1.066M from Marches LEP to be repaid by 31.3.18.

The Herefordshire Council Leader, Councillor Johnson, was very keen to make it clear to the meeting that the council were not being asked to repay a loan, the money was a grant and it was being “re profiledâ€. Councillor Johnson had been re-appointed as Chair of the Marches LEP Joint Executive Board in June 2017 and the Minutes of that meeting record his comments about LEP repayments “The chairman of the LEP board queried at what point the recyclable grant would cease and become just a grant. He argued that this should be discussed by the board. The LEP partnership manager responded that contracts would be issued on the basis that all money allocated would be repaid, there would be a long stop date but this would be tailored to each project â€œ. The full minutes of this meeting can be viewed on the Herefordshire Council website here .

So does Herefordshire Council have to repay £1.697M to the Marches LEP by 31st March 2018 or not?
An email from the Marches LEP dated August 2017, which was referred to in the Cabinet meeting, says that the money has to be repaid saying :-
“Good to chat with you just now. We discussed the possibility of Herefordshire paying back the funds we previously released to the SWTP (South Wye Transport Package) which helped the LEP to meet the to meet the level of Growth Deal spend required by Government – thank you again for helping. The Government’s profile of funding to come to the LEP doesn’t match the expected spend profiles for our projects so potentially we may not be able to pay out all claims during the years 2017/18, 18/19, and 19/20 (with the situation resolved in 2020/21). Please could you consider transferring the funds (£1,697,609.36) back to the LEP during the financial year? Happy to discuss further, including the timing, we certainly don’t want to create problems for you. Let’s chat again once you’ve had time to think about it?â€

The full redacted email can be seen here Marches LEP Email Aug 2017 request for repayment

Did the S151 officer even know about this paperwork trail or the request for repayment?
If not, why not?

It’s time non-Cabinet Councillors sought urgent clarification on behalf of all Herefordshire residents. The next Audit and Governance Committee on 29th November, should interrogate Officers who provide information to Cabinet, so that a true picture of the Council’s outstanding debts can emerge.

Cabinet was confused about this issue on 16th November and gave misleading information to the press and public present at the meeting. Clarification about this money and a true position of Herefordshire Council’s finances is urgently needed.

Here for Hereford thanks the local Green Party who made the Freedom of Information requests which uncovered the trail of documents around the funding for the Southern Link Road.

 

[Denise Lloyd]

Teeming and lading is a bookkeeping fraud also known as short banking , delayed accounting and lapping. It involves the allocation of one customer's payment to another in order to make the books balance and often in order to hide a shortfall or theft.

Teeming and lading - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeming_and_lading

 

Just saying!

[Maggie May]

Wow Denise you really have a grasp of following the money! 

 

 

Teeming and lading is a bookkeeping fraud also known as short banking , delayed accounting and lapping. It involves the allocation of one customer's payment to another in order to make the books balance and often in order to hide a shortfall or theft.

Teeming and lading - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeming_and_lading

 

Just saying!

 

 

Is this teemin and lading legal when it involves public money? 

[DILLIGAF]

I have been reliably informed today that the other bypass sorry, 🤪 link road between Rotherwas and Clehonger A465 has been given the go ahead and work will commence by the end of the year.

[ragwert]

Herefordshire Council today makes Southern Link Road Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) and Side Road Orders (SRO).

http://www.sunshineradio.co.uk/news/local-news/southern-link-road-closer-to-construction/

[megilleland]

Southern Link Road Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) and Side Road Orders (SRO) detail here:

 

Sealed_CPO_Complete.pdf

Sealed_SRO_Complete.pdf

[jbfc]

From the BBC News web site this morning:

"Public inquiry to be held into £27m link road

Nicola Goodwin

Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

A public inquiry is going to be held into plans to build a £27m link road to south Hereford.

The planned Southern Link Road will join the A49 with the A465, south west of the city, through Grafton and Grafton Wood.

Herefordshire Council approved the plans in 2016.

But a number of concerns were raised about the route going through ancient woodland, the loss of valuable farmland and the impact on wildlife.

It's been revealed the Department for Transport is going to hold a seven-day inquiry into the plans in October."

[Maggie May]

My friend has told me that this public enquiry is due to start on 30th October and last for 7 days. Apparently something like 20 objectors to the scheme.