Hereford Voice

Herefordshire Council teams have recently completed a programme of resurfacing and drainage works on A44 - Noakes Bridge to The Farthings near Bromyard. Stay updated with latest roadworks HERE #herefordvoice #herefordnews #positivehereford

Stronger Hereford This scheme is part of the collective proposed projects planned for Hereford (see pdf attachment) and will establish a transformational world-class contemporary facility in the heart of Hereford with the capacity to accommodate our globally and nationally significant heritage assets such as the Magna Carta, Herefordshire Hoard and collections of antiquities dating back to the Ice Age, in addition to hosting national and international exhibitions. The redevelopment will embrace the latest technologies such as Virtual Reality to tell the story of Herefordshire and the wider Welsh Marches region. The new museum will aim to attract progressive funding for heritage, culture and the arts to facilitate educational and cultural activity in the city and county, to strengthen community cohesion and engagement and to support the development of job opportunities in Hereford’s cultural sector. FUNDING Total Cost: £15,000,000 | Towns Fund: £5,000,000 Matched Funding: £10,000,000 Towns Fund and match-funding will support the full refurbishment of the current Broad Street Museum and Library building to EnerPHit design standards to minimise its carbon footprint. This scheme is part of the collective proposed projects planned for Hereford (see pdf attachment) by StrongerHereford and will establish a transformational world-class contemporary facility in the heart of Hereford with the capacity to accommodate our globally and nationally significant heritage assets such as the Magna Carta, Herefordshire Hoard and collections of antiquities dating back to the Ice Age, in addition to hosting national and international exhibitions. The StrongerHereford Vision Plans and projects also include redevelopments Maylord Library & Learning Resource Centre Holmer Extreme Sports Hub Castle Green Pavilion Meadow Arts Encore Music Hub Digital Culture Hub Electric Buses River Wye Infrastructure Southside Scheme Greening the City Powerhouse Project Soil from the City NMTE Future of Work Hub HCA School of Creative Digital Futures #StrongerHereford #herefordvoice #hereford #positivehereford S20098D-Hereford-TIP-Document-NEW-FINAL-1.pdf

Police are appealing for witnesses or information after five puppies were stolen from a farm in Upper Swell overnight. Three female and two male Border Collie puppies were stolen from an outhouse at a farm sometime between 8pm on Friday 5 February and 6am on Saturday 6 February. Unknown offenders have stolen the four week old puppies worth approximately £600 each. They are all black and white with the males also having brown markings on their faces. Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area at the time, or has any information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident 125 of 6 February. If you want to provide information anonymously you can call independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Alternatively, you can submit information via this form online: #herefordvoice #herefordnews #herefordshire

Yesterday they helped rescue a cat from the river and today they’ve been out with their colleagues from Bromyard Fire Station helping get a horse out of a ditch he’d fallen into this morning. 32 yr old Shirenski found himself in an awkward position and was unable to get up. Great teamwork from the crews, his owners, neighbours and the vet...resulted in Shirenski getting back on to his feet after a few hours. Another wonderful rescue story from professional and dedicated firefighters who do a lot more work besides tackling fires 📷 HWFRS Leominster #herefordvoice #herefordshirenews #herefordshire

A cat had got himself into a tricky situation yesterday morning...stuck in a precarious position by the fast flowing river right outside the fire station in Leominster. Together with additional assistance with their colleagues from Tenbury and Hereford fire stations attempts were made to rescue him and after a brief dip in the river, the cat managed to self rescue further down stream. A wonderful rescue story from professional and dedicated firefighters who do a lot more work besides tackling fires. 📷 HW Fire & Rescue Service Leominster #herefordvoice #herefordnews #herefordshire

COVID-19 testing units remain in Hereford and Leominster One of Herefordshire’s COVID-19 mobile testing units has today (Friday 5 February from 3.30pm) been redeployed to the help the government’s “surge testing” campaign in targeted areas to better understand the spread, and supress, the South African variant. The least-used mobile testing units, which includes the one at Ross-on-Wye, across the country are being reassigned by NHS Test and Trace to work in those areas where cases of the South African variant, which do not appear to have travel links, have been found. The areas affected are Ealing, Haringey and Mitcham in London; Walsall in the West Midlands; Broxbourne in Hertfordshire; Maidstone in Kent; Woking in Surry and Southport in Lancashire. As many people as possible within those targeted areas are being asked to take a test. Herefordshire residents who develop COVID-19 symptoms of a high temperature, a new persistent cough and/or loss of taste or smell, should immediately self-isolate and book a test by going online or ring NHS 119. There are testing sites at Leominster and Merton Meadow, Hereford; as well as Hempstead Meadow, Gloucester; and Como Road, Malvern; or residents can order a postal test kit if they cannot get to one of the sites.Herefordshire’s Acting Director of Public Health Dr Rebecca Howell-Jones said:

Adoption Central England – celebrating three years of supporting children and families in Herefordshire Adoption Central England (ACE) is celebrating three years as a regional adoption agency supporting families in Solihull, Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire to provide children with a loving permanent adoptive home. In the past year ACE has launched its independent and confidential support service for birth relatives called Family Connexions. The service is available to any birth family member where children in the family have been adopted and supports birth parents through the legal processes involved in adoption and in making necessary life changes. ACE provides continued support for adoptive families and children. This has recently been further enhanced through their DDP (Dyadic Development Psychotherapy practice) certification. This practice is an approach to preparing and working with adoptive families that is underpinned by an understanding of childhood trauma. This in turn helps adoptive parents to parent their adopted children in such a way that recognises this trauma but also allows for secure and loving attachments can be formed. Throughout 2020, ACE has faced the challenges of COVID-19 and adapted to new ways of working ensuring adoptive families and children continue to have access to the support they need. Training is now delivered virtually and with an increase in enquiries, ACE has continued to place children with adoptive parents making sure the necessary coronavirus precautions are in place and keeping in close contact with families through telephone calls and online meetings. To find out more about what it’s like to adopt through ACE, adopter case studies are featured on the ACE Facebook page, providing an insight into the adoption process and what people can expect from the adoption process. Visit the ACE Facebook page @aceadoption. Councillor Felicity Norman, Herefordshire Council Cabinet Member for Children and Families, added: “ACE has gone from strength to strength during the three years since it became established. ACE has continually developed its practice to ensure it can provide a quality service for children across the five authorities that make up ACE and has stepped up to the challenges everyone across the sector has faced in the last year due to COVID-19, to ensure services have continued to be provided.” In order to find the best possible families for children ACE does not set a bar on who can adopt. The service welcomes enquiries from all sections of the community and is particularly looking to recruit more families for sibling groups of 2 or 3 children. Also, older single children usually up to the age of 8 years are waiting for families. There can be many advantages of adopting a sibling group apart from the obvious reward of being able to keep brothers and sisters together. The needs of older children are invariable better known and understood which means that support services may already be in place or can be more readily accessed to help adoptive parents as they start to share their lives with the child. If you would like to know more adoption please go to the ACE website enquiries@aceadoption.com or contact ACE on 0300 369 0556. The Family Connexions service can be contacted at: familyconnexions@aceadoption.com #herefordvoice

Today is 'World Cancer Day', please spare a thought for all those people that are suffering with cancer and let us also celebrate the fantastic work done to help help millions of people around the World who also survive this horrible disease. Locally we are supporting St Michaels Hospice and their '3 Day Music Fest' so while we're not allowed to go to any live music events, Hospice supporters Julian Morris and Glenn Parry are lifting our spirits by staging a virtual, online, 3 day dance music festival, with donations going to St Michael's Hospice. 3 Days, 12 DJ's, 25 hours of music. Friday 5th/Saturday 6th/Sunday 7th February, 2021. Featuring DJ sets from Glenn Parry, Simon Jones, Brian Griffiths, Tristan Bartholomew, DJ Kaos, Stinger, Neil Preedy, mRB & Julian Morris, Gary McCaw, Keel Gardner and Talia K. All streamed live on mixcloud.com For more information and to donate visit the JustGiving page: https://bit.ly/3pCb7Qi

UPDATE: Statement from West Mercia Police

West Mercia Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a Worcester man wanted on recall to prison. He has links to Worcester, Malvern and Hereford areas. Anthony Russell Hannay, aged 33, had previously been convicted for a burglary offence and is now wanted for breaching the conditions of this licence. He is described as a white man, approximately 5ft 11 inches tall, medium build with short brown hair and has a tribal tattoo on the right side of his neck. If anyone sees Hannay or knows of his whereabouts they should call 101 and not approach him directly. Alternatively, if you have information but don’t feel comfortable speaking to police, you can speak to the independent charity Crimestoppers. It is 100% anonymous, they never ask your name and they cannot trace your call or I.P address. You can contact them online or by calling 0800 555 111.

Herefordshire Council has taken the decision to cease work on a western bypass for Hereford at Full Council today (Tuesday 2 February 2021). Council has determined to stop the progress of the southern link road and western bypass schemes, which are included in the adopted policy. A suggested amendment was debated but not approved. The decision follows a detailed review of the transport strategy for Hereford which set out to better understand existing and future transport conditions in the city, and to assess alternative options particularly in light of the declared climate and ecological emergency and changes to national transport policy. The votes cast were 27 for, 19 against and 6 abstentions. All 52 councillors were present and voted. The decision means that the Hereford Transport Package will be removed from the council’s capital programme. The council meeting can be viewed again on the council’s Youtube channel.

Sad news today as we learn about the passing of a true hero, Captain Sir Tom Moore, our thoughts go out to his family and friends. RIP.

Hereford City Council have successfully bid for a project for free electric buses to link significant locations around the City, together with the Herefordshire Bus Users Forum. The Railway Station, Hospital, the new Primary Health Centre at Station Approach and the city centre shops and tourist attractions will be linked as part of the Stronger Towns Fund bid to Government. The service will cross over the Old Bridge and stop in the car park by the swimming pool to support the ongoing development of the river as a tourist attraction and link with buses from the south of the city. This is a long-term project, one of many being put forward as groups within the city push for up to £25m of funding to help support economic recovery and levelling up. The independent Towns Fund board (called the #StrongerHereford board) is a blend of people from private, public and community sectors who all have Herefordshire in their heart. They are a mix of parents, students, educators, business owners, employers and employees, creatives and politicians, and Mayor Kath Hey is also among the board, representing the City. The City Council hopes that the project will allow Hereford to continue to recover from the ongoing pandemic, and in the coming months and years ensure the City is better linked for residents and visitors alike. For more information on the Towns Fund Board, visit: www.strongerhereford.co.uk #herefordvoice #herefordnews #hereford

Hereford Cathedral has bid a digital farewell to The Very Revd Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford, after 19 years of leadership and ministry. The Dean had originally planned to lead a series of farewell services on Sunday 31 January but, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, those plans were thwarted. Instead, the cathedral community and many around the county came together online on Sunday morning with a pre-recorded video service sharing memories of Michael’s time in Hereford. As well as messages of thanks from members of the cathedral community, the Archbishop of Canterbury sent his best wishes to the Dean via a special video message. The Very Revd Michael Tavinor said: The Rt Revd Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford said: The celebration of the Dean’s farewell service is available to watch on the cathedral’s website (www.herefordcathedral.org/sunday-morning-worship-deans-final-service) or YouTube Channel.

Captain Sir Tom Moore, 100-year-old war veteran who raised £33m for the NHS, has Coronavirus and is in hospital. Sir Tom, who had not been vaccinated yet because he was being treated for pneumonia. In a tweet from his official account, his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, said he tested positive last week and was taken to hospital today for help with his breathing.He is not in intensive care. We are sending Sir Tom our get well wishes and hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery.

At around 12.20pm on Friday 29 January officers received a call notifying them that a woman was in cardiac arrest at her home, in Pembridge, and was believed to be the victim of an assault. Upon arrival, officers found the woman to have suffered a serious injury to the head and had sadly died at the scene. A man aged 57 has been arrested on suspicion of murder and has been detained under the mental health act. Detective Chief Inspector Dean Jones said:

Even experienced drivers get caught out on icy roads sometimes, a lucky escape for one of Leominster's Police officers this morning on the A49 just outside Leominster. Thankfully no injuries.... #herefordvoice #herefordnews #herefordshire

Supporting Local Business: Good to see Matrix Hereford is now open! Once the lockdown restrictions are lifted you'll be able to enjoy this premier venue for FUN and THINGS TO DO in HEREFORD. Their activities will include arcade, soft play, laser tag, mini golf, axe throwing, party rooms and the coolest cafe in town.. They are open only for take-away at the moment but go check it out in Eign Gate Hereford if you're out exercising or shopping. 📷 Matrix Hereford Hereford Voice wishing you good luck!

Accident on the A4111 this morning, the roads across parts of the county are treacherous due to ice. Emergency services are at the scene with crews from Kington and Eardisley Fire Stations and West Midlands Ambulance Service

The census happens every 10 years with the next one taking place 21 March 2021. Each household will be asked to take part and the information it collects helps Herefordshire Council plan services across Herefordshire. Find out more about the census, here 👉 http://orlo.uk/cQhLd #herefordvoice #herefordnews #Census2021

Anyone else notice this? Our friend Jon Simpson posted this photograph in our Hereford Voice Photo Studio earlier with the following comments; Well spotted Jon, we had not noticed that brilliant detail until you pointed it out to us today, how lovely. #herefordvoice #herefordnews #hereford

Proposed budget will now be put forward for recommendation to Full Council Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet has agreed the proposed 2021/22 budget which will now be put forward for recommendation to Full Council on Friday 12 February 2021. The proposed budget takes into account the 2021/22 provisional local government finance settlement announced by central government last December. This includes: ‘Lower Tier’ Services Grant of £0.25m which will cover around 70% of the cost of the council’s response to the pandemic Revenue Support Grant funding of £0.6m New Homes Bonus funding of £1.7m Rural Services Delivery Grant of £5.3m The council is facing pressure on its budget over the next financial year, mostly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. £11.2m in savings and a Council Tax increase have been proposed to Full Council to deliver a balanced budget. It has also been proposed that £1.9m of additional funding is provided to increase Council Tax discounts for those facing financial hardship. Council Tax funds around 29% of the council’s budget. A 4.99% total increase to Council Tax has been recommended. This is an equivalent rise of £1.51 a week for a Band D property. The increase is made from: 3% increase to the ‘adult social care precept’. This will provide an additional £3.2m to be spent on delivering social care services 1.99% increase to ‘core Council Tax’. This will provide £2.2m towards the cost of all other council services Residents on a low income may be eligible for help to pay their bill through the Council Tax Reduction scheme. Some residents will continue to pay no Council Tax at all, such as young adults who have left care and, with effect from 2021, also all the council’s Foster Carer families. More information and advice on reduction schemes and allowances can be found on the Herefordshire Council website at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/counciltax

A binman who was employed by an agency has been informed that he will not be working for Herefordshire Council again after the incident in which he had a momentary 'meltdown' and decided to kick the head off a snowman in Hereford on Tuesday while collecting the bins in the area. Our View: Although you may argue his behaviour was maybe a little odd, we're not sure that it warranted the man losing his job after he had a lapse of judgment. His employers are behaving like 'snowflakes' after all, it's just a snowman which would have naturally disappeared within a few days anyway. We hope that the person who took the time out to actually report this as 'an incident' sleep well tonight in the knowledge that someone has lost their job. Have a laugh at the cartoon photograph below which just goes to highlight how ridiculous this has become.

Hereford planning department have today approved planning with conditions for the replacement of existing Scout Hall, Stores, Sheds and Shipping Containers with new Scout Hall, which includes garages and stores. Covering letter in support of the plans Scouts’ Corner "Rebuilding the heart of our community" What we do We are Scouts South Marches, working across the majority of Herefordshire, part of the UK’s biggest mixed youth organisation. As Scouts, we believe in preparing young people with skills for life. We bring communities together and contribute to society. Above all, we aim to build better futures. Society is changing. In often fragmented communities, the pressures and expectations on young people are increasing. The future is uncertain. Scouts has never been so important in helping young people prepare for the future, developing the skills they need to succeed in a changing world. Each week almost a thousand young people across our District enjoy fun, friendship, and outdoor adventure. They develop a sense of optimism and strong values as well as the leadership and teamwork skills that are more valuable today than ever. Our home Our District Headquarters is affectionately known as Scouts’ Corner. Situated on Crozen Lane it has been the home of Scouting in Hereford since 1949. Over its history, Scouts’ Corner has served our District, and the community, well. Scouts’ Corner seen from Crozen Lane The building has a history which predates The Scout Movement itself. Originally the Countess of Huntingdon’s chapel, the building was moved from Berrington Street to its current site in 1889 along with its congregation. It continued to serve as a chapel until the outbreak of World War Two when, in 1940, it was requisitioned by the Home Guard. In 1949 the then District Commissioner of Hereford Scouting, Mr W.G. Ellison, organised the purchase of the site and it has been at the heart of our District ever since. In the 1980’s the trustees of the time started a project to rebuild Scouts’ Corner as it was started to deteriorate in condition. Unfortunately, the cost of the project was too much for the District at the time and the trustees decided to refurbish the hall instead. The hall has continued to be maintained and refurbished with small upgrades to the heating and toilets, new paneling to protect the internal walls and some redecoration. The building is now used regularly by 1st Hereford Scouts as well as a ballet group, spiritualists, and a daytime nursery. Between these groups there are around 150 people who use the hall weekly with others benefitting from ad hoc bookings. What we need As a Scout District we manage and support all aspects of Scouting across the majority of Herefordshire. Whether its training adults and holding AGMs or running activities for our young people, we need a home that is fit for purpose and built to last. A meeting room is desperately needed for small group training, trustee meetings and for our adult appointment process. It would allow us to perform all of our functions as a District without needing to hire other spaces which we do currently. It will also create a more versatile space with the option to have break-out groups within larger meetings. To provide an exciting, relevant programme of activities for our young people we have a vast array of equipment and resources which all needs to be stored safely. The current storage arrangements at Scouts’ Corner are inadequate in size and condition. The external storage consists of a wooden hut which is now rotting, a concrete prefab garage and a container which are difficult to access and deteriorating in condition. Internally there is very limited storage which has resulted in the use of the loft space accessed by a ladder. Due to the lack of space we currently store a lot of our equipment in an off-site storage facility which we pay for. We have of course considered whether these needs could be met through further renovation and reconfiguration of the existing buildings. The buildings are of limited lifespan and there would be a significant ongoing cost to upkeep them. There is also limited scope for a reconfiguration of the current space; incorporating a meeting room would significantly reduce either the main hall space or the limited storage space. A key issue is the lifespan of the ageing buildings on site which no amount of work will futureproof; anything other than a rebuild will simply defer these issues to a future generation. What our young people think Youth involvement is a cornerstone of Scouting. We asked our Scouts what they thought our District Headquarters should be like and they weren’t short of ideas. They all thought we needed a new headquarters and they were keen for it have a large kitchen, some outdoor space where they could develop Scouting skills and to look more modern from the outside. They also had ideas for how to decorate it with every Group from across our District contributing a decoration for the hall. We have taken all their points into consideration with this scheme to hopefully deliver a District Headquarters which they can be proud of. They are our future leaders and we want them to inherit a building which is fit for purpose rather than the same issues we have been facing since the 1980’s. Our plan We know that the provision of social and community facilities, including premises from which voluntary services such as the Scouts are run, is valuable to communities and an important feature of Herefordshire’s Local Plan Core Strategy. Whilst our primary aim is to create a District Scout Headquarters which meets our needs, we would welcome its wider use by the community as we have done with the current building. We are not looking to dramatically increase the capacity of the hall and therefore the number of users at any one time, simply to improve the quality of the space and secure its future longevity. We have taken every care to develop a project which is sensitive to our surroundings, particularly the trees onsite with the northernmost section of the building angled to avoid disrupting the trees. This also creates a larger space between the tallest part of the building and the adjacent premises. This also creates a more private outdoor space away from the car park which could be used by groups for activities. The proposed building incorporates more storage space which is better suited to our needs and will replace the unsightly containers and dilapidated garage currently on site. Integrated storage in the main hall will allow us to store tables and chairs as well as equipment used by groups safely without any intrusions into the hall space. The garage space incorporated into the end of the building will enable us to house the District’s equipment on site, reducing our expenses as well as volunteer’s time going to multiple locations for equipment. In summary, we believe that the proposed scheme will provide a modern headquarters which is sensitive to its surroundings and will enable us to continue preparing young people with skills for life for many years to come. Full details of planning application P203891/F can be found here