Hereford Voice

Communities across Herefordshire have begun the clean up after Storm Dennis brought widespread flooding to the county. Unfortunately rogue traders see this time of vulnerability as the perfect time to target those affected by the floods. Herefordshire Council Trading Standards Service are warning owners of flooded properties to beware of rogue traders and cowboy builders exploiting the devastation and misery caused by the recent record flooding. David Hough, Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards Service Manager, says: Anyone concerned about the activity of a trader, cold caller or doorstep seller is urged to contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133. Citizens Advice will give advice on what to do next and report the matter to Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards team for investigation. Residents and businesses are also reminded that applications for the community flood recovery grant can only be made directly to Herefordshire Council. For more information visit www.herefordshire.gov.uk/floods

Public advised not to put themselves at unnecessary risk. Rescue teams along Hinton Road, photograph courtesy of Herefordshire Council Herefordshire continues to experience significant and widespread flooding from rising river levels and deep surface flooding. There is currently a severe flood warning, meaning danger to life, for the River Wye at Blackmarston. Residents have been evacuated from the Hinton and Putson areas of Hereford city and we expect river levels to remain high over the next couple of days. We are closely monitoring the situation. There is potential risk of further and significant flooding over the next few days in Greyfriars and Hampton Bishop in Herefordshire. The River Wye at Ross-on-Wye is expected to peak tomorrow (Tuesday 18 February) with risk of further flooding at Ross and at Symonds Yat. Residents in these areas are advised to activate any property flood protection products they may have, such as flood barriers and air brick covers and have a bag ready with vital items like medicines and insurance documents. All partners are working together to keep people safe and plans have been put in place for the coming days. Emergency response partners including Herefordshire Council, West Mercia Police, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, Environment Agency and health partners are working to support residents and protect the most vulnerable. We are concentrating our efforts to ensure vulnerable residents are evacuated where needed and rest centres are being set up for any residents that need to be evacuated at: Holmer Leisure Centre, Holmer Road, Hereford thePoint4, Venns Lane, Hereford Leominster Leisure Centre, Coningsby Road, Leominster Larruperz Centre, Grammar School Close, Ross-on-Wye Further rest centres will be made available as required. The multi-agency lead, Superintendent Sue Thomas said: “The safety of residents is our priority. The river levels are unprecedented and we are doing everything we can to keep people safe- but we need the public to help the emergency services. Please do not put yourself at unnecessary risk - avoid any unnecessary travel and do not enter flood water. Also, please check on your neighbours, especially if they are elderly or vulnerable.” Leader of Herefordshire Council, Councillor David Hitchiner said: Please do not travel unless absolutely necessary. Many roads are closed and impassable so please respect any road closures and diversions as they are in place to keep you safe. Please do not venture close to swollen rivers or floodwater and follow official flood advice. Herefordshire Council is co-ordinating all official information such as road closures, live updates and messages from partner agencies. Follow @HfdsCouncil on Facebook and Twitter or www.herefordshire.gov.uk Please do not enter flood water or put yourself at unnecessary risk. If your home has been flooded and there is no threat to life, dial 01432 260000. If you are in danger, always call 999.

The River Wye reached record breaking levels of 6.111 metres!! The previous record was set back in 1998 at 5.66 metres. As a result the Old Bridge has been closed to traffic and the Victoria bridge is virtually submerged underwater. The flood defence wall along Hinton Road is also threatening to collapse under the sever pressure.

We heard about this :)

The construction of new student accommodation at Station Approach, Hereford, will be moving to the next phase in the coming week. The next phase of the exciting project will involve the delivery of 127 modular ‘pods’, which link together to form the building. These bedrooms and study spaces have been built off site using an innovative construction method and will be assembled as they arrive. These ‘pods’ will be transported as large loads, some with escort vehicles, and delivered to the site over four weeks, starting on 10 February 2020 until w/c 9 March 2020. There will be six deliveries each week day (seven on the final day) between 9.30am and 3.30pm. The large vehicles will be travelling to the City along the A49 – the majority from the M50 at Ross travelling north, with around 27 of the largest loads travelling along the A49 from Shrewsbury. The traffic lights on Station Approach by the railway station will be controlled so that the modules can manoeuvre safely.Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: Work on the 178 bed purpose-built facility, being developed by energy and regeneration specialist ENGIE and Cityheart Partnerships should be complete in time for higher education students to move in for the academic year starting September 2020. Source

Yes, we noticed this last week.

The first phase of the demolition of the prefab bungalows along Beattie Ave began this morning. These prefabs weren't designed to last, the past 30 years have been a compromise between the costs of sustaining the properties vs the costs to redevelop them. The demolition of this first phase is due to be completed within 3 weeks. Hereford Voice previously reported on plans submitted by Hereford Housing back in March of 2018 for the proposed demolition of 41 existing (prefab bungalows) in Beattie Avenue Hereford and the subsequent construction of 71 bungalows and houses with associated parking, private amenity, access and alterations to highway.

The possible opening of a Shisha Bar near to Asda in Hereford have been blocked because plans have been refused. The location for a Shisha Bar would have been at the rear of number 8 Belmont Road (behind the Dino Asian market). Plans were refused by virtue of the siting of the proposal in close proximity to residential properties, it is considered that there would be an unacceptable adverse impact upon the properties from air pollution and noise.

Electric vehicles charging in the council’s off-street car parks will soon be entitled to 30 minutes of free parking. The changes will take effect from Monday 16 March 2020, from which date drivers of electric or hybrid vehicles that need to plug in and charge will be able to obtain a free 30 minute parking ticket to display in their vehicle. Council electric vehicle charge points are available: Hereford; Garrick Multi Storey Car Park, Plough Lane, Shirehall and Venn Close Car Parks Kington; Mill Street Car Park Ledbury; St Katherine’s Car Park Leominster; Etnam Street Car Park Ross; Red Meadow Car Park New rapid charging points are also to be installed in February 2020 at Edde Cross Street Car Park in Ross, St Martins in Hereford and Broad Street in Leominster. These will be capable of delivering an 80% charge to a vehicle in 20 minutes. Electricity supplied to the council's charging point network is produced from 100% renewable energy. Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: Herefordshire Council declared a climate emergency last year, and will publish its new Carbon Management Plan in April this year. The document will outline the council’s plan to reduce carbon emissions over the next five years and set an interim target for its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030/31.

We have received several complaints from motorists in Hereford who have used Herefordshire Councils chosen parking partner app 'RingGo' The complains appear to focus of the wrong parking location at the point of payment, we are not sure if this is a glitch with the app or simply down to the app showing the nearest location number 'at the top' which most people would automatically select rather than the correct location number for the street that the motorist is parked in. This has resulted in genuine people paying for their parking only to find a parking ticket on their vehicle when they return. Upon investigation they may well have paid for parking but if they are shown as parking in the next street they still end up with a ticket. When this has been challenged with Herefordshire Council more often than not the Council still enforce the ticket and fine, even though you cannot park the same vehicle in two separate streets at the same time, we have given an example below: Motorist parks their vehicle in Broad Street (location number 85598) near to the Library and pays £3.36 for 2 hours parking however, when they have paid the location selected was for King Street (location number 85995). Ticket is issued. Is Herefordshire Council being unfair here by insisting that the motorist still pays the parking ticket fine, even though the motorist has actually paid to park for 2 hours?

We saw an application this week for ATM's

At 23:00 GMT on the 31st January 2020 and after 47 years, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union and ceased to be a member of the bloc, Brexit has finally happened. There is still a lot to discuss and months of negotiation to follow. While the UK has agreed the terms of its EU departure, both sides still need to decide what their future relationship will look like. This will be worked out during the transition period, which now begins and is due to end on 31 December 2020. During this 11-month period, the UK will continue to follow all of the EU's rules and its trading relationship will remain the same. This morning you are waking up to an exiting new era for the UK, but who will be next? Share your thoughts with us.. #HerefordVoice #Brexit

Breaking News: We have been reliably informed that a western river crossing crossing in Hereford won't be achieved (via current plans, being reviewed at the moment by the new administration) for at least 7 years - or longer! - what should be done in the short to medium term to solve our congestion issues? Should we look at other options or concentrate on a bypass? The focus for the new council is to seek alternatives to a bypass in the short term, such as a better infrastructure for cyclists, electric buses serving the city and surrounding towns and villages. Developing popular schemes like turning off a number of traffic lights (not pedestrian lights) as part of a trail in an attempt to reduce the daily congestion within the city. None of the above is diverting from a bypass but in reality, even if the go-ahead was given tomorrow morning for a second river crossing, there are many time consuming procedures that have to be followed, for example; Consultations with government bodies and various departments and also the local residents whom would live within area of the new bridge. A business plan has to be presented then an application for planning which alone can take 18 - 24 months, following all of this, if planning permission is finally granted, then the council need to look at compulsory purchases, again, this can take several years. Finally, once all signed off the bridge and roads need to be built! We are currently running a simple yes/no poll on Hereford Voice to see whether local people believe Hereford needs a bypass and from almost 2000 votes in less than a week the results clearly show an overwhelming 89% of people want a bypass, which comes as no real surprise however, as you can see from the explanation above, it's not likely to happen before 2030, with this in mind, perhaps we should embrace and explore all other alternatives in the meantime.. #HerefordVoice #Herefordbypass #Hereford

Hereford Voice has an active SSL Certificate (we have had this for over 2 years and renewed again today). You will notice the secure padlock just before our domain, for added peace of mind. Your will now see our PositiveSSL Trust Logo on the main page of the website. Why Use a PositiveSSL TrustLogo? Visible trust indicators, like the PositiveSSL TrustLogo, are proven to improve visitors’ engagement with sites, increasing purchases, use of online services, and the sharing of sensitive information. A Positive SSL is the most popular SSL Certificate introduced by the most trusted CA Comodo. It's a domain validated SSL that can be issued by just verifying domain ownership. The certificate is designed to encrypt website for low volume online transactions and secure information.

Traffic Lights Out Trial Hereford. Hereford Voice have been campaigning for years to have some of the traffic lights in Hereford (not pedestrian lights) turned off, as most agree with our motto, 'The Traffic Just Flows' when the lights have been out in the past. It is looking like we may have a trial sometime this summer. This was featured on this evenings ITV News #HerefordVoice

A decision paper has been published (16 January 2020) that outlines the work that will take place to assess the Hereford bypass and Southern link road schemes while carrying out a wider review of the transport strategy for Hereford. Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: While the review is under way a number of transport and travel schemes will be progressing, including the development of a high quality transport hub at Hereford railway station and improvements to public spaces and facilities for cyclists and pedestrians across the city. The decision will be taken by Cllr Harrington on Friday 24 January 2020. The review is expected to take around six months to complete and will include consultation with the public and stakeholder organisations.

Hereford Voice - Turn Traffic Lights Off! Campaign: Traffic Lights Out! Guess What...NO DELAYS!! 'The Traffic Just Flows' Councillor John Harrington kindly just send us this video, which clearly shows at 'rush hour' with the traffic lights out how smoothly the traffic just flows!! Please continue to support our long campaign to trail turning these lights off, sign our petition:

Principality Building Society will be opening a branch in the newly build Alban House development in High Town Hereford. They currently have a branch in St Peter's Square. Planning permission for advertising consent has been submitted. This will breath new life into the former building which was fire damaged and left undeveloped for years.

Edenstone Homes have submitted outline planning permission on land east of the A40 at Ross on Wye for the erection of up to 175 dwellings together with associated development (all matters reserved except access). P194403/O

Photography: A spectacular photograph of the fireworks overlooking the duck pond from last nights new year celebrations at the Castle House Hereford. Thank you Chris Bridges Photography for this superb shot which really captures the moment.

A new Burger King Drive-Thru is due to open a in Ross-on-Wye early in February. A Starbucks cafe is already open on the site of the Euro Garages and work has already began on the new 82 seat Burger King Restaurant and drive-thru. The new restaurant will create between 20 to 30 jobs and people are being asked to apply now.

TV personality Richard Hammond has had his planning application for refurbishment at his home at Bollitree Castle, Weston under Penyard (near Ross on Wye) approved with conditions: Planning Application: P192366/FH Bollitree Castle is situated in the village of Weston Under Penyard, approximately 2 miles east of Ross-on-Wye. The barn is Grade II listed and forms part of a group of buildings within the grounds of Bollitree Castle. These buildings include the main house, which is Grade II* and another barn which has Grade I status. The barn is currently used as ancillary accommodation to the main house, containing a swimming pool, bar, gym and office on the ground floor. The first floor is used for storage and has a recording studio at the southern end. The adjacent barn is used for the storage and display of motorbikes. The proposal primarily involves providing additional sleeping accommodation on the first floor, with alterations to the ground floor to provide space for entertaining guests. The swimming pool is reduced in size and the gym relocated to the southern end of the barn. A glazed extension provides a link between the dining area and the motorbike display room. Richard Hammond

PASSENGERS OFFERED FIRST GLIMPSE OF NEW WEST MIDLANDS RAILWAY TRAINS Passengers in the West Midlands have been offered a first glimpse of the new, state-of-the-art trains which will arrive in the region next year after on-track testing began. West Midlands Railway has ordered a total of 26 diesel trains - known in the rail industry as Class 196s – as part of its £800m investment in the region’s railway network. The trains - which are being built in two-car and four-car formations – will be used to increase capacity on the busy line between Hereford and Birmingham when they begin arriving in the West Midlands next year. Among the benefits to passengers using the trains will be power points, WiFi and under-floor heating. A total of 80 carriages will be constructed under the project with the first batch now under construction in Europe by manufacturer CAF. They are due to arrive in the UK in the spring, with the remaining trains being manufactured at a purpose-built factory in south Wales. All units will undergo further testing here and in Europe before entering passenger service in the second half of 2020. A video of one of the first new Class 196 trains – complete with West Midlands Railway branding – being track-tested in Czechia in eastern Europe is attached. Class 196 Test Track.mov Jane Fisher, transition and projects director for West Midlands Railway, said:

The Fire Brigade and other emergency services dealing with a house fire in Newton Farm. Waterfield Road is closed to allow emergency vehicles to gain access. The fire appears to be under control but fire crews continue to dampen down this evening. There is a lot of damage to the property and traces of smoke continue to come out of the property. Waterfield road is still closed at this time however, this incident is slowly being scaled down. Thankfully the people who live at the address have all been accounted for.

Plans have been submitted by the owners of Play Planet in Widemarsh Street Hereford for the proposed change of use to D2 (Soft-play) of central section of sub-divided Industrial Unit. (former Vision Gelpack Premises, Faraday Road, Hereford). It is understood that Play Planet have been looking for larger premises in Hereford for a couple of years in which to move Play Planet and expand and if approved will create an additional 25 jobs. The proposal is to change the use of the two central bays (1028m2 plus ancillary first floor offices) of the former industrial premises. The application building has been vacant since March 2019 following the former user entering into administration in March of this year. The building dates from the post-war era and requires significant investment to bring it up to current building regulation standards. In addition to maintaining existing jobs at Play Planet, the proposal would ultimately create around 25 positions, also a range of spin-off opportunities for associated businesses which might benefit from a presence at such as facility. Planning Application P194006/F