Hereford Voice

Duck Pond Clean Up Day - Sunday 24th June Postponed! Due to unforeseen circumstances the Duck Pond Day this Sunday has had to be postponed. We will advise of a new date over the next few weeks, apologies for any inconvenience.

THE Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire will unveil an arts project inspired by Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth this Friday. Hereford City Council has been co-ordinating the delivery of the project which will showcase the work of students and local artists. The new community project which partners with Hereford Skate Park and the Hereford College of Arts hopes to promote art and culture and showcase the talent of local residents. Lord Lieutenant for Herefordshire The Dowager Countess of Darnley will officially unveil the first sculpture, the Rotherwas Angel, at 4pm on June 22. Brian Stephens, skate park trustee and founder, said: The plinths will catch the eye of people as they enter and exit the City on the A49. Information about the artists and the sculpture will be found in the gallery in the Boom Box on the skate Park. The first sculpture created by students from the Art College is based on a brief relating to the Home Front. Hereford College of Arts course leader Darren Williams said the project is an exceptional opportunity for the students involved to challenge themselves. He said: A lot of work has also be done behind the scenes by Councillor Paul Stevens (Widemarsh).

Just a quick reminder folks only a week to go! We need as many volunteers to helps us as possible! Please as usual bring along a few black bags and some garden equipment, to trim bushes and generally tidy up areas of overgrowth. We will also finish painting the fence, so again the more people that join us next Sunday the sooner it will get finished. Looking forward to another great day

The same applies to when it snows. It is a myth to think you will be prosecuted it someone slips over. In most of Europe it is the law! Getting back to the weed/rubbish problem, if people cleaned outside their homes a lot of these problems would disappear.

Herefordshire Council delivers draft balanced budget Herefordshire Council has today published its draft statement of accounts for public inspection. The statements confirm that the council spent within its budget for 2017/18 and has set aside reserves for future years. The detailed performance for the year will be reported to Cabinet in June. The statements of accounts provide an understanding of the financial position of the council and demonstrate that the financial position is sound and secure. The council’s 2017/18 net revenue budget of £145m was matched with equivalent net spend, after transfers to and from specific reserves. Council reserves are proportionately comparable to similar councils and providing resilience as we face the challenges ahead. Capital investment for 2017/18 totalled £49.2 and included investment in the highways network (£13.7m), Hereford City Transport Package (£6.1m), Colwall Primary School (£4.1m) and Hereford Enterprise Zone (£1.8m). No new long-term borrowing was required to be undertaken. Every day the council helps to protect around 2,500 vulnerable adults and 1,000 children and young people (including 300 children in our care). Recent achievements include: Working with external partners to produce a business case which secured £23m of government funding to establish a new university in Hereford, of which the Council is the accountable body, and During the year the council realised the majority of the sale of its smallholding estate and the Council has approved that these funds (in excess of £40m) will be reinvested in regeneration projects throughout the County. The external auditors, Grant Thornton, will commence their audit work to supply their opinion on whether the draft financial statements present a true and fair view of the financial position of the council, its expenditure and income and whether they have been prepared properly in accordance with accounting practice. This work is schedule to conclude in July. The public are invited to view the accounts from 1 June 2018 to 12 July 2018 inclusive, where you may question the auditor about the accounts, or make an objection to the accounts. A guide to your rights can be found at https://www.nao.org.uk/code-audit-practice/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2015/03/Council-accounts-a-guide-to-your-rights.pdf

Holmer Road Petrol Filling Station In Hereford. (Texaco) A planning application has been submitted for the proposed demolition of the existing retail store/kiosk and car wash facility. The erection of a replacement retail store/kiosk. The removal and replacement of existing petrol pumps and canopy, replacement of fuel tanks, re-configuration of car parking layout and installation of plant within an enclosure. Planning Application P181599/F

Duck Pond Day - Sunday 24th June 10-4pm.POSTPONED We need volunteers! We will continue to paint the remainder of the metal fence, put up two new signs and generally clean up the surrounding area to include weeding and clearing over grown bushes etc. Please bring garden tools and garden bags etc like last time. We will try and arrange refreshments again, I am sure that Castle House Hereford will help out, they have always been excellent.

Plans have been passed for 80 new homes land between Gosmore Road and The Seven Stars Public House Gosmore Road Clehonger Herefordshire by Persimmon Homes East Wales. The original outline planning application P173007/RM & P142349/O - Non Material Amendment submitted P181775/AM.

As the site continues to grow, I am seeking more and more help from our members. I have today added ragwert to our team he will assist in posting news items and moderating alongside @DILLIGAF. Please welcome ragwert to the team, I am sure he will become a valued member of our growing team.

Robust Pothole Plan Rolled Out Across Herefordshire £1.25m additional funding will help to tackle the issue Balfour Beatty Living Places has scaled up their approach to combat the county’s potholes through the delivery of a proactive pothole repair plan. Herefordshire Council’s public realm contractor recorded over five times the number of potholes in March 2018 compared with the previous year, mainly due to the combination of water on the network and extremely cold temperatures caused by the prolonged winter weather. The challenge of tackling the increased number of potholes across the UK has been acknowledged by government, and Herefordshire Council recently secured £1.25m of additional funding to help tackle the issue. This is in addition to the £5m successful funding bid to the Department for Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund, which will see the second phase of road improvement work on the A4103 and A438 begin in August 2018. Balfour Beatty Living Places’ pothole repair teams have been working hard to overcome the high number of road defects and, since January 2018, have repaired over 13,700 defects, compared to around 3,000 this time last year. The pothole repair plan sees more operational pothole gangs out on the network, and the use of a ‘jetpatcher’ machine enables higher volumes of potholes to be repaired quickly and effectively. Andy Williams, Balfour Beatty Living Places Contract Director, said: Councillor Barry Durkin, Herefordshire Council Cabinet Member for Transport and Regulatory Services, said:

The second phase of work to upgrade Hereford City Centre will begin on Monday 14 May 2018 with the refurbishment of Commercial Street. Balfour Beatty Living Places on behalf of Herefordshire Council will carry out refurbishment works on the Commercial Street area of High Town with neighbouring traders kept informed of progress throughout the works. The work is the second phase of a refurbishment project that will be consistent with the look of Widemarsh Street and High Street. Councillor Barry Durkin, cabinet member for highways and transport said: The work will be phased to ensure minimal disruption to businesses and shoppers. All access to frontages will be maintained. Work will continue through 2018 with a break for the busy Christmas shopping period. The Commercial Street phase of the scheme will be completed in early 2019.

An absolute fantastic day at the River Carnival today in Hereford. The weather and atmosphere were perfect! For all those people that managed to visit, we are sure that you have had a wonderful day and the party on the Castle Green and music from the Nozstock stage continues into the evening. Here are just a few photographs that we took..

We had a walk around the Bishops Meadows, what a fabulous carnival atmosphere, everyone having a wonderful time and the weather is just perfect!

Floats away!

What a fantastic atmosphere at this years 'Hereford River Carnival'. The weather is absolutely perfect and it is great to see so many people in Hereford. We had a wonder along the river banks in anticipation of the river floats heading along the river towards the Victoria Bridge. Here is a live video that we published on our Facebook Page and you will find the others we filmed over the past few days all on our YouTube Channel.

A great start to the river carnival this evening and there is lots more to come tomorrow!

The Hereford River Carnival starts this evening for an action packed weekend of fun on and surrounding the banks of the river Wye. The awe inspiring Mappa Mundi Awakening procession starts things off in just over an hour at the Cathedral at 8:30, leading down to the Bishops Meadow. Saturday's fun starts at 10am with loads going on at Castle Green. There will be a dog show, food, Nozstock's live Music Stage and Street Carnival. On the River - the floats will be parading along with the Roundtable Duck race. There will be Dance Central, fun fair, stalls and food at Bishops Meadow. Come down and join the fun from 8:30pm tonight and Saturday 10am on the banks of the Wye in Hereford! http://www.rivercarnival.org/

As the weather warms up and we head towards the summer, the number of Blandford fly cases is increasing. The Blandford fly is a 2 to 3mm bloodsucking black fly, which lives near areas of water and gives a particularly nasty and painful bite. The fly normally bites ankles and legs, as it flies low to the ground and is most common during May and June. Karen Wright, Director of Public Health for Herefordshire, said: If you get bitten: 1. Clean the bite area and dry gently 2. Don’t scratch the bite, as this can lead to infection 3. Apply a cold compress or calamine lotion 4. Antihistamine creams are not recommended, as they can sometimes cause skin reactions 5. Cover large blisters with a dry dressing 6. If bites are on the lower limbs, there may be swelling of the ankles and feet for several days. Don’t worry about this, simply rest with your feet supported on a stool You should seek medical advice if you have: 1. Discomfort, swelling or red lines in the groin or armpit 2. A fever 3. A spreading redness or hotness around the bite, which lasts longer than three days

This was a superb project from the very start. We have all witnessed lots of additional visitors to Hereford during this period. Well done to all involved.

Royal Bank of Scotland have confirmed the Hereford branch will close later this year. The Broad Street branch shown above will close on Wednesday 8th August 2018 RBS customers will be able to bank in person at Natwest instead.

Rogue company and director fined for deceiving 87 year old Herefordshire resident with unnecessary roofing repairs A rogue company and director, which preyed on elderly residents in Herefordshire, has received fines for ‘unfair trading’ in a case taken to Hereford Magistrates Court, concluding on Friday 27 April 2018. GER (Southern) Ltd and its director Martin Hancox, 43, from Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to unfair trading charges following a case taken to Hereford Magistrates Court by Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards team. GER (Southern) Ltd and Hancox received fines and costs totalling £20,343. The company used databases to cold call elderly residents, and one victim was an 87 year old gentleman from Bartestree, Hereford. In 2014, the gentleman was mis-sold spray foam insulation work at the inflated cost of £5,000. A further unsolicited phone call followed in June 2017, where the gentleman was coerced into agreeing to an appointment where he was falsely told that moss on his roof had caused a leak. Eventually he was deceived into agreeing to further work to the value of £3,200, when in fact the work was unnecessary and worthless. Director Martin Hancox stated to the court that he was unaware of the incident and it was the actions of rogue staff in his company that led to the offences, but as director he felt he had to take responsibility. Marc Willimont, Herefordshire Council’s Head of Regulatory and Development Management Services, said: “The way that vulnerable elderly home owners are sold roof and wall coatings is a scam - this case is just one in a series of rogue trader prosecutions our Trading Standards team have recently pursued. This particular case demonstrates the aggressive sales technique and price inflation that rogue companies use to scam our residents into agreeing to unnecessary or poor quality work. “GER (Southern) Ltd are one of a string of companies that target the elderly for unnecessary spray foam insulation. To make matters worse, this company returned to a previous victim to deceive them for a second time. “We want family, friends and neighbours to remain vigilant in protecting elderly residents who are often the target of such scams. I would urge people to never respond to unsolicited telephone calls, mail shots, text messages or door-to-door selling. By responding to this unsolicited contact, victims are likely to be put onto a mailing list and have their information sold to other scammers.” There is further advice on being scam aware at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/scams and those who believe they have been affected by rogue trading can call Herefordshire Trading Standards on 01432 261761.

Planning has been refused after concerns over lack of parking and noise affecting nearby residential homes.

Glad they someone has listened to our complaints about our Historic City Walls, and now this clean up group is cleaning the railings along the Belmont Road and while this is a fantastic group doing brilliant things in out city, I do think we need to look at 'prevention rather than cure'.

This is good news all round for this area. (I have added a photo of the former Jail)