megilleland

Councillor replies to Fire Station e-mail (post 40): Received 16th September 2014 13. Bowen, Sebastian (Cllr) Independent Thank you for your letter. I sympathise with your views and think it very unfortunate that the Bath Street buildings should be consigned to dust. I was hoping, when a Member of the Police Authority, that the Police and Fire Service could share a site to be built on the soon to be developed Link Road. This would have made good sense in many ways, including access. I have spoken on these matters but have not got far. I believe that it is legal for Herefordshire Council to determine its own applications, but it is essential that they come before the Planning Committee. If you have any particular queries, I suggest that you contact Mr. Andrew Ashcroft, who is head of Planning Services. Mr. Geoff Hughes is the Director in charge of Environment, and many other things. Kind regards, Cllr Sebastian Bowen

Being waiting a long time for the latest council expenditure to be published. It has been a bit confusing since April, with no May figures. You jump to June and I assumed that May and June would be lumped together which appears to be the case. July figures come out and they list money paid in July, but also list payments made back to January this year. August is now out and when you open the file all the payments are for May? The expense files were available in pdf, excel and csv, but since June were in pdf format only. I e-mailed the Council on August 21st and they said they would correct this, which they have partly done. The file for August is in pdf and csv, but not excel. However in csv you can edit it much easier. However now looking at the August 2014 expenditure file which contains payments for May only, can anyone shed any light on the transfer payment for £3,880,000.00 to Clifford Chance LLP on the 21st May 2014 or have I read it wrong? Another expenditure is to E Smith & Co Client Acct for £509,067.00 on 22nd May 2014, based in Kington?

Can a local council grant itself planning permission? County and district councils may grant themselves planning permission for their own development on land in which they have an interest, but that ability is subject to several important safeguards. For example, the proposals must be advertised and decided in public by a committee that is not responsible for land management. The public cannot be excluded from committee meetings at which local authority development proposals are discussed - as my hon. Friend suggested, that could have had an influence on some recent decisions. To avoid a conflict of interest, applications may not be determined by a committee or officer responsible for the management of the land concerned. Local authority development proposals or development on its land must also be notified to the Secretary of State if it is not in accordance with the provisions of the development plan in force in the area, so that he can consider whether to call in the application for his own determination...Unitary authorities can grant planning permission for their own development on land in which they have an interest, or for development by others on their land, but they are subject to the same safeguards of accountability and publicity. Other minor changes since 1992 There has been no substantial change in the position since 1992. However, local planning authorities are under more pressure to be very careful about their procedures. That is partly a result of the Human Rights Act 1998, which opens up the possibility of a challenge on the basis that the planning application was not fairly considered. The Standards Board also lays down further guidance for the conduct of councillors in local planning authorities. Another change is the Freedom of Information Act 2000. For normal planning applications, negotiations between the developer and planning authority, for example over section 106 agreements, are exempt from freedom of information requests on the grounds that they are commercially confidential. However, when a local planning authority applies to itself for planning permission, that exemption does not apply. In other words, a freedom of information request could obtain information about any written negotiations between the local authority officers involved in development and those involved in planning. Not sure how this applies today as I think the Secretary of State hasn't got to be notified as stated above, but I may be wrong. Any planners out there? Also the Fire Service is making the application not the local authority.

September 2014 in Hereford Times Letters Trouble is most decisions under this Cabinet are crass and work against the ratepayer with little transparency or scrutiny. Musical chairs - Practical issues for local authorities in moving to a committee system

Councillor replies to Fire Station e-mail (post 40): Received 16th September 2014 12. Millar, Jeremy (Cllr) Conservative I am not a member of the Council's Planning Committee, nor is the application within my Ward, and therefore I have no role in the decision about this application. However, the County Solicitor confirms that the Committee is not precluded from making decisions about applications in which the Authority has an interest. Yours sincerely Jeremy Millar, District Councillor, Hampton Court Ward Cabinet Member, Children's Wellbeing Herefordshire Council

Regulatory Sub Committee Tuesday 23 September 2014 12.00 pm 1. Application for the Grant of a Premises Licence in respect of Wok & Rice, 59b Commercial Road, Hereford, HR1 2BP ANNEX 1- SPECIAL CUMULATIVE IMPACT POLICY attached for reference. Herefordshire Council Regulatory Sub-Committee Decision Notice (Licensing Act 2003) (dated 2nd September 2014) The Sub-Committee has decided to defer the determination of this application to give the applicants appropriate time to liaise with the Licensing Authority and West Mercia Police. This time shall be used to determine what conditions or procedures could be put in place by the applicants to ensure that they do not add to the cumulative impact of the area.The application shall be heard by this Sub-Committee within 21 days of this hearing date. Application Form (no date visible but applicant wanted licence to start 17th June 2014) Representation made by the Local Authority (no date) Police representation (7th July 2014) Looks like these applications take a long time when we know what the decision wil be.

Roger, what do you expect. All parties in this saga are dubious and have their own agendas, if the public get any benefit it will a sideline.

I did think that one of the short comings within the city and highlighted by this planning application is the lack of a Hereford City Neighbourhood Plan. Outside of the city, many parish councils are realising the importance of putting together a Neighbourhood Plan. We are told that producing a Neighbourhood Development Plan provides an exciting opportunity for communities to become directly involved in planning policy. A plan allows the local community to create a vision and planning policies for the use and development of land in a neighbourhood. For example, where new homes and businesses can be built and what they should look like. Neighbourhood Development Plans can be general or more detailed, depending on what is important to local people. They must however, conform with the strategic policies in the Core Strategy and should not be used to promote a lower level of development. In Herefordshire, Neighbourhood Development Plans can only be produced by town or parish councils. Unfortunately the city council appear to have no real interest in this application and as per Two Wheels post 37 states 'We have no objection in principle and appreciate the need for a new Fire Station in Hereford; however, we regret the loss of Bath Street building and think it’s unfortunate to locate the Fire Station on such prominent site in the City.' Hereford City Council as a parish council didn't have an effective Neighbourhood plan in place for its wards, and it would appear from this past topic by Simon Brown, that even where enlightened councils consult their parishioners, their comments are or will be ignored as it suits. Within this section of the council's website reference is made to Neighbourhood Development Orders, These are a relatively new legislative tool. They are flexible and consistent with local determination, part of a move to reduce bureaucracy and redefine the issues where planning really makes a contribution to neighbourhoods. This guidance note sets out some of the ways in which you can use your Neighbourhood Development Order and highlights the circumstances or objectives when you might want to consider a development order. The following project ideas/objectives can form the basis of your Neighbourhood Development Order (NDO), though you may have other ideas in mind as the list is by no means exhaustive: • Vitality; • Employment; • Design and local residential character; • Conservation; • Renewable energy; • Innovation and regeneration; All sound good reasons for making an NDO, but maybe like Neighbourhood Plans just a smoke screen.

Yes Dippy but for whose benefit - The people or politicians.

Monday 15 September 2014 in Hereford Times News: Any advice to keep people out of the clutches of loan sharks is to be commended.

Monday 15 September 2014 in Hereford Times News by Gary Bills-Geddes Full result for 2010 Hereford & Herefordshire South General Election AJ Norman (Conservative Party) 22,366 votes - 46.2% votes won SJ Carr (Liberal Democrat) 19,885 votes - 41.1% votes won PL Roberts (Labour Party) 3,506 votes - 7.2% votes won VJ Smith (United Kingdom Independence Party) 1,638 votes - 3.4% votes won J Oliver (British National Party) 986 votes -2.0% votes won A lot of Lib Dems votes will be up for grabs for siding with Cameron over the last five years. Let's see if we get many young people making their voice heard here on Hereford Voice.

This article which Cambo drew attention to in this post, doesn't put UKIP in a good light.

Just watched UK Column and this topic came up and I see UKIP appear to support it, which I think is not very good. UK Column 15th September live news, archived later today, say he is connected with Common Purpose. This organisation looks far worse than freemasonary when it comes to doing things benind the scenes

Councillor replies to Fire Station e-mail (post 40): Received 15th September 2014 11. Andrews, Polly (Cllr) Liberal Democrat Thank you for your email , but as a former member of the H&W FRANCE I know how long and difficult has been the search for a site for a replacement fire station Sent from my iPad

Draft Revised Hereford Enterprise Zone Local Development Order Consultation Herefordshire Council adopted Hereford Enterprise Zone Local Development Order in April 2013 to support measures aimed at generating skilled and well paid jobs through attracting a range of manufacturing jobs to Rotherwas Industrial Estate. This makes it easier for businesses to develop sites within the estate through avoiding the need to apply for planning permission for certain types of industrial development. The types of businesses permitted through this order include storage and distribution, andgeneral and light industry. Certain conditions are however imposed, for example to promote sustainable transport and protect the environment. Currently there is a restriction upon the amount of traffic that can be generated by the Enterprise Zone onto the A49 and the order will cease to operate when the level of capacity agreed with the Highways Agency is reached. Looks as if it is shouting out for a velodrome - just got to work out how to pay for it.

I wonder where they train on the "roads" of Herefordshire? Do they use the velodrome at Newport? Maybe a velodrome at Rotherwas would be a good idea now that there is a consultaion on relaxing the planning rules on the Enterprise Zone. The council are currently consulting on revisions to Local Development Order between Friday 5 September 2014 and Friday 3 October 2014 inclusive. Maybe including a D2 use would be a good idea. Assembly and leisure: Cinemas, concert halls, bingo and dance halls, casinos, swimming baths, skating rinks, gymnasiums or sports arenas (except for motor sports, or where firearms are used).

Nice to see the cycling team NFTO (Not for the Ordinary) doing well in the Tour of Britain - great team work and support. It's encouraging for the youngsters to have a local team based in Rotherwas showing the world how good they can be. Expect to see more bikes on the road.

Councillor replies to Fire Station e-mail (post 40): Received 13th September 2014 10. Harvey, Liz (Cllr) IOC Thank you for your email. I'm afraid I don't know the answers to the questions you ask - but I'll ask some questions of my own and try to find out. Kind regards, Liz Harvey It's OUR County - Ledbury Ward

Let's hope Jesse Norman can bring some weight to this discussion. I note that he helped the residents of Ross on Wye with their police station. Quite a deputation at this meeting.

Came across this Commons Chamber Debate Backbench Business: Debate: Future of Non-League Football Jesse Norman Commons Hansard: 4 September 2014 Jesse Norman introduces the debate with reference to Hereford United and other MPs contribute their concerns for non-league football. An interesting debate telling us how bad things are for our youngsters aspiring to play football and the position communities are left in when things go wrong. The FA has a lot to answer for.

Saturday 13 September 2014 in Hereford Times Letters: Could apply to Fire Station application.

Received 13th September 2014 8. Vaughan-Powell, Glenda (Cllr) Independent Thank you for your email, I totally support your comments. I do not support the destruction of one of Hereford Iconic buildings which also sits within a conservation area. I feel that a better use would be to upgrade the present building and use it for the Herefordshire University which would be an excellent location for it. Unfortunately the planning committee although made up of cross party members the majority are Conservative, It will be interesting to observe if the last mayor who supported the John Venn Arch as one of his charities will vote for this building to be destroyed when the application comes before him at the planning committee. Kind regards, Cllr Glenda Vaughan-Powell Belmont ward. 9. Cllr Edwards, Philip Independent Herefordshire Council does have the right to determine all Planning Applications which come forward throughout the County of Herefordshire, no matter who the Applicant is or who is the site owner. Having said that, I too have considerable concerns regards this particular application. As an active Member of Herefordshire Council's Planning Committee and need to ensure that I am first, in possession of all of the relevant facts and that means waiting until this application is placed before us at Committee, having said that, I am considering that this site may be of greater value in 'heritage street character' and therefore future public value than the current Cabinet realise! As you know, through my former City Mayoral role, I did everything within my power to capture and spread the whole ethos of what the Rev John Venn and his sister Amelia did for our City, much of what is still needed today so I fully understand where your thoughts are as regards to this important building. It is my humble opinion that at least the facade needs protecting and retaining whilst better use be made of the impractical Victorian building and cellars behind! I will continue to do what I can via the Planning process. Cllr Phil Edwards Belmont Ward Hereford City and Herefordshire Council Member Herefordshire Council Planning Committee

Saturday 13 September 2014 in Hereford Times News by Adam Knight

Reduce the speed to 20mph which is faster than at present along Belmont Road and increase the area the public use to cross the road and hatch it like the box junctions. If motorists can't stop they are going too fast.

Councillor replies to Fire Station e-mail (post 40): Received 12th September 2014 7. Kenyon, Jim (Cllr) IOC Thank you for your email I have no strong opinion either way I do know that we need a new purpose built fire station as the existing one is in a bad state and far to big for their needs,I would be interested to know what you would do with the bath street buildings owned by the council how or what could go in there if it was saved both the fire authority and the council are struggling financially with the threat of losing front line services it "seems" a good plan but I am happy to listen to any suggestions. Just so you know I have no direct influence on any outcomes as I am not on the planning committee finally I am away now until the 20th so any further emails may not get such a speedy reply. Regards Cllr Jim Kenyon