twowheelsgood

I think that is brilliant, but only 3 words - not enough to go round to justify all the the suits. Suits cut the grass?

flamboyant - the multi-million pound core strategy covers only future new development - and this is only one part of the Council's remit. The whole thing has grown and grown, thousands of pages that no one will ever read, completely impenetrable jargon that can only result in many, many bad decisions and expensive appeals. It should have been scrapped and a new start made ages ago. The whole thing could have been done in 18 months. Don't forget, the National Planning Policy Framework, which is the top level policy produced by the government to cover the whole of the country, is just 49 pages long (plus 10 pages of annexes).

When Adrian Blackshaw was having his turn at messing up running the ESG debacle, a friend asked him if a statue commemorating John Venn could be erected as part of the proposal - his response? Who's he? Says it all really. On reflection, the good Rev Venn would spin in his St Peter's grave to be stuck in the middle of such a godless temple of consumption. On the subject of art, commercial developments are encouraged to provide '1% for art', so at £90m, can anyone tell me where the £900k of artwork is on the OLM please? Or any artwork … at all? Did someone whisper Debenhams signs ...

Just to muddy the waters further, the police station is, apparently, knackered/not fit for purpose/about to collapse etc and the £8.1m they have just spent on that little lean-to was a stop gap to keep the human rights ninnies at bay. Their Barton Road lease expires at the end of this year and they face a major space issue back at Bath Street because of that. So, they may be on the move as well. Another site for housing or hey, a another option for the fire station! Reading the report provided by Colin's anonymous contact, it is clear that the Police have been systematically shafted by the Council over a 10 year period in their search for a new site and, further 'Over this period the Council and Hereford Futures have come forward with various potential site options (details provided in the section immediately below), but it has transpired that none of these options provide credible and deliverable solutions to WMP’s requirements'. Sadly it would appear that both Fire and Police have been planning a move for 10 years or more (the Police since 2001, when they were offered the cattle market site) and both have been blocked by the Council/Futures, to the point where they now have to do something, anything, to avoid falling foul of some legislation or other. The whole ESG debacle has well and truly blighted and done for this City.

Ah, the Core Strategy. So far behind schedule (3 years and counting), so costly and such a mess, the Council have now employed external consultants at huge cost to knock the thing into some sort of shape. Officer Ashcroft, who has presided over this monumental and hugely expensive failure, nonetheless maintains his position and £80k+ salary. Of course, it has yet to go to public enquiry, at which point the big guns such as Here For Hereford will open fire. In the meantime, the Council's failure to get even a five year housing plan in place is seeing hundreds of speculative planning applications for housing in open countryside being submitted - outraged councillors are refusing them, but they'll be won on appeal, at yet more cost to us, because, without the five year plan, that is what government policy says is acceptable.

Plans unveiled for new Hereford fire station - HT article here http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11217002.Plans_unveiled_for_new_Hereford_fire_station/?ref=mc

At the public exhibition of the proposals I specifically asked one of the civilian firemen if there was a better site coming available in say two years time, would they wait for it? Yes, I was told, without hesitation. I was told this deal had been put together by Hereford Futures and was given the strong impression it wasn't really what they wanted. If the Council really want to develop a site for housing, just use the Bath St site for goodness sake - they'll get far more units on that. THAT is best value. On the right hand side of the pages is the 'againsts' - several options mention a potential issue with not being able to sell the present site in a timely manner. I suspect Futiles exploited this to push them into this deal. However, in my experience, you can sell anything if the price is right.

What about the admin cost of contacting the council to get permission to cut their grass? No doubt forms would be involved, which would have to be mailed out, checked on return, approval mailed out - would this be cheaper than getting the grass cut? Of course not. Never mind the nightmare for the hapless citizen trying to contact the council in the first place via their unhelpful switchboard (in Liverpool I hear).

Actually, I see that Ameo Ltd are a different and seemingly separate company to Ameo Consulting Ltd and Dearing is not a director of the former. However, Ameo Ltd talks the sort of management gobblegook that the council must have loved - 'Ameo is a niche interim management consultancy specialising in project and programme management for business change and transformation initiatives'. It must be a coincidence that Dearing is now trading with a very similar name ...

Whats the first thing I see - a payment of £430 to Black Mountain Mineral Water Co - they just don't get it do they? In March 2013, Ameo were paid £20900. In April 2013, Ameo were paid £13200. In August 2013, Ameo were paid £20990. That’s just from those three links above. Is it me or do this all seem a little, well, odd? There are pages and pages of payments to Ethica Resourcing Ltd - I assume that is for agency staff to cover for those who've been made redundant.

Neighbourhood Plan's are tied into and part of the Council's (slowly) emerging Core Strategy - now 3 years late and counting. It is debatable as to whether they will have any effectiveness when the over-arching National Planning Policy Framework has a sweeping 'in favour of sustainable development' approach.

Sorry, that should say 'John Venn name should be reinstated' - memo to self not to post after midnight!

Planning's role is to determine what is submitted and only that. Everything else is politics. Objections must refer only to the application - subjective views on where it should be sited, for instance, are pointless and detract from the point.

It's not listed - the Civic Society tried a few years ago to get it listed to no avail. I rather like it in a perverse way, but the original John Venn name should be reinitiated - Mrs Haider did a terrible disservice to Rev Venn's memory when she renamed it.

They'll do it in August when people are on holiday ...

Disagree entirely - if you employ an estate agent to design you a building (which is what they have done) you end up with what we were shown - a shed, and an ugly one at that. That is why planning legislation exists - to ensure that the built environment is the best it can be, to everyone's benefit, within established guidelines. This proposal ignores all those guidelines. The present fire station has some considerable architectural merit - so it can be done. The magistrates court is not a bad building at all - there is no reason why that level of design and quality could not front Bath Street. It is a simple brief after all - 4 large garage doors and some office accommodation. That should not restrict in any way a design of quality that will enhance the conservation area coming forward (my emphasis - this is what the legislation demands). That doesn't overcome the training rig issue though ...

Cushman & Wakefield are 'real estate agents' who 'provide commercial real estate services to help clients turn fixed assets into dynamic assets'. Hence the complete absence of any architectural merit.

duplicate

We knew it would be bad, but never as bad as this! It’s a shocker!! Of course the rather fine Scots pine goes as well - council trademark - before you do anything fell some trees. Who can forget or forgive the felling of the centuries old boundary oak at the new cattle market? Or the limes … both completely avoidable.

Been - there 4 other people there whilst I was there. The proposal is even worse than anticipated - a single and two story shed, quite appalling, wouldn't look out of place at Rotherwas, but in the Central Conservation Area - what are they thinking? Told one of the reps it looked cheap and nasty - he said it certainly wasn't cheap! There is a massive training rig at the back - three storeys and a pitched roof, but all open steel frame (the same as they have at Peterchurch) - that'll be nice for residents in Central Avenue, when they're burning off an old car or two. Terrible - does it 'enhance the conservation area' - specific criteria for such an application - most definitely not. Again, we have to wonder why the rush. I asked the rep - if there was a better site but a two year wait, would you wait? He said yes.

I suspect long established shops such as Philip Morris own their property and don't have to pay exhorbitant rent to absentee landlords, trading from offshore tax havens. We've seen the rent at New Look in High Street disclosed as £450k pa, with business rates probably the same again and staff costs and other overheads pushing it well over £1m pa needed before it makes a penny. From a few frocks?

So have the HT got it wrong? "The people behind the BID steering group include representatives from Herefordshire Council, Hereford City Council, Visit Herefordshire, Young Enterprise, as well as businesses and other organisations such as All Saints’ Café, Fit Clothing, Harrison Clark Rickerbys, Primark, Chave and Jackson, and Hereford Cathedral." This is the same situation as Hereford Futiles - representatives from the Council on the board, until it all went pear shaped and, to avoid disclosing information, those directors suddenly became 'individuals'.

From the H & W Fire Authority, 8 May; Work gets underway on new fire station at Great Western Business Park, Worcester St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, has begun work on a new fire station at its Great Western Business Park in Worcester on behalf of Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority (HWFA). Derek Prodger MBE, chairman of Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, added: “Our current fire station in Copenhagen Street has served us well for the last 70 years but lacks modern training facilities and is no longer fit for purpose. This new facility will enhance our service to the people of Worcester and support the work of our firefighters.†Great Western Business Park, off Tolladine road, is located half a mile from Worcester City Centre and within two miles of Junction 6 of the M5 motorway. My emphasis - if they can locate the Worcester one out of the City, why not the Hereford one? Have they considered Rotherwas, particularly given the large fires there recently?

Nothing to do with the council - more to do with protecting the anonymity of people in need who have been helped by the Society, financially or otherwise.

I meant the District Council - of necessity they are on the Steering Group - I just hope they are kept in check and not allowed to hijack the scheme at the eleventh hour, taking all the credit for doing nothing and then in all probability screwing it up. I'm with Aylestone Hill - too often these things are talking shops for the suits with no real work on the ground ever materialising. I'd like to see the City running itself as it used to when there was the District/County arrangement - a much more balanced and fair approach with checks and balances, unlike the unitary scheme foisted upon us.