Cloudberry

I am appalled that accommodation for young people is being crammed into space at the junction of two busy roads, plus diesel trains on the other side, where the AIR POLLUTION and NOISE is likely to be much greater than almost any other place in Hereford. This at a time when the life-threatening effects of air pollution on health are constantly in the news. One or two trees won't make any difference. Students will be at risk every time they open their windows. So many practical things in this application have not been thought through. For example, students are all expected to use bikes, but there seems to be a narrow entrance to the bike store room. They will all have to queue to get in and out at busy times! And that will take time they shouldn't have to waste! If I was a prospective student this would not encourage me to come to Hereford.

The Office of National Statistics has recently published new figures that show the projected rise in number of households is not nearly as great as previously thought. I think that means that the total number of new homes Herefordshire Council wants to get built doesn't need to be so high. But we do need so-called "affordable homes". We definitely need more flats/apartments/small homes close into town so people can easily walk or cycle to shops, jobs, schools etc. and not spend their wages on transport. Developers don't make their usual huge profits on those though! See: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/2016basedhouseholdprojectionsinengland/2016basedhouseholdprojectionsinengland#the-number-of-households-is-projected-to-grow-in-nearly-all-local-authorities-by-2041

I would be sorry to lose Hereford Voice, but it does need more people to use it, like there used to be. It is an ideal platform for sharing information and comments, and I look at it to find out things that are going on that are not reported in the Hereford Times. I hope this slow down in use doesn't mean that folks no longer care?

Yes, I distinctly remember Cllr Harlow telling us that when Prezzo and Chimichanga closed there were other restaurant chains "queuing up" to come to Hereford! I've never been in Swarovski, but sorry to see any newly empty shop.

Thanks for digging this out, Ragwert. I hate to be critical but this location does not seem to be the best idea. This car park is well-used for the station, and if folk reach Hereford on a train late at night (especially women) then having a car close by for getting home can be very important. If the Uni campus is built here it will also increase demand for parking considerably, in other nearby car parks. This site is on a busy junction, and increased traffic and pedestrians are likely to slow the flow of traffic from Aylestone Hill into town still further. They have said that all students will use bikes. But where are the cycle paths that would make this work well? I can see that this site is "available" and easy to build on, but isn't there a better option? I think I have heard that they may build a multi-story car park on the country bus station site. In my opinion this wouldn't suit many people, especially the elderly and disabled. Too far from the station, too far from town, - although good for the hospital and, I suppose, the proposed uni campus building.

Good to hear that so many (at least 41%, those who responded to that particular consultation question) realise that Cllr Price's claims won't work for Hereford. Many more folk are beginning to realise that because it is only to open up more land for housing, this road will just make Hereford a horrible urban car-dependent sprawl with congestion much worse than it is now. What a waste of money. I really can't see all these planned new houses selling. And we all know how reluctant developers are to provide the "affordable" homes we really need.

Does anyone know how much this Enquiry will cost the Council? I have read that to pay for this Southern Link road the Council have to stump up £8million and hope to get £27million from the Marches Enterprise Partnership. But I don't think that covers the active travel measures they have also said they will provide in South Wye? There are no cycle lanes on the plan for the Southern Link Road, but I think there may be some new ones planned on other roads? If so I hope they don't make such a horrible mess as they did with all that silly road marking that doesn't help on Holme Lacy Road.

We need to address congestion and air pollution right now, yes? But you will have to wait up to ten years for all the negotiations and a bypass to actually be completed? Just imagine what could be achieved to improve traffic flow in Hereford in other ways (much quicker, much more effectively, much cheaper) with £140million! Spending £140 million on a bypass just to remove 15% of traffic from Greyfriars Bridge does not sound good value for money to me.

Yesterday at a public meeting in Breinton, even Cllr Price admitted that a bypass will not reduce congestion. (With so many new homes to be built, all generating more traffic, how could it?) People are being conned. These claims that Hereford will be free of congestion and air pollution only if a bypass is built cannot be substantiated. Measures to encourage walking, and cycling, and improving public transport need to happen now, not only AFTER a bypass is built, as is the current plan.

Please can you tell us where it is written that 50-55% must be affordable homes on the Three Elms site? Sounds very unlikely. As you say, what developer would build 1200 homes on that basis? Not enough profit for them. I think it's the other way round, they need to build the houses at Three Elms to get levies from the developers to help pay for the bypass. But its true that the bypass is planned to open up even more land for housing. And all that extra traffic will make city congestion and air pollution much worse than it is now. We won't get the nice fast bypass that some people seem to be imagining, it will just be a road through housing estates. Just like they've done to ruin Worcester.

The land for development argument may not stack up either. They are nowhere near a planning application for the Three Elms site west of Hereford because of serious issues that make building very risky. This is an Environment Agency groundwater protection area. Heineken and Cargill depend on water from boreholes here, and that water must be pure and lots of it, no risk of contamination. Building roads and houses is a big risk, so it is all being monitored very closely. Hereford can't afford to lose these businesses.

I see on the Hereford Times website article comments there is a link to a picture of an Eastern Enterprise bridge that was planned for Rotherwas, quite recently! Why didn't it happen? https://herefordenterprisezone.wordpress.com/page/3/ Herefordshire Enterprise Zone will have Eastern Access Across the River Wye It’s looking increasingly certain the Hereford Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas will have an Eastern river crossing as well as the planned Hereford Western bypass bringing the number of Wye crossing points to 5 within four miles of the City. Wye Enterprise Bridge While there may be concerns from green campaigners, the access brought by a road on columns across the valley floor leading from Rotherwas will take as much as 45 minutes off the journey time to the M5 Worcester South Junction 7. Minimal damage will occur to wildlife as due to the flood plain the road will be a magnificent structure sitting around 5 metres off the vally floor well away from plants and animals including livestock in the fields below. It will also give access out to Gloucester via the B4224 and serve for quick routes for local traffic on the under used lanes and B roads on the East of the City of Hereford. This development could be delivered in as little as 3 years and should be seen as a serious development in infrastructure connectivity between the Herefordshire Enterprise Zone and the Midlands From 2011: Hereford Enterprise Zone – River crossing and Hereford By-PassHerefordshire Council meet tomorrow to agree the poll to go to the county to determine the link of a Hereford bypass to the Hwreford Enterprise Zone. While local councillors promote a full Western bypass, local MP’s have strong support from a rich vein of conservatives promoting an Eastern crossing of the river directly into Rotherwas and the Enterprise Zone. Connectivity is already excellent from Rotherwas with a new relief road taking heavy traffic South to the A49 with its direct links into South Wales, the M4 into Bristol, the South West and South East and the M50 to the Midlands and the North.

Consultation exhibition starts on 6 February in a "pod" on Old Market https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/consultations/article/10062/hereford_transport_package_htp_-_hereford_bypass_consultation Hope they have some better maps of proposed routes than those I've seen so far. Many old folks in bungalows along Kings Acre Road are very distressed, not sure if their home is in line to be demolished.

Halo Leisure already run Bromyard Library http://haloleisure.org.uk/activities/herefordshire/childrens-activities/library I know funding from the Council is reducing to zero soon, but I'm uncomfortable with the museum having to concentrate on generating revenue to survive. Museums can be places of inspiration, and they have a value that is much greater than money. Herefordshire has some wonderful stuff, important at a national level, but it's mostly locked away in the Museum Resource and Learning Centre in Friar St.

I am appalled by this!! They just want to increase use of individual cars to increase congestion and pollution, to justify their plans for building a so-called bypass. I would much rather they used this funding to e.g. hire out bikes for free. That would contribute to a much more effective "Choose how you Move" scheme.