Over a hundred Breinton residents packed the Village Hall on Saturday afternoon, 15th October, to discuss the Council’s ‘Local Plan 2011 – 2031’.
Alistair McHarg welcomed everyone on behalf of ‘Here for Hereford’, the local group who had organised the meeting.
Liz Morawiecka described the results of the Consultation last summer on the Hereford Preferred Options – see http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/Hereford_Consultation_Report_June_2011.pdf
She pointed out that 76% of respondents did not approve of the Policy for Hereford City (H1: regeneration), 86% disagreed with the Movement Policy (H2: relief road) and 89% did not approve of the Urban Growth Policy (H3: housing). She said that this level of rejection of Council Policies was not mentioned by Conservative Councillors, but it was an indication of how far the Council’s plans for Hereford had failed to resonate with local residents.
It was time for everyone to show the Council, yet again, that the plans were ill-conceived and the proposed consultation processes were anti-democratic.
Vicki Wegg-Prosser went through the pages from the ‘Help Plan the Future…’ leaflet – see http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/A5_leaflet-final_version.pdf
The Council had amended their housing proposals, deleting the Whitecross strategic site of 1,500 houses, for example, but they had not amended their preferred option for a road along an inner western corridor alignment. Maps indicating the proposed alternate routes within this corridor were available at the meeting. Commenting on Council documents, she noted:
- Persistent unsubstantiated bias in favour of a Western Route
- Ecological and archaeological impacts along the Western Route had not been subject to proper scrutiny in 1991/3, 1996 nor 2011
- Recent studies by external consultants confirmed that the impacts on the Western route had been inadequately judged so far by the Council in their documents.
Liz Morawiecka urged everyone present to complete and return the Questionnaire which Here for Hereford made available to everyone at the meeting and which was on the Here for Hereford website. [See separate document with this submission]. It covers:
Housing : Herefordshire Council proposes to build 6,500 new homes in Hereford in the plan period 2011-2031, to provide on average 325 houses p.a. In the last 15 years Hereford has grown by 220 homes p.a on average which is faster than the rest of the West Midlands (growth rates of 4% vs 3.75% respectively). This means that Hereford would grow by nearly 48% more than in recent years. (Ref: GL Hearn, Report for Herefordshire Council, July 2011)
Transport :The proposed ‘relief road’ will not provide “relief” as the new housing, required to help fund the road, will add to traffic in Hereford, increasing pollution and making no discernible impact on reducing journey times. (Ref: Amey, Hereford Relief Road — Study of Options, September 2010). The road will not be a bypass as it is set to run through the new housing estates and the Three Elms employment site. The A49 will have to continue to run through the City.
Water / Sewerage :Herefordshire Council’s water study in 2009 showed that even after upgrading the sewerage treatment plants in Hereford in 2010/11, there would still only be a capacity for 3,500 new homes. The planned housing growth of 6,500 new homes in Hereford exceeds sewerage treatment capacity by 3,000 and could leave the River Wye at serious risk of pollution.
Hospital / Bed Provision :NHS Hereford has fewer beds overall (-15%) and fewer acute beds (-30%) per 1,000 population, than the NHS England average. There are no Council proposals to increase capacity at the Hereford County hospital in the next 20 years despite evidence of need.
Questions and Comments :
Both Bill Wiggin, MP, and Bob Matthews, Breinton’s Councillor, had presented their apologies for absence, otherwise they would have been happy to answer questions. The Council had declined our invitation to send a Council Officer to attend the meeting and answer questions.
It was agreed to submit the following questions to the Council for an urgent response:
What is ‘affordable housing’ (AH) and what percentage of AH is still in the Council’s plans?
If endorsed/funded, which comes first, and in what stages:– the ‘relief road’ or the housing?
Why is the option of a second river crossing at Rotherwas not being formally considered?
Why has the option of Not Building a Relief Road not been properly tested?
How can we be sure the Council will take notice of the Questionnaires being submitted?
What is the link between Bloor Homes, the Church Commissioners and the Council?
When will the Council complete the sustainable transport measures already in their plan?
Can we have a meeting with officers regarding bed shortages in the County Hospital?
[NB These questions were answered at the Public Meeting held at Whitecross School, 7/11/11, arranged after requests from many that such a meeting should be held.
See separate document, headed ‘Whitecross Meeting’ of notes of the meeting by the Council]
Other questions and comments were as follows:
Everyone should attend a Council meeting at least once, just to see what goes on. Yes, but
do we have any confidence in what the Council actually does?
Sites of Special Scientific Interest have UK designation but Special Areas of Conservation are protected by EU regulations and courts. The Lugg Meadows were ploughed up and farmed during the Second World War. The SSSI status applies to particular species, and dates from 1994.
If you wish to know more about Cllr Jarvis’s pledge to look at a river crossing at Rotherwas, write to him (but see above, we will be asking a formal question about this).
How can we make sure people engage with this important consultation? If everyone here handed a copy of the Questionnaire out to six of their neighbours / friends and urged them to respond by 28th November, that would make a huge difference.
The Meeting closed with a vote of thanks to all who had helped make it happen.
