Nearly 300 people packed into the Town Hall Assembly Room for the “It’s Our City” public launch on September 15th. They overflowed into the Council Chamber … and more had to be turned away!
With hardly a dissenting voice the message to Herefordshire Council and the ESG Company was loud and clear: “Think again, before it’s too late!” Cllr Mark Hubbard (Central Ward) chaired the meeting and captured the mood, declaring: “We are going to stop the Retail on the Cattle Market and the Link Road.”
Photo: Jovan Manic-Smetanjuk
Experts from the retail world, Jon Turner and Adrian Horsburgh, explained that it would be many years, if ever, before the proposed retail park would attract enough viable business. Meanwhile the historic core of the city would continue to decline. Garry Thomas (Hereford Civic Society) illustrated how “one size fits all” developers have destroyed other city centres. When Andrew Sanders detailed the nightmare that the threat of compulsory purchase and relocation are causing existing businesses it struck a chord with many other threatened enterprises.
People came because their businesses are threatened by the crazy Link Road and Cattle Market demolition.
They came because they fear even worse traffic congestion than Hereford already suffers.
They came because the whole thing is a white elephant with an ever increasing price tag.
They came because they want some ownership of a genuine regeneration of the existing city centre.
They want affordable housing. They want a new Library. They want modern leisure facilities. They want a University. But it is more and more obvious as each day goes by that these will not be delivered by the ESG Company.
We’re off to a fantastic start. Public support is overwhelming. Plans are already in place to escalate the Campaign until the “powers that be” understand the message. “IT’S OUR CITY!”
Well done to all of the speakers and the team involved; fantastic speeches and a really great atmospehere at the event! What a powerful message, makes you feel you are part of something really special!
Just like to say to the people of Hereford, try your very best to stop this development going ahead as it seems to only offer benefit to the developers, who will walk away with bulging pockets and leave an ugly development and loads of empty shops to boot.
I’m from Worcester and we visit Hereford on occasion as we have family there. We have friends in Gloucester and they have reported nothing but bad news from the recent quays development there in terms of it destroying the city centre almost over night. Read the Gloucester local press for the bad feeling surrounding this development.
But this of course is only my opinion and that’s all I’m able to give but try and keep Hereford as Hereford and don’t fall into he development trap, lobby for investment in the historic heart of Hereford, a good example is the new library and history centre that they have begun building in Worcester its on brown field land and seems as though it will only add to Worcester.
I feel these out of town developments are the nail in the coffin for most towns and cities, please don’t let Hereford become another ghost town, it’s a lovely place and best of luck with keeping it that way.