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BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Hereford bypass scheme can begin in earnest, says finance leader
The long-awaited Hereford bypass scheme can now begin in earnest, a Herefordshire leader has council is due to approve next month what it calls "the procurement route to enable the Hereford Western Bypass to move to it's construction stage".The route will link the A465 and A49 southwest of the city with a second proposed phase across the River Wye and up the west side of the member for finance, councillor Pete Stoddart said diverting traffic out of the city will "let Hereford breathe again" and enable a more diverse transport mix within it. "Currently lorries come up the A465 into Hereford and out to Rotherwas," he said. "This will take 15% of traffic out of the city."Phase two, the bypass "proper" will then be "a growth corridor for employment as well as housing" – the case for which is only strengthened by the government's higher demands on the county to build more new homes, he said."We will meet that demand, but they have to help us provide the road and the infrastructure" – while the developers of all these new homes "will assist us in paying for the road", he to £30m has been earmarked this year alone on phase one with the council previously saying it hoped work would start by dismissed opposition parties' preferred option of an eastern crossing over the Wye as "a road to nowhere", adding: "From Rotherwas, most traffic wants to go north, not east."Councillor Terry James, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the county and supporter of the bypass, said he believed there was "a strong chance the government will fund the first phase", but added: "We have to show we are keen to do it anyway."Hereford Civic Society chairman Jeremy Milln, also a Hereford city councillor, said that aside from the cost, there remained "an awful lot of bureaucratic bridges to cross" before the bypass can the long timescales involved, there was a "lively possibility" that a different administration in the county following elections in 2027 could "rethink" the whole plan, as had previously current Green and Independents for Herefordshire groups were asked for comment. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- BBC News
Concerns raised over Herefordshire foster carer accused of abuse
Concerns raised over foster carer accused of abuse 7 minutes ago Share Save Share Save RawPixel, CC0 licence Herefordshire's director of children's services said the council's foster panel was informed of concerns raised by police Gavin McEwan Local Democracy Reporting Service Officials in Herefordshire must admit they were wrong to house children with a foster carer previously accused of multiple counts of child abuse, a senior figure in the county has said. It is understood the individual was cleared more than a decade ago of over a dozen historic cases of child indecent assault and rape and they now jointly look after children without supervision. Former Herefordshire Council leader and head of the county's Liberal Democrat group, Terry James, said he had tried to raise what he called "this serious oversight". Herefordshire's director of children's services Tina Russell said the council's foster panel was informed of concerns raised by police. Concerns about the placement were first raised with the council in 2022 and now a group of parents in Herefordshire and professionals is pressing it to look again at the case. "It is simply not safe from a safeguarding perspective to use a not guilty verdict as a proxy for 'safe'," the Families' Alliance for Change (FAC) Herefordshire said. When alerted, police immediately raised the case with Herefordshire's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) – created to ensure different agencies share key information on vulnerable individuals. Case 'reviewed extensively' Ms Russell said the council's panel, which oversees placements in the county, was "appropriately informed" of concerns raised by police. "Fostering panels do not need to be informed individually or of every referral received," she stated in an email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The government-appointed commissioner for children's services in Herefordshire, Deborah McMillan, has now said in a reply to FAC's claims that she had been "assured the routes to raise the issue have been used to a full extent". She also stated Ms Russell had "reviewed the case extensively". "My advice continues to be for the families to use the Herefordshire complaints process and to report any child safeguarding concerns to the MASH," Ms McMillan wrote. Former vice-chair of the committee that scrutinises the county's children's services, Jennie Hewitt, said she was "horrified that the council has left the children in this placement". She added the authority "has used every bureaucratic trick in the book to avoid proper accountability and scrutiny in this case". This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Call to reinstate minor injury units in two Herefordshire towns
A campaign has begun to reopen minor injury units (MIUs) at two community hospitals amid A&E pressures at a main Liberal Democrats protested in 2018 against MIU closure at the town's Community Hospital, with Leominster's MIU shutting at about the same time - with both moves initially a temporary Dem Ed O'Driscoll is now asking councillors - including those on Herefordshire Council - to back the call to bring back the units. Wye Valley Trust, which runs the sites, said it was "aware of the motion". In January, fewer that two in three, 64%, of A&E patients at Hereford County Hospital were seen within four hours, according to NHS November and February, a quarter of ambulances waited more than an hour to hand over patients to the department.O'Driscoll's motion said that previously, Herefordshire's market town community hospitals offered "accessible and efficient urgent care to local residents, while reducing strain on the County Hospital".There was still "huge affection" for the local service in Ross, as well as "support from senior medical staff" for his proposal to restart it, he added. 'No-brainer' Ledbury Community Health Centre continues to provide an MIU service, and Bromyard Community Hospital never had such Dem group leader in Ross-on-Wye Terry James said reopening the closed MIUs was "a no-brainer", adding: "I hope that all political parties on Herefordshire Council will join us in calling on the NHS to sort this out."Jenny Bartlett, Green councillor for Leominster East in which the town's Community Hospital lies, said she was "pleased to see that there is now a motion". An official inspection last year found demand for treatment from both walk-ins and ambulances at County Hospital was "huge and increasing", she added. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
