HEREFORDSHIRE Council's cabinet has backed a £3 million council purchase of Hereford's Three Elms trading estate.

Cabinet heard the buy described as a "no brainer" given the potential benefits to the council.


The Hereford Times revealed plans for the purchase last month with the council ready to borrow nearly £2 million to buy the estate off the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and another £850,000 for site improvement work.


Cabinet was told that a number of businesses were already looking to move onto the estate with its opportunities for self-build units on available plots.
The deal needs to be done by the end of the year or the HCA will put the site on the market.


Negotiations are ongoing with the council seeing the site as having the potential for “major economic development” that could contribute “significant surplus income” to its coffers.


Last week, the Hereford Times last week gave a break down of the borrowing cost to the council over 25 years with much of it met by projected rental income.


The 2.786 hectare 21 unit estate site - with just over a hectare of development land - is owned by the HCA which took ownership from Advantage West Midlands (AWM) the now defunct regional development agency.


AWM originally acquired the estate to re-locate businesses from the area of Hereford’s Edgar Street Grid/Hereford Futures project.


The council owns land on the northern boundary of the estate with an estimated employment use value of £200,000.


This land has outline planning permission for employment use but it cannot be accessed or serviced other than through the trading estate.


The council claims it can only only release the value of this land by
either purchasing the trading estate and merging the two land areas or by purchasing access rights and easements from the owners of the trading estate.