HEREFORDSHIRE will only survive as an independent county if moves are made to invest in houses and roads, according to the leader of the county council.

Speaking to the Hereford Times, councillor Tony Johnson, pictured, said that huge reductions in funding from central Government have put local authorities under increasing pressure and mean that the number of services they provide will continue to reduce.

When asked whether Herefordshire could continue on its own or would be better off linked up with a larger county, he said he thought the county “could make it” independently.

“But we need to move heaven and earth over the next 10 to 15 years to do that,” he added.

“We need more jobs, houses, roads and infrastructure.”

Only by trying to grow the economy, he added, could extra income be found to make Herefordshire pay its own way.

Otherwise, the county council would fail to even meet its statutory duties of paying to care to its growing elderly population, he added.

George Osborne’s proposed changes to local government funding have left many county councillors wondering how they are going to pay the bills.

And Lord Porter, a fellow Conservative and the chair of the Local Government Association, expressed the fears of many of his peers when he said: “Even if councils stop filling in potholes, maintaining parks, closed all children’s centres, libraries, museums, leisure centres and turned off every street light, they will not have saved enough to plug the financial black hole they face by 2020.”

Cllr Johnson, also a Tory, agreed that the changes will bring harsh times and admitted that Herefordshire Council could become a commissioning authority.

Projects like the Hereford university and the Enterprise Park at Rotherwas will, according to the 79-year-old leader, bring jobs to the county. While the western bypass, via Breinton, would open up a corridor for building to house the new arrivals.

“It will definitely be built,” he added. “The western route is the only way.”