What do

you think

of plans?

THE unveiling of the options will mark the start of a period of consultation, which will end with a final master plan being included in the county's unitary development plan as supplementary planning guidance.

Local people can make their views known before a council cabinet meeting on Thursday, July 17.

As well as reading about the options in the HT next week the details will be available on the Edgar Street Grid website from Thursday, June 19 at http://www.herefordshirepartnership.com/

Information packs are being sent to local businesses and organisations and will be available at council offices.

Six-month study

The options are the result of the first part of a six-month study carried out by a DTZ project team of consultants appointed by Herefordshire Council and Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency.

Many groups have been consulted, including the Civic Trust, the Chamber of Commerce, Hereford United Supporters Club, the Canal Trust, the Herefordshire Partnership, voluntary organisations, local schools, the Courtyard arts centre and Herefordshire College of Art and Design.

A series of meetings have also taken place with Hereford United Football Club, key businesses, landowners and other organisations within the regeneration area.

Shape of things to come

IT is called the Edgar Street Grid and covers 100 acres of the northern part of Hereford city.

It is bounded by Commercial Road, Blueschool Street and Edgar Street and stretches up to Hereford railway station.

Herefordshire Council has decided it wants to give the whole area a makeover, integrate it with the rest of Hereford and create a more vibrant city for this century.

Consultants DTZ were commissioned to find a way to achieve this and have now submitted four different options to the council.

Each of these, together with illustrations ,will be published in The Hereford Times next week.

New council leader Roger Phillips has given a swift welcome to the plans.

He described them as exciting and with the right vision needed for the development of the area over the next 25 years.

Councillor Phillips said the council could not stand still. "The status quo is not an option for us and our partners from the public and private sectors,'' he said.

The council owed it to future generations to drive the regeneration project for the Edgar Street grid forward, he explained.

A choice will have to be made between the four options and local people and organisations will be asked to comment over the next few weeks.

Richard Evans, for the consultants, said a key objective of all the options was to reduce the barrier of Blueschool Street and to provide a link between High Town and the area to the north of the ring road.

Traffic-calming

There would be a massive cut in traffic on Blueschool Street, restricting the type of vehicles allowed, introducing traffic calming measures and giving pedestrians priority.

To compensate, a new road would be built north of the redeveloped Edgar Street football ground, crossing Widemarsh Street, going past the station and joining Commercial Road.

Another option is the creation of a major waterside scheme between Widemarsh Street and the railway line.

This would see the development of the area round the canal basin which would be surrounded by new offices, residential, leisure and retail buildings, pedestrian walkways and landscaped public open space.

Further options include council offices, police HQ and library on the cattle market site while alternative schemes says the market could have more commercial uses with strong pedestrian links to the city centre and office developments encouraged towards Commercial Road.

Pedestrian links are being suggested across the whole site to improve access between the railway station, the Courtyard arts centre and the city centre as well as linking new areas of green space.

New buildings would be designed across the grid to fit in with the city's heritage and existing heritage sites close to St Thomas Cantilupe School would be enhanced to become focal points.

Mr Evans said the options provide the opportunity to create an area of cafes, specialist shops, restaurants and cultural facilities in the heart of the site. Car parking in the city will be re-designed.