Hereford'S magnificent cathedral will be illuminated in the first part of the city centre regeneration programme.

The news comes from a framework document, published by Hereford City Partnership, which states that High Town will be left as a clear open space, banishing earlier ideas to install a market-style building.

Also contained in the public document are proposals for developments at Eign Gate and St Peter's Square and for a glass lift to be installed near the Castle Green.

Project Manager Lesley Walker explained the ideas in the document were gathered from the Herefordians she had met during the six-month consultation period.

One comment heard time and time again was that the cathedral should be illuminated to enhance the visual beauty of the historic building by night.

The report also found the area around Cathedral Close had 'developed a reputation as a dangerous place in the evening and during night-time hours because of the dark dim surroundings'. As a solution to both problems, new architectural lighting will be placed on all sides of the cathedral, the cloisters and the museum, after the Three Choirs Festival in early September.

The only other major issue confirmed in the document centres on the decision to leave High Town as a clear open space. The decision was greatly influenced by the public who preferred the option of removing clutter from the city centre and replacing it with contemporary street furniture and lighting.

All the other proposals outlined in the 43-page document, available for public inspection in Herefordshire Council's planning offices in St Owen Street and Blue School Street, the Town Hall and Hereford Library, are just speculative at present.

One of the most ambitious plans is for a small glass lift to be built alongside the council training centre near the Castle Green. This would allow much greater access to the river bank, where a footpath is also proposed. However, as popular as the idea has been with the Hereford public, it is extremely difficult to put the plan into practice in such an historic area.

"With the Castle Green being such an important site, we will need to cross many paths to get the permission to build. This is typical of many of our ideas in the city centre where there will always be a large amount of red tape involved," explained Ms Walker. "These projects certainly won't happen overnight and we have a five-year-plan to develop the five key city areas and a 10-year time limit to finish the face-lift of all the city's streets."