AMBITIOUS plans to trademark Hereford a 'City of Living Crafts' have moved closer to becoming a reality following the confirmation of a £15.8 million package for major county projects.

The cash, to be spent on large-scale regeneration schemes in Hereford, Leominster, Bromyard, Ledbury, Kington and Ross-on-Wye, guarantees an estimated 2,599 jobs and has the potential to generate millions of pounds and encourage thousands more tourists to the county.

The package means the proposed Hereford Learning Village, a new college facility including an arts academy; Project Carrot, a tourism and education scheme based on food production and environmental management and plans to regenerate the county's key industrial site at Rotherwas, look likely.

The proposed arts academy is unique to the UK and would become the acknowledged centre of vocational excellence for students, businesses and practitioners in the West Midlands.

Hereford could soon boast a crafts loop walk too, complete with a crafts quarter and refurbished key areas of the city, with a crafts theme.

Hereford City Partnership's promotions and development manager, Alison Alsbury, said: "It is planned that Church Street and Cappucin Yard will be developed as the crafts quarter, with areas including High Town, Eign Gate, Cathedral Close, Castle Green, Redcliffe Gardens, the riverside and connecting streets, being refurbished in line with the crafts strategy and theme."

The first year's funding, from Advantage West Midlands' Regeneration Zone pot, will cover most of the development and planning work, which involves coming up with design principles. These will be established through a major consultation exercise.

The first phase of plans for the massive arts academy, also funded with Regeneration Zone money from Europe, is now complete.

Start-up units

A specialist consultant has confirmed the potential for a new cultural 'village' in the city, with Hereford College of Art and Design, which currently generates an estimated £20 million through its activities, acting as a catalyst for an exciting range of cultural developments.

Plans to date include a gallery, business start-up units for arts graduates, a specialist arts library for general public use and facilities for children and community arts. It is not certain where the academy will be. The city centre is preferable and options under consideration include the Cattle Market and Merton Meadow site, the Folly Lane Campus, Berrington Street and the Shirehall.

At an arts academy conference, attended by 50 key business, culture, arts, education and planning experts from the UK and France last week, the vision won widespread support.

A reception at the city's flagship tourist attractions, the Mappa Mundi and Chained Library, was followed by a conference dinner at the Left Bank.

Dr Norman Binch, chair of the college's board of governors, said: "This has been a stimulating and constructive event, bringing together key figures, several of whom have come to Hereford for the first time.

"The ambitious proposal offers a unique opportunity for the city and the region and has received widespread support locally and nationally. We look forward to the next phase and the appointment of a development director."

The academy would provide full and part-time education in art, design, crafts, and performing arts and build on relationships with schools and community groups.

Courses would also include heritage studies and 'land arts' with staff working with Holme Lacy College and its proposed £16 million Project Carrot plan.

The agricultural scheme has world-wide implications for the county and could change the face of farming in Herefordshire forever.

Funds would help convert the college into a unique study centre, set in a 600-acre organic estate, specialising in the relationship of agriculture with the economy, society and the environment.

Cash for Hereford's premier industrial estate at Rotherwas will be spent on improved access, site servicing and managed workspace and training facilities.

The package also means substantial investment in the information communication and technology infrastructure throughout the 'Herefordshire in Touch Initiative'.

A range of projects is also expected to arise out of market town health checks. The first phase of investment has been earmarked for Kington, with subsequent schemes planned for Leominster, Ross, Ledbury and Bromyard.

The huge cash support from Europe was announced on Monday by the Government Office for the West Midlands.

newsquestmidlands.co.uk:Anita Howells