Witnessing the end of Sunday bus?

SUNDAY buses will soon be almost extinct in Herefordshire, as we understand that Herefordshire Council intends to discontinue its subsidy for such buses (and a number of evening and daytime services too) at the end of August.

After this summer it’s likely that the only Sunday bus service in the county will be the (unsubsidised) 32 service between Hereford and Gloucester via Ross.

So if you want a Sunday bus outing between Hereford and Leominster, Hereford and Hay-on-Wye or Hereford and Ledbury, the next few weeks may well be your last chance.

One Sunday bus which many people don’t know about is the 34, the Wye Valley Wanderer, which this year (until September 28) leaves Hereford Railway Station at 10.10 am every Sunday and travels via Ross to the popular destinations of Goodrich, Symonds Yat and Monmouth.

It travels back to Hereford at 18.25 but if you want to return earlier than that it runs between Ross and Monmouth during the day, so you can go back to Ross and change on to the 32.

Details are available in the Herefordshire Bus Guide Update No 3 or on the council’s website.

This route is subsidised by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty, which may be reluctant to do so next year if usage this year is low. Use it or lose it!

MIKE LEDLIE Secretary, Rail for Herefordshire, Green Street, Hereford

Call to arms over verges

JUST a quick idea regarding grass verges, signs etc and the council cutbacks. It is a shame that volunteers cannot get a refund on their community charges.

I have time on my hands at the moment and would happily help out with sign clearance etc. If people contacted the newspaper about any danger spots in the county, I am sure like-minded readers would help out.

Perhaps a DIY/garden company would provide a strimmer and volunteers could take on these areas.

Perhaps a collection box for a charity could accompany the volunteer? A hospice or the air ambulance may be fitting?

I have just sold a property and am living in temporary accommodation while awaiting my next purchase.

Down-sizing has meant that I got rid of all my garden tools. But I would be happy to support this idea in the short term.

NAME SUPPLIED Bush Bank, Hereford

So Ledbury is the winner

IN your article on DVLA licence endorsements (The worst drivers, June 12) you did not take account of the population of the different postcode areas.

The worst, HR2, with 1,788 endorsed licences, is actually the one of the lowest at 4.6% of the population, using the latest published population data from the Office of National Statistics.

The city centre, HR1, with 1,592 licences is 5%, with HR4 at 1,482 equating to 4.9%. Ross, HR9, with 1,288 is 6.1%, and Leominster, HR6, with 1,149 is 5.6%.

Ledbury, HR8, with 829 is the winner at 3.9%, but Bromyard, HR7, where according to the article “the figure drops to 577”, is top of the list at 8.1%.

West Herefordshire and Hay, HR3, with a mere 426 licences endorsed comes in at a competitive 5.5%, and the supposed safe-spot of Kington, HR5, is there with a lot of the others at 4.9%.

Incidentally, I was overtaken this evening in Knapton, HR4, and a 40mph area, by a car that I would guess was doing 90mph, so perhaps HR4 should come up a bit.

IAN ELLIOTT Dilwyn

Fatal crash terminology

I AM concerned about the way in which you reported the death of Josephine Wilson (Hereford Times, June 12). It is a style of reporting that seems to be too common.

You stated: “Josephine Wilson, who died after she was involved in a collision with a car...” I suppose that is strictly correct, but a ‘collision’, I believe, is usually taken to mean that the two bodies involved were of roughly similar mass and speed.

If two cars met head-on, that would that would be a collision. But if one of the bodies is of much greater mass, and travelling at much greater speed than the other, then their coming into contact should be described as the greater and faster hit the lesser and slower.

There could be a legal point here, but surely, to say that someone was hit by a car does not imply that the driver acted intentionally.

J TREAVETT Hereford Road, Leominster

Co-operation on roads vital

I AM grateful to Jesse Norman MP for his attempt to justify a petition for a traffic-easing project in east Gloucestershire (Letters, June 5).

Given his interest in the wider travels of his constituents, I assume we can look forward to similar petitions concerning the bottlenecks between the Worcester bypass and the M5, the A466 roundabouts and links from Chepstow racecourse to the M4, the A40 Highnam junction west of Gloucester and the north Leominster roundabout. This way he would cover all points of the compass, not just the southeast.

Of course, trans-constituency co-operation is important and, as the Hereford Times reported (Welsh back bypass plan in Commons, June 5), has raised the possibility of Welsh support for, and some funding of, a western bypass.

Hopefully Mr Norman, too, will finally start to support this scheme and stop bleating about an eastern relief road which could not take HGVs and would dump what it did syphon from Rotherwas into the laps of the residents of Hampton Park and Tupsley.

ROBERT TURNER Villa Street, Hereford

Action plan

TAKEN from Herefordshire Council website: “Overgrown hedges trees and verges along a road...

This is usually the responsibility of the landowner, but the council will take action if there is a hazard to road users.”

JULIA KELLY Trenchard Avenue, Credenhill

Welsh MP is heading down the wrong road

I REFER to a recent comment in the House of Commons by David Jones MP, Secretary of State for Wales, when he confirmed he had discussions with the transport minister Patrick McLaughlin over a possible western bypass for Hereford.

Mr Jones was answering questions put by Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnor.

Mr Williams in turn was putting the views which he shares with Herefordshire Council leader Tony Johnson and Kirsty Williams, local Welsh Assembly member.

Mr Williams had met with the two to agree the need for a western bypass for Hereford and the overall importance of improved road links between Herefordshire and Wales to assist businesses in Mid-Wales access to the Midlands.

I would like to point out to Mr Williams that it would, in my opinion, be far more cost effective for those businesses in his constituency to access the motorway network at a number of locations between Monmouth and Newport, rather than cause further congestion on our local A-class roads.

I am all for good working relationships between Herefordshire Council and neighbouring authorities, and would have thought that local MPs would also be in regular discussions with each other, because if the Welsh secretary or the MP for Brecon and Radnor had taken the trouble to speak to our local MPs, they would have been informed that they have both strongly opposed a western bypass for Hereford because of the excessive cost of £130 million-plus and many other reasons.

Both our MPs and most local businessmen, together with almost all county council opposition members are in support of an eastern route to bypass Hereford, which could be delivered at a fraction of the cost with far more benefit to the local economy and in particular the Rotherwas Enterprise Zone.

The Herefordshire Independents have always believed in supporting projects that are affordable and deliverable within a reasonable timescale, which is why we believe an eastern route, together with improvements to the existing road network to the west of the city to accommodate the proposed new housing, is the right way forward.

We also strongly support the modernisation and expansion of the local rail network system, together with a link into the Rotherwas Enterprise Zone.

I am pleased to say that, owing to the hard work of some of my independent colleagues together with the support and advice of our Herefordshire MPs and council leader Tony Johnson, very satisfactory progress has been made.

BOB MATTHEWS Leader, Herefordshire Independents

Board must take blame

I HAVE been a Norwegian supporter of Hereford United since the mid 1980s.

The situation that David Keyte and the board have brought the club into is unacceptable and unforgivable.

As long as Mr Keyte is chairman, I will not spend any money on the Bulls Player website or donate any money as I see it would be a waste.

In other business contexts, the chairman and the board would have been sacked for running our club so poorly.

I now hope that the club will get back on its feet.

WILLY SIMILA (Norwegian Bull) Malm, Norway

Painful – but United has to be wound up

I’M a firm bel[bull]iever that the fans of Hereford United, and the people of Herefordshire need to face facts that the club is now at a point of no return.

Figures of £1.3 million debt being mentioned just shows how riddled the club is. It is now rotten with all the known and friendly faces of Edgar Street leaving.

To me this sets off alarm bells. The club appears to be a mere shell and I, for one, find the situation highly embarrassing and no longer feel proud to support United.

The way we treated footballers and other people last season means there will be no goodwill left for HUFC to take advantage of.

I would guess no loan players will come in, it will be hard to get any player contracted while every single task at Edgar Street would require upfront payment which is difficult in the business world.

Once the rot has set in, then soon after we know there is a collapse. This is where a phoenix club should ‘rebuild from the ashes’.

What are we going to do about Hereford United 1939? To me it seems like we have to wind it up, but that leaves the fans in limbo for an entire season.

Losing momentum is a big problem here, and I feel a meeting will have to take place to try and work out how to keep up interest.

I think keeping the trust prominent for the ‘limbo season’ is a must and they must engage fully with the community to ensure people still feel part of something.

I feel, no matter how horrible it sounds, Hereford United 1939 has to be wound up this summer for us fans to get behind a successful relaunch of a Hereford United.

I believe we can still claim the history of Hereford United 1939 like in cases such as Rangers and AFC Wimbledon.

Much more discussion and thinking has to go into this.

MATTHEW ROWE Hawkwood Crescent, St John’s, Worcester

Ground left to the city

IS it not a well-known fact that Hereford United’s ground at Edgar Street was willed to the people of Hereford by Mrs Chave and that the council are only custodians? Surely it cannot be sold off by some entrepreneur?

JN SPENCER Poplar Road, Clehonger