Hereford's £90m retail development backed by cabinet (From Hereford Times)

Hereford's £90m retail development backed by cabinet

9:18am Tuesday 17th April 2012 in Hereford City

HEREFORDSHIRE Council’s cabinet has cleared the way for Hereford’s £90 million retail development despite the 11th hour doubts of a scrutiny committee over the scheme’s impact on the existing city centre.

Cabinet’s backing leaves opposition to the scheme with nowhere left to go other than a costly court challenge.

Members met yesterday afternoon to sign off the variations to the deal revealed by the Hereford Times a fortnight ago.

The council’s overview and scrutiny committee met last Friday to make a series of recommendations related to the variations and doubts about the deal’s impact on Hereford city centre.

The recommendations had little impact on the outcome of the meeting.

From cabinet the deal now seems likely to go to a single senior council officer for a final sign off.

There will be no opportunity for any one-off full council debate and vote on the variations.

Speaking after the meeting council leader councillor John Jarvis said the decision sent Hereford into a “historic time” that future generations would benefit from.

“It’s something I am particularly proud to have been part of,” he said.

Hoardings are now going up around the old cattle market site and developer Stanhope says “everything remains on track” to sign the remaining tenant pre-lets and funding papers within the next few weeks so demolition can start soon.