BROMYARD'S £90,000 facelift, which includes controversial branding, has been revealed at a special event for VIPs.

Bromyard and Winslow Town Council was handed the Great Places to Visit government grant to improve the town for locals and visitors in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

The project, spearheaded by councillors, proved to be controversial as a proposed backwards D for Bromyard led to Coun Gill Churchill saying it looked like a spelling mistake.

During the consultation for the project, one scalding comment said: "Clueless would be a word that springs to mind about those in the council if they believe a backwards D is a good idea."

RELATED NEWS:

Coun David James Smith also previously said it "looked like a gimmick" and

Mum-of-one Olivia Jevons, 33, of Bromyard, said "it looked rather silly".

Some did like the backwards D though, including councillors Mark Franklin and Ann Collingwood, with project manager Bob Ghosh, of K4 Architects, saying the idea had worked as it gave the town publicity – including on BBC TV show Have I Got News For You.

After being exclusively covered by the Hereford Times at the time, the Daily Mail and Jeremy Vine's BBC Radio 2 programme soon picked it up.

The backwards D on the Bromyard bricks

The backwards D on the Bromyard bricks

The backwards D was then dropped for primary branding, but Coun Churchill was still unimpressed as it was being used for murals and bricks near the Bromyard Centre.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest Bromyard news? It's easy, just sign up for our weekly email newsletter here and all the important stories that matter to you will be delivered straight to your inbox.

A project spokesperson said: "The controversial Bromyard branding which led to nationwide discussion has also been a hugely successful part of the project, with social media activity attracting a new audience to the town, and finally, activating the Market Square, with the launch of a monthly Sunday outdoor market."

The social media for the project was led by Worcester-based Nifty Communications, which has since won a 12-month contract worth £12,000 with Bromyard and Winslow Town Council to continue its work.

RELATED NEWS:

Town council meeting minutes show that as part of Nifty’s commitment to the town, it was prepared to match-fund the cost of an account manager (25 hours per week) with local knowledge and the requisite skills to continue the digital marketing push for Bromyard.

The town council’s contribution to the post would be covered by funds already in the budget for 2022-23.

Following discussion, it was unanimously agreed to accept the proposal from Nifty Communications to continue to provide social media and website content for a further 12-month period followed by a re-evaluation process, at a monthly cost of £1,000.

On Thursday, North Herefordshire's Conservative MP Sir Bill Wiggin was among those at the event in Bromyard which aimed to showcase the new interventions and artwork within the town.

The project team said all of the new additions, including new bricks by the leisure centre, murals in the bypass subway and new signage for pedestrians, were "incredibly well-received".

"For the past six months the council and local professionals have been working hard on new initiatives to drive increased footfall to Bromyard and the surrounding areas," the team said.

Some of the new artwork includes a giant bee buzzing around bright yellow gorse flower and mural which was a collaborative project with students from the Queen Elizabeth Hugh School highlighting language inspired by the reverse Ds on the ancient Bromyard bushel relic in St Peter's Church.

OTHER NEWS:

Visitors to the town will also find magnified yellow grasses, festival logos in the cleaned-up underpass and a nod to Bromyard's motoring and farming heritage.

On top of this were "innovative" new and replacement wayfinding signs and posts, costing more than £40,000, which include the many walks around the area and the Herefordshire Trail.

Town council documents showed that £22,477.20 of the £90k government grant was paid to Printed Banners & Signs Ltd, of Malvern, for making the tourist signs for the town centre and another £19,800 to JMS Roofing & Building Ltd, of Birmingham, to install them.

This also led to criticism from Coun Churchill, and the wider town, over the high costs.

The Desination Bromyard event where the completed £90,000 Great Places to Visit project was shown to VIP

The Desination Bromyard event where the completed £90,000 Great Places to Visit project was shown to VIP

The town council, in partnership with Foodscapes, has also launched monthly food markets in the square – at a cost to the Bromyard taxpayer of £500 per month between July and and September.

The event also welcomed town mayor Dee Dunne-Thomas, Hereford High Sheriff Sarah de Rohan, chairman of Herefordshire Council Sebastian Bowen and Lady McFarlane, Deputy Lord-Leiutenant of Herefordshire.

Sir Bill said: "Bromyard has always been one of my favourite places so I was excited to be invited down to see its hidden treasures.

"I love the artwork, the links with local food, the market and just the wonderful spirit of fighting back after Covid. Everybody suffered through the pandemic in one way or another and to see Bromyard coming back so strongly just reflects so well on this part of the county.

"What we're seeing now is a local town saying 'come and visit us' and that hasn't happened before in the same way and as there's so much to show off I really hope people grab this opportunity and head on down to Bromyard because it is a lovely place.