AN EXTRA £5 million is set to be spent on the first phase of the Hereford bypass, despite other county services being pared back.
Herefordshire Council’s draft budget, due to pass its first hurdle at meeting of its Cabinet today (January 20), shows that in addition to the £40.3 million already committed to the “Hereford Western Bypass Phase 1”, a further £5 million has now been earmarked for 2028/29.
Local transport campaigner Liz Morawiecka asked ahead of the meeting what the impact of the road’s increased cost would be.
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Cabinet member for transport Coun Philip Price said the extra sum “will have an annual impact of £0.4 million on the council’s revenue budget from 2028/29 onwards”, or 0.2 per cent of the coming year's revenue budget.
And 16-year-old “eco-socialist” Haydn Osborne-Brookes questioned whether the scheme “is better value for county taxpayers than reopening stations such as Pontrilas, improving bus services and safe active travel”.
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The road “will unlock opportunities to integrate transport connections”, Coun Price said, while other modes are also receiving investment, with officers “working on commissioning a rail study looking at potential stations across Herefordshire”.
Jeremy Milln, a Hereford city councillor but acting in a personal capacity, pointed out the council reports an estimated £1.7-million backlog of expenditure on paths and cycleways.
Yet “these comparatively tiny sums represent far better value given their environmental, financial and health benefits”, he claimed.
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Coun Price wrote back: “This year we will invest £50 million in highway maintenance including for footways and cycleways”, along with £1 million for the county’s public rights of way, and further cash for parishes’ local path projects.
Karen Ennis of Ledbury asked to see the council’s data showing that traffic in the city centre would reduce as a result of phase one.
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Coun Price said “initial modelling… does not indicate increased traffic in the city centre”, and that it would reduce “on portions of Belmont Road, Walnut Tree Avenue and Holme Lacy Road”.
And Carole Protherough of Clehonger asked why there was no entry for contributions to the road’s cost from the developers who would benefit.
The new housing enabled by the road, to the southwest of the city, is “not known at this point and can’t be estimated or accounted for in the current budget setting”, Coun Price replied.
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