Grandmother refusing to sell garden for Hereford bypass

The controversial scheme, which Herefordshire Council has committed to starting in earnest this December, has already been hit by a delay to the publication of its “full business case”, seen as key to justifying the £45 million of local money that will fund it.

There also the outstanding issue of whether the council will own all the land in time .

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“This little bit is holding them back,” according to Jean Harris, indicating the northern end of the garden to the rear of her rural bungalow between Clehonger and Belmont.

She says she remains opposed to the bypass plan both because of the immediate impact on her surroundings, but also she does not believe the case has been made for spending local taxpayers’ money in this way.

“The plans show the big oak at the end of my garden will have to come down,” she said. “We’ve had it looked at – it’s around 500 years old. Yet the council have refused to move the route.”

The veteran oak tree at the foot of Jean Harris' garden would be lost to the planned bypass (image: LDRS)

Concerns over the road scheme’s impact on bats, owls and dormice also remain, she added. “That’s partly why I don’t want to cooperate.”

Meanwhile the loss of her husband Michael two months ago has left her feeling “very vulnerable”, she said, adding: “I haven’t wanted the pressure on me.”

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More widely, she claimed that the £45 million price tag now quoted for the project “won’t cover it – and we will pay for what is basically a road to Rotherwas”.

For many years a Clehonger parish councillor, Ms Harris says she still follows Herefordshire Council meetings online.

“They aren’t answering the questions in Cabinet,” she said.

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Asked last month whether the phase one construction contract would be let before all land along the route has been acquired, Cabinet member for transport Philip Price said simply that “negotiations with private landowners remain subject to commercial confidentiality”.

A council report has since said that “land acquisition delays remain a risk” to the project, while the option of a compulsory purchase order to compel owners to hand over their land, is “running in (the) background”.

But this option would be less appealing for the council as “it would have to go through the Government – and they can get a better deal by negotiating”, Ms Harris said.