Petition Tag - hereford

Everyone knows that we have an ageing population but in Hereford the statistics are clear - more older people than elsewhere in the UK and growing at a faster rate than the national average.

Bovale Limited, a widely respected land and property development company, has been trying to gain planning permission for three years to build a new style ‘retirement village’ at a derelict site on Faraday Road in Hereford.

The Faraday Road site (a former Sun Valley site) has been empty for years and the local people are very supportive of the proposed plans.

Bovale carried out extensive community liaison and presented their plans at resident’s meetings. Those who attended were very supportive and do want to see homes and facilities built for local people.

A representative, Roy Powell, from the local community group even attended the local planning inquiry to speak in favour of the development.

A new planning application was submitted 13 November 2009 because the original application was refused and then this decision was upheld at the planning inquiry.

One of the reasons that the planning application was refused was because the land has been designated as ‘employment land’ by the local planning authority.

They want to see some kind of industrial or retail business on the site and it does not seem right that they can stop a development that will serve the local community and create hundreds of jobs when unemployment is so high.

Apart from this, what about the benefits for local businesses? They will experience more trade from the people who are living and working in the village and those friends and family that visit.

To leave the site as it is doing nothing in the hope that a business will have the money to invest in a new commercial development when there are plenty of empty commercial developments everywhere you look seems absurd!

For many people, the very name ’retirement village’ conjures up different images and emotions in people but the ethos behind this development is to provide a vibrant community of like-minded individuals who want to make the most out of life, want to live close to the city that they love and have on-site the facilities and support that they may need as they get older.

The retirement village at Faraday Road will enable local people to stay within an area they already know well and will allow people who have moved away to return to be near the families.

Please sign our petition. You can also join our Friends of Faraday Road page on Facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/yelzeuv and follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/faradayroad

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The Retail Quarter & the related link road on the Edgar Street Grid development are likely to do untold damage to Hereford’s historic city centre and many existing businesses. We already have too many empty shops with many locally owned retailers struggling to survive.

What are we campaigning for?

We are calling on Herefordshire Council & ESG Ltd to suspend the current proposals for retail development on the cattle market and the related link road.

Why are we campaigning now?

Herefordshire Council has just agreed to sign a development agreement with ESG Ltd and Stanhope (the developers of the retail quarter) to deliver the retail quarter on a 250 year lease. We believe that whatever the original merits of the scheme, the recent credit crunch and the fundamental changes in retail no longer make the scheme desirable or viable.

Is there anything good about the ESG development?

Yes, the proposals for affordable housing, leisure development, the university, and many other aspects of the project could bring prosperity to Hereford, but we believe any retail development should be concentrated in the historic core of our city centre. We want a fully integrated city centre with the big shops helping to support all the little shops which bring vibrancy and interest to High Town.

Is there enough space in Hereford’s historic centre?

Yes, redevelopment of the Maylord Shopping Centre, Chadds department store’s old site and the area behind the Green Dragon would easily provide enough large units to bring these much needed “anchor” stores into our city centre.

What about the link road?

We believe the new link road could cause traffic chaos in key areas in the city and it runs through the premises of lots of locally owned businesses representing hundreds of city jobs. Forcing them to relocate puts these jobs in jeopardy. If the retail development was earmarked for our historic city centre, there would be no need to “downgrade” the inner ring road leaving all of these successful businesses alone.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

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