The visitor economy has been one of the sectors most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic due to government restrictions that meant many businesses closed for a number of months.
Herefordshire Council in partnership with the Herefordshire Business Board has secured £444,220 from the Marches LEP to support Covid-19 recovery focused on the visitor economy through a campaign promoting the county as a great place for day and overnight visits.
An independent project steering group has been established, with all governance and procurement decisions taken in accordance with Herefordshire Council’s processes. The project will run until the end of March 2021.
The Covid Tourism Recovery Steering Group
The Covid Tourism Recovery Steering Group has a private sector chair with members including representatives from Herefordshire Council, the Herefordshire Business Board as well as individuals from a cross-section of tourism businesses.
The role of the steering group is to:
Establish the approach to the delivery of the project
Develop briefs and a ‘concept’ strategy to inform the appointment of creative agencies
Ensure the project’s successful delivery
Progress
Creative agencies have been appointed to develop the marketing plan and promotional campaigns. A specialist travel PR consultancy has been appointed to handle PR and social media elements. All the agencies are Herefordshire based.
The early focus of the campaign is an update of the Visit Herefordshire website to improve promotion of the county. The PR will focus on press coverage for the staycation market to encourage more visitors throughout the coming seasons.
The first campaign is for autumn, focused during the month of October, called Apples for Autumn.
Tourism is a critical part of our local economy in Herefordshire. All of the public and private sector partners hope that this project will be the first step in supporting future growth in the industry. We are working together to explore the development of a Destination Business Improvement District (Destination BID) across the county.
Fraudsters are back in action claiming to be from the police, banks and fraud squads in order to extort money from the vulnerable.
There have been a couple of incidents in Hereford where couples in their eighties have been targeted. One man was conned into withdrawing an amount of cash from his personal bank account after being told his credit cards had been cloned. They then sent out two separate couriers to collect the cash from his home address.
In a second incident they asked for an amount of cash which has been collected by a “courier”. Before the individual was about to send over a much larger amount of cash West Mercia Police officers were able to step in and offer the support needed to the victim and prevent the transaction taking place.
Detective Inspector Emma Wright said: “This type of fraud often targets older and more vulnerable people and we would urge everyone to tell someone, by passing on the information about the bogus callers to relatives, friends and neighbours who may not have heard about the local telephone scam in operation.
“There are many alias’ that the imposters use but always remember that no police officer from any force or department will ever ask you to hand over money or transfer funds, regardless of their name or unit.”
The deception can also be carried out in several ways, such as –
A phone caller pretending to be a police officer who is investigating unidentified activity/ fraud in their bank account and that they must cooperate with the ‘investigation’.
The victim is then persuaded to withdraw funds and hand them over to the ‘investigators’, either by some remote means or in person to a courier.
The victim is told that if the bank cashier queries the large withdrawal that they are to say it is for a large purchase e.g. work/repairs in the home.
Alternatively the victim may be asked to hand over bank cards, vouchers or other valuable items. They may also be asked to transfer funds to another account, which is controlled by the fraudsters.
“These scams can be extremely convincing and manipulative. The fraudsters may give (alleged) crime numbers, investigation details, and job titles. They will always claim that the transaction must be done in secret. The fraudsters condition their victim not to trust bank branch staff, which can make it hard for those staff to help.
“These calls are not genuine and payments should not be made. No legitimate bank/building society, police officer, or business will ever phone you to ask you to give them your card, your PIN, or your cash in the way we’ve described above.
“Don’t trust anyone who calls you about your bank details. Always hang up and wait 10 minutes to ensure the call has disconnected.
CLIMB is a commissioned service, run by The Children’s Society, which seeks to deliver an early intervention and prevention service for those at risk of being criminally exploited. Mark Roberts, CLIMB Project Lead, will be holding a briefing on the 21 September 2020 commencing at 2.00pm to let you know about the project, how to make referrals and what benefits / services are provided for the young people who are referred. To book your free place please email admin.sbu@herefordshire.gov.uk
Service for 10-17 years olds at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) The service will work with 10-17 year olds and is a pan-West Mercia service. Climb offers a ‘trusted adult’ to engage with the young person in order to provide support and education on the Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) risks. In addition, with both existing provision and through seeking to develop new opportunities within your local areas, that trusted adult will seek to divert the young person into an activity with both positive peers and adult role models. These activities will include sport, but will also cater for those young persons who are not sport orientated such as dance, arts and vocational training. Who can refer? This service enables anyone to make a referral: police, partner agencies, third sector agencies, peer and self referral. How to refer into the service? The link at www.childrenssociety.org.uk/climb will take you directly to the landing page of Climb. From this page you can access the referral form. You can then forward your completed referral form to climb@childrenssociety.org.uk. What is the criteria for referral?
Those missing education, excluded, not in training or employment (NEET)
Those going missing with indications they are being ‘pulled’ into an environment where they would be susceptible to CCE – as early as the first missing episode
Intel/arrest for possession of class A drugs
Intel/arrest for possession of weapons/knives
Those engaging in ASB
Those at risk of entering the Criminal Justice System.
For any further information, I would encourage you initially to view the website, which is a good informative source. Please also contact me for any clarity required. Author: Mark Roberts, Climb Project Lead, OPCC, 07772 896312
Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 28 August 2020
Road closed 09.00 hours to 17.00 hours daily
Highway Works
All works will take place between 08.00 hours and 18.00 hours each day. The surface dressing works are scheduled to take one day to complete under a road closure with subsequent days scheduled for the white lining and cat eyes’ installation (where applicable), also planned under daily road closures.
Highway Works – Surface Dressing – Combi Works
C1061 Thornbury – New dates
[Between Junction of B4214 at joint to outside Thornbury Farm entrance]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Date TBC
U75238 Watery Lane, Near Hay on Wye – New dates
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and junction at Frog Lane]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Thursday, 27 August 2020
U74200 Upper Maes Coed, St Margarets – New date
[Between Cadifor Farm and Iron Pear Tree]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
C1114 Park House to C1115, Near Pencombe – New date
[Between Marsh Court joint and Park House, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Friday, 21 August 2020 (No road markings)
U74209 Tremorithic Road, Bacton (Sites 1 and 2) – New dates
[Between Hilling Grange Farm at joint and Fair Oak Farm at joint]
Surface Dressing – Friday, 21 August 2020 (No road markings)
U73411 Pinnocks Place, Allensmore (Sites 1 and 2) – New dates
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and Crossroads]
Surface Dressing – Friday, 21 August 2020
White Lining – Thursday, 27 August 2020
C1174 C1175 to C1165, Coddington – New dates
[Between junction at Broad Oak Farm and junction, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Saturday, 22 August 2020
White Lining – Friday, 28 August 2020
C1064 B4214 to U65018, Collington – New dates
[Between Field Farm House at joint to junction at point]
Surface Dressing – Saturday, 22 August 2020
White Lining – Friday, 28 August 2020
U65022 The Gains Road, Linley Green – New date
[Between Stone House at junction and Farm, top of hill]
Surface Dressing – Sunday, 23 August 2020
New Roundabout Construction
A4110/B4529 Lawtons Cross, Mortimer
Roads closed from Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 30 October 2020
A combination of phased road closures 24/7 and traffic signals will be in operation, as follows:
Phase 1: B4529 closure west of junction with A4110
Monday, 24 August 2020 to Friday, 18 September 2020
Phase 2: B4529 closure east of junction with A4110
Monday, 14 September 2020 to Friday, 16 October 2020
Phase 3: A4110 north of junction with B4529
Monday, 5 October 2020 to Friday, 23 October 2020
Phase 4: A4110 south of junction with B4539
Monday, 5 October 2020 to Friday, 30 October 2020
Please refer to the attached summary plan showing the extent of work. A plan for each phase is available if required – please let me know and I will happily forward on.
Bridge Works
U75232 – Pont-y-Weston Bridge, Dorstone
Tuesday, 1 September 2020 to (and including) Tuesday, 8 September 2020
Works taking place between 08.00 hours and 16.00 hours daily – there will be access to residents
Breaking out excess concrete, and shuttering around the upstream right abutment. Repairing Downstream right training wall.
Other Road Closures
C1257 – Symonds Yat West Road (Ferrie Lane)
Road closed until further notice
B4224 – Fiddlers Green, Fownhope
Structural wall failure and landslip
Full road closure in place until 31 December 2020
U71411 – Garway Court Lane
Carriageway deterioration
Full road closure in place until Friday, 11 September 2020
Herefordshire Council is now reviewing the long term availability of development land across the county, the below consultation is underway to help establish if Herefordshire Council can meet the targets set by central government.
Herefordshire Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) 2020- Call for Sites
The Council’s Strategic Planning Team are preparing a ‘call for sites’, whereby landowners, agents or developers are invited to submit sites in order for them to be assessed on their potential to accommodate future development.
Those who have submitted the details of sites to us through these exercises on previous occasions will be contacted at the beginning of this process (week commencing 3 August) so that they are made aware of this. The call for sites will also be publicised on the council’s website, and will run for 6 weeks until midnight on Monday 14 September.
The assessments have, in the past, been published in a document known as a “Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)”. However, on this occasion, it will be referred to as the “Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA)”, as it will assess land with both housing and employment-based development potential where appropriate.
This is a document that we are as a planning authority required to produce and update regularly by national planning policy (NPPF paragraph 67). The document is a technical exercise and does not in itself form any planning policy, or allocation of land for development. To be clear, the inclusion of a site within the document does not mean it will be identified in the Local Plan or be granted planning permission should a planning application be made.
The assessment does, however, provide evidence to underpin the preparation of some Local Plan documents and Neighbourhood Development Plans. Previous publications are available to view on the council’s website.
A number of Parish councils have also carried out or commissioned similar site assessment work of their own, in order to provide evidence in the preparation of NDPs. Therefore, on this occasion for the first time we shall be seeking to make use of the findings of this work. We will be contacting Parishes and requesting that, where possible, this assessment data is shared with us to feed into the preparation of the HELAA.
Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 28 August 2020
Road closed 09.00 hours to 17.00 hours daily
Highway Works – White lining and cats eyes’ installation (where applicable) following surface dressing works already carried out
All works will take place between 08.00 hours and 18.00 hours each day. The surface dressing works are scheduled to take one day to complete under a road closure with subsequent days scheduled for the white lining and cat eyes’ installation (where applicable), also planned under daily road closures.
A466 Derestriction – C1234 Crossroads, St Weonards – date change
[Between Village sign and Reduce Speed sign]
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
B4521 County Boundary to A466, Broad Oak – date change
[Between Junction of A466 (as marked) and County Boundary to Wales]
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
A466 – B4521 to 40 mph, St Weonards (2 sites) – date change
[Between junction at B4521 and HRA joint in Village]
White Lining – Tuesday 11 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
B4348 Hardwicke – date change
[Between junction at B4352 and joint at Farm entrance]
White Lining at Junction only – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
C1226 Haywood Lane, Hereford (2 Sites) – date change
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
C1263 – A49T to 30mph, Kings Thorn (2 Sites) – date change
[Between A49 junction at joint to bus stop in Village]
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
A4110 Abbey Court Farm towards C1107, Wigmore – date change
[Between Court Farm and Wigmore Village]
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
A456 Easton Lodge to County Boundary, Little Hereford – date change
[Between Eaton Lodge and County Boundary to Wales]
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
B4355 – Lower Flintsham to The Stagg, Titley – date change
[Between Lower Flintsham and The Stagg PH]
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020 and Thursday, 13 August 2020
Highway Works – Surface Dressing – Combi Works
C1061 Thornbury – New dates
[Between Junction of B4214 at joint to outside Thornbury Farm entrance]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 18 August 2020
White Lining – Date TBC
U75238 Watery Lane, Near Hay on Wye
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and junction at Frog Lane]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 18 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 25 August 2020
U74200 Upper Maes Coed, St Margarets
[Between Cadifor Farm and Iron Pear Tree]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 18 August 2020
C1114 Park House to C1115, Near Pencombe
[Between Marsh Court joint and Park House, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020 (No road markings)
U74209 Tremorithic Road, Bacton (Sites 1 and 2)
[Between Hilling Grange Farm at joint and Fair Oak Farm at joint]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020 (No road markings)
U73411 Pinnocks Place, Allensmore (Sites 1 and 2)
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and Crossroads]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 25 August 2020
C1174 C1175 to C1165, Coddington
[Between junction at Broad Oak Farm and junction, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Wednesday, 26 August 2020
C1064 B4214 to U65018, Collington
[Between Field Farm House at joint to junction at point]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Wednesday, 26 August 2020
U65022 The Gains Road, Linley Green
[Between Stone House at junction and Farm, top of hill]
Surface Dressing – Friday, 21 August 2020
New Roundabout Construction
A4110/B4529 Lawtons Cross, Mortimer
Roads closed from Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 30 October 2020
A combination of phased road closures 24/7 and traffic signals will be in operation, as follows:
Phase 1: B4529 closure west of junction with A4110
Monday, 24 August 2020 to Friday, 18 September 2020
Phase 2: B4529 closure east of junction with A4110
Monday, 14 September 2020 to Friday, 16 October 2020
Phase 3: A4110 north of junction with B4529
Monday, 5 October 2020 to Friday, 23 October 2020
Phase 4: A4110 south of junction with B4539
Monday, 5 October 2020 to Friday, 30 October 2020
Please refer to the attached summary plan showing the extent of work. A plan for each phase is available if required – please let me know and I will happily forward on.
Bridge Works
U75232 – Pont-y-Weston Bridge, Dorstone – New dates
Tuesday, 1 September 2020 to (and including) Tuesday, 8 September 2020
Works taking place between 08.00 hours and 16.00 hours daily – there will be access to residents
Breaking out excess concrete, and shuttering around the upstream right abutment. Repairing Downstream right training wall.
Other Road Closures
C1257 – Symonds Yat West Road (Ferrie Lane)
Road closed until further notice
B4224 – Fiddlers Green, Fownhope
Structural wall failure and landslip
Full road closure in place until 31 December 2020
U71411 – Garway Court Lane – New date
Carriageway deterioration
Full road closure in place until Friday, 11 September 2020
Thursday, 23 July 2020 to (and including) Friday, 31 July 2020
Road closed 09.30 hours to 15.30 hours daily. No weekend working
Please refer to diversion plan for these works
A417 Bend near Entrance to Whitwick Manor, Lower Eggleton
Thursday, 30 July 2020 to (and including) Tuesday, 4 August 2020
Road closed 09.00 hours to 17.00 hours daily (no weekend working)
A438 Hollybush
Monday, 3 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 7 August 2020
Road closed 09.00 hours to 17.00 hours daily
B4214 Edwyn Ralph Village
Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 28 August 2020
Road closed 09.00 hours to 17.00 hours daily
Highway Works – Surface Dressing Works (including white lining and cats eyes, if appropriate) – Revised Dates
All works will take place between 08.00 hours and 18.00 hours each day. The surface dressing works are scheduled to take one day to complete under a road closure with subsequent days scheduled for the white lining and cat eyes’ installation (where applicable), also planned under daily road closures.
A466 Derestriction – C1234 Crossroads, St Weonards – New dates
[Between Village sign and Reduce Speed sign]
Surface Dressing – Monday, 3 August 2020
White Lining – Monday, 10 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Monday, 10 August 2020
B4521 County Boundary to A466, Broad Oak – New dates
[Between Junction of A466 (as marked) and County Boundary to Wales]
Surface Dressing – Monday, 3 August 2020
White Lining – Monday, 10 August 2020
A466 – B4521 to 40 mph, St Weonards (2 sites) – New dates
[Between junction at B4521 and HRA joint in Village]
Surface Dressing – Monday, 3 August 2020
White Lining – Monday, 10 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Monday, 10 August 2020
B4348 Hardwicke – New dates
[Between junction at B4352 and joint at Farm entrance]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 4 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020 and Wednesday, 12 August 2020
C1226 Haywood Lane, Hereford (2 Sites) – New dates
[Extent of works TBC]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 4 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
C1263 – A49T to 30mph, Kings Thorn (2 Sites) – New dates
[Between A49 junction at joint to bus stop in Village]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 4 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
A4110 Abbey Court Farm towards C1107, Wigmore – New dates
[Between Court Farm and Wigmore Village]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 5 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
A456 Easton Lodge to County Boundary, Little Hereford – New dates
[Between Eaton Lodge and County Boundary to Wales]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 5 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020 / Cats Eyes – Tuesday, 11 August 2020
B4355 – Lower Flintsham to The Stagg, Titley – New dates
[Between Lower Flintsham and The Stagg PH]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 5 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 11 August 2020 and Wednesday, 12 August 2020
C1061 Thornbury – New dates
[Between Junction of B4214 at joint to outside Thornbury Farm entrance]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 5 August 2020
White Lining – Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Highway Works – Surface Dressing – Combi Works – RevisedDates
U75238 Watery Lane, Near Hay on Wye – New dates
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and junction at Frog Lane]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 18 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 25 August 2020
U74200 Upper Maes Coed, St Margarets – New date
[Between Cadifor Farm and Iron Pear Tree]
Surface Dressing – Tuesday, 18 August 2020
C1114 Park House to C1115, Near Pencombe – New date
[Between Marsh Court joint and Park House, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020 (No road markings)
U74209 Tremorithic Road, Bacton (Sites 1 and 2) – New date
[Between Hilling Grange Farm at joint and Fair Oak Farm at joint]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020 (No road markings)
U73411 Pinnocks Place, Allensmore (Sites 1 and 2) – New dates
[Between Crossroads opposite Bell View and Crossroads]
Surface Dressing – Wednesday, 19 August 2020
White Lining – Tuesday, 25 August 2020
C1174 C1175 to C1165, Coddington – New dates
[Between junction at Broad Oak Farm and junction, as marked]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Wednesday, 26 August 2020
C1064 B4214 to U65018, Collington – New dates
[Between Field Farm House at joint to junction at point]
Surface Dressing – Thursday, 20 August 2020
White Lining – Wednesday, 26 August 2020
U65022 The Gains Road, Linley Green – New date
[Between Stone House at junction and Farm, top of hill]
Surface Dressing – Friday, 21 August 2020
New Roundabout Construction
A4110/B4529 Lawtons Cross, Mortimer
Roads closed from Monday, 24 August 2020 to (and including) Friday, 30 October 2020
A combination of full road closures 24/7 and traffic signals in operation – further details to follow soon
Bridge Works
U75232 – Pont-y-Weston Bridge, Dorstone
Tuesday, 18 August 2020 to (and including) Tuesday, 25 August 2020
Road closed between 08.00 hours and 16.00 hours daily
Building sandbag walls either side of water course to isolate. Removing excess silt build up. Building new concrete invert and repairing scour under abutment.
Other Road Closures
C1257 – Symonds Yat West Road (Ferrie Lane)
Road closed until further notice
B4224 – Fiddlers Green, Fownhope
Structural wall failure and landslip
Full road closure in place until further notice
U71411 – Garway Court Lane – Revised end date
Carriageway deterioration
Full road closure in place until Wednesday, 14 August 2020
From 13th June, we have been advised that our church may be opened for individual private prayers. In order to do this safely we will be opening St Mary’s Church, Credenhill on Wednesdays and Sundays from 2-4pm beginning on Wednesday 17th June.
It will be kept locked in between these times to ensure any virus present is dead before reopening. Revd Rana Davies-James will be present during opening hours to advise. We will endeavor to keep things as clean as possible but please don’t come if you are not feeling well or have symptoms that may indicate Corona Virus.
A new housing allocations scheme and upgraded website is being introduced in Herefordshire from mid-June to offer improved access to affordable rented accommodation for prospective tenants.
The changes to Home Point, Herefordshire’s current system for allocating affordable housing, will come into effect from Monday 22 June. The new system will include an improved allocations rating scheme to make applying and bidding for properties easier and provide applicants with more choice over the types of housing they can apply for. The Home Point website (www.home-point.info) will also receive a new look making it more user friendly.
Everyone registered on the current housing allocations scheme will receive a letter informing them of the changes and when they come into effect and any action that they will need to take. Under the new scheme Home Point will no longer operate the green, amber and red banding system. This system has been replaced with 4 Bands A to D for applicants on the council’s housing register and see the introduction of a Band E that will enable applicants to apply directly to the housing associations.
The current system stopped receiving new housing applications from 5 June. Registered applicants will be able to continue to bid for advertised properties until Monday 15 June and then the system will be unavailable for a week whilst the changes are implemented. The new system will be available for new applications and bids from Monday 22June.
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 came into force 23rd September 2018
These regulations mean public sector organisations have a legal duty to make sure websites and apps meet accessibility requirements under the following timescales:
Public sector websites published on or after 23 September 2018 must be compliant by 23 September 2019. Any websites published after this date must be compliant before going live.
Public sector websites published before 23 September 2018 must be compliant by 23 September 2020.
