Projects

Hereford City Centre Regeneration Strategy
The Hereford City Centre Regeneration Strategy has been produced by Herefordshire Council working with Hereford City Partnership. The strategy outlines a ten year plan for the City Centre, outlining key schemes and projects that aims to establish the City as a thriving and prosperous place to live, work and visit. An action plan has been produced to track the delivery of priority projects which will be updated quarterly. This can be downloaded from the Resource Box on this page.

Hereford City Centre Refurbishment
Hereford High Town, High Street and Eign Gate were all repaved with new street furniture from 2005 to 2007. Following the partial pedestrianisation of Widemarsh Street in 2006 this will be the next area to be repaved. However, this will form the main access to the shops in the extended city centre being developed as part of the ESG project, and the upgrade has been delayed until January 2010 to allow the design of Widemarsh Street to integrate with the new retail area and the downgraded Blueschool Street. Bewell Street should be repaved as part of the Widemarsh Street works. No funding is currently available for Commercial Street or St Peters Street, but possible maintenance work is being considered.

ESG Area - expanding Hereford City Centre
ESG Herefordshire Ltd has been established by Herefordshire Council and the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, to lead the regeneration of 100 acres of central Hereford in a huge £800M, 15 - 20 year redevelopment programme. The project will create three distinct but interlinked zones - the Retail/Leisure Quarter, on the council owned 12.5 acre old livestock market, adjoining the city centre; the new area formerly known as the Civic Quarter, a vibrant mix of public buildings, private offices, shops and restaurants, and the new Blackfriars Urban Village, where around 1000 new homes will be built. For more information please see http://www.esgherefordshire.co.uk/

Rotherwas Management Plan
The Management Plan provides a strategic framework for the management of the Estate. It will guide and promote future development on the estate over the next fifteen years, serving as supplementary guidance for prospective industrial developers and tenants. The Plan covers issues such as Planning, Highways, Environment, Estate Management, Design Guidance, Lettings Policy and future development proposals. The Plan is in the process of being reviewed as part of the Rotherwas Futures project, to take account of new developments, changing circumstances, legislation and information. A travel co-ordinator, Paula McGivern, is in place to provide advice to Rotherwas businesses on green travel plans and can be contacted on 07792 880349.

Rotherwas Futures - developing Rotherwas as a Business Park
The Rotherwas Futures project is a £19M joint venture between Herefordshire Council and Advantage West Midlands, to build a new access road off the A49, prepare new sites for employment use, and generally improve the estate and existing Council owned buildings. The access road opened in June 2008 and infrastructure work in the South Magazine area will start in spring 2009, following extensive survey works and site clearance from October 2008. Existing employment land off the Holme Lacy Road has been constrained by flooding issues, and resolution of this problem has been actively pursued with the Environment Agency since early 2007. A non-flooding part of this site has been used for a Rural Enterprise Centre, with a subsidy from the Rural Regeneration Zone, providing industrial and office accommodation for small and start-up businesses. The Futures project is expected to assist in the creation of over 850 jobs, as well as safeguarding jobs that were at risk due to the poor access.

Model Farm & Live/Work projects - Ross-on Wye
The Model Farm site at Ross will be developed as an innovative, environmentally friendly and sustainable employment area to act as a catalyst helping to revitalise the local economy. Within the site 2 hectares has been designated for a live/work development with hub and some complementary commercial space. The inclusion of an element of live/work development should contribute to the creation of a "growth pole" for home-based businesses. The development will also incorporate a Rural Enterprise Hub to act as an incubator for new businesses and provide a centre for the delivery of business support services to local businesses. Work will start on site in 2009.

Leominster Enterprise Park
Leominster Enterprise Park is becoming the major employment location within northern Herefordshire and was developed by Advantage West Midlands in collaboration with the Council. The scheme involved constructing a new access road and bridge from the A49 trunk road into the estate to open up and release approximately 12ha of new land for employment use. Fully serviced plots are from 0.5 to 1 acre in size, and are available for sale on a long lease. Speculative building development has made a range of offices and workshops available for immediate occupancy, including a Rural Enterprise Hub owned by Evans Easyspace and constructed with support from the Rural Regeneration Zone. The agent for the site is Pooks, who can be contacted on 01743 276633. Details of available accommodation anywhere in Herefordshire can be found through our Property Register service, accessible from the menu under Economic Regeneration.

For further information on any of these projects please contact the Team on 01432 261758, email economicinvestment@herefordshire.gov.uk, or at:
Economic Development Team
Herefordshire Council
PO BOX 4
Plough Lane
Hereford
HR4 0XH

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