Latest Developments

High Town Refurbishment

The story so far……….

The refurbishment of Hereford city centre was considered at some length as part of the City of Living Crafts study which completed in 2003. A major objective of all the schemes consulted on was to increase the level of activity in High Town. The findings of the extensive consultation were that there was broad agreement on "the need to remove clutter and to enhance street furniture, surfacing and lighting".

The funding wasn't available at the end of that project to implement the findings. However, in 2004 some funding was found to undertake the refurbishment of Eign Gate, which was considered to be the area most in need of a "facelift". The work to be undertaken went through a consultation process and was completed during 2005.

In April 2005, the Council agreed to start work on developing options for the refurbishment of the whole of Hereford city centre, within a budget limit of £2 million. Designs were developed by the Council's consultants, Owen Williams, and local firm, RRA Architects, during the summer of 2005. These were shown to the public during consultation exercises in October 2005 and February 2006. As a result of these exercises the designs were modified and High Town was refurbished from May 2006 to March 2007, with a break for Christmas.

Where are we now?

High Town repaving is complete but there have been ongoing problems with letters coming out of the feature paths. These are being replaced by the provider at their expense, and the incidence of letters coming loose should reduce over time. Bewell Street has had some preparatory work done to lower services prior to repaving, but on-going work by a private developer in the street has prevented the repaving being undertaken. The timetable to undertake this work is still to be set. Funding has been provided by the Council to repave the length of Widemarsh Street from High Town to Blue School Street, but the timetable for this work is dependent on agreeing a design with ESG Herefordshire, which is controlling the redevelopment of the cattle market area to provide a new retail area for Hereford.

Consultation Material

The Resources Box below contains a digest of the materials which were on show in All Saints Church during the February 2006 consultation. There are computer generated 3D images of High Town from different viewpoints included with information on specific topics.