Rotherwas Access Road Public Inquiry
Plans for the Rotherwas Access Road move one step closer to fruition today (Tuesday, January 10) with the opening of a Public Inquiry into the Compulsory Purchase and Side Road Orders.
A Planning Inspector will be considering Herefordshire Council’s case for acquiring the land needed to build the road and for the minor changes needed to other local roads and public rights of way.
The Council needs to secure these powers to build the access road before moving to the next stage of preparing and letting a construction contract.
The inquiry is being held at the Graftonbury Garden Hotel, Grafton Lane, Hereford, at 10am. Two objections are expected to be considered by the Government-appointed inspector.
The proposed Rotherwas Access Road would consist of a new 3.3 km single carriageway road to be built from the A49 north of the Grafton Inn to join Holme Lacy Road at its junction with Gatehouse Road.
The new road, free of height restrictions, would provide much improved access for lorries using the Rotherwas Industrial Estate and secure the future viability of the estate as the county’s principal industrial centre.
Herefordshire Council has been developing the scheme in detail since 2000 and has made the access road one of its top priorities in the Local Transport Plan.
The scheme has been identified as a high priority for implementation in the West Midlands Region.
Funding is currently being sought from the Government to allow construction work to start in the next financial year (2006/07).
