Preferred site for Hereford's new livestock market
Herefordshire Council is to consider a recommendation to locate Hereford’s new livestock market in part of a 48-acre site in the “Griffiths Field” along the Roman Road to the north west of the city (referred to as ‘Site 5’ during consultation).
The recommendation to cabinet (Thursday 21 December 2006) comes after ten years of council investigation and more than a year of consultation and listening to a range of views from local residents and community groups, businesses, farmers and livestock buyers and sellers.
The council’s preferred site is one of six sites studied at Stretton Sugwas, Hospital Farm at Burghill, the Quarry site, Sugwas Farm, a plot near Barnsfield Drive and what is now the preferred site half way along the Roman Road.
The initial inquiry was for 25 acres to house the new market after it is relocated from its presently confined and dilapidated 7.9-acre site on the Edgar Street Grid in Hereford. The move will release prime land for retail, leisure and service business development, breathing new life into this area of the city.
The recommended site, which will cost from £3 million to £5 million to construct, is likely to be the most cost effective of the six options. The site is rated comparatively well in terms of being able to accommodate a livestock market with minimal detrimental effect on the surrounding area or immediate setting. It provides good access to the road network and is serviced well in terms of water supply and treatment or disposal of trade effluent and surface water. It also avoids residents’ concerns raised by some other possible sites: one was situated opposite a school and another presented significant traffic problems.
Councillor Charles Mayson, cabinet member for rural regeneration and strategy, has written to local people affected and explained the reasons behind the eventual recommendation for the site.
“Throughout, the council has sought to balance the needs of the wider population of the city with those of people living in communities close to the proposed site of the new market,” he said.
“Location is crucial for local residents, as it is for livestock sellers and buyers. A great deal of work has been done to assess the considerations of each site, using a criteria-based framework, to achieve the best long-term solution, but it is acknowledged that however much we wish it, the solution cannot please everyone”.
The new market will comprise two sales rings, sheep and cattle pens, offices and accommodation for agricultural businesses, and adequate car, tractor and lorry parking. It will incorporate good environmental design with membranes to protect the aquifer, an underground layer of rock and sand containing water, from contamination, as well as rainwater harvesting, recycled water for washing and cleaning and biomass heating, providing a carbon neutral solution.
The council has used a framework – encompassing environmental, traffic, cost and legal considerations – that was adopted in the latest Unitary Development Plan (a legal document containing all the policies and standards used to make decisions on planning applications.
“There were five public meetings, all well attended, and hundreds of individual views have been well put and carefully considered. Many letters have been written and responded to individually. I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to the debate,” added Councillor Mayson “and I would like to thank parish councils for their involvement.”
If approved, the council’s cabinet will give the green light for the site to be purchased and officers will begin negotiating with Hereford Market Auctioneers on a capital contribution towards the scheme, together with an annual rent and an annual tariff for livestock passing through the market.
