King George V Memorial Gates to be relocated

As part of the Hereford (Belmont) Flood Scheme, the historic King George V Memorial Gates are to be moved to a new location.

A ballot found a majority of people were in favour of moving the gates, which were opened by Queen Mary in 1937, to the Hinton Road cycle path.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "I am delighted the King George V memorial gates will enjoy such a prominent position as the main entrance into the park and their new location will also enhance the access to the playing fields from Hinton Road.

"People will soon see the gates being dismantled and they will be stored before they are rebuilt at their new location," he added.

The Scott Trout memorial has also been relocated to the temporary tennis court entrance and is being read by many passers-by, making sure the profile of water safety is kept high.

Work on the flood scheme, being carried out by the Environment Agency, is progressing well.

Cleaning and repointing of the wall on Riverside Walk has started and lime trees have been pollarded to reduce the likelihood of strong winds blowing them over either during or after the works.

Sheet piles are now being put into the ground along the edge of Bishops Meadow from the leisure pool to Wye Street car park. This means there will be fewer spaces in this car park for a period of six weeks.

The children's play area is also open and a new set of swings has been installed to replace the set that needs to be removed.

The Environment Agency expects the major works to be completed by spring 2008. The new scheme will protect 196 homes and businesses in southern Hereford from floods so severe that we'd only expect them once in 200 years.