Hereford city to get further refurbishment

Herefordshire Council's cabinet has agreed to allocate £751,000 in capital resources to spend on further refurbishment of Hereford city centre.

Refurbishment of the city centre started in 2005 when £1¾ million was spent on improving High Street and High Town.

As part of the works, High Town was repaved, new lighting columns installed, street clutter cleared, new street furniture installed and the surroundings of the Old House enhanced.

The money now allocated will be used to refurbish Widemarsh Street to provide a pedestrian-friendly surface from High Town to Blue School Street.

Following cabinet's decision to allocate £750,000 to the project, along with £250,000 left over from the previous work carried out, it means the council now has £1 million for the works.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "Widemarsh Street is going to be an important link between the Edgar Street Grid retail quarter and High Town and, as such, it is crucial that shoppers can easily get from one to the other.

"This scheme will build on what we have already done to make Hereford city centre a more welcoming and safe environment for shoppers.

"This is a real opportunity to ensure that visitors to the city centre have one seamless shopping experience; our aim is to integrate all vital elements of the city centre - those we have already and those that will be created through the EGS project - into
one," he added.

It is hoped the scheme will be completed in 2009-2010.