Herefordshire Council has confirmed that Ross-on-Wye residents who just miss the deadline for completed questionnaires on the important Shaping Our Place consultation – will still have their views taken into account.
The deadline for the end of the eight-week consultation on the future of Herefordshire is Friday 12 March. Thousands of residents across the county have already responded in what is likely to be Herefordshire Council’s most successful consultation ever – but many more will have left it to the last minute to submit their views. Any completed questionnaires that arrive after the weekend or during next week will still be valid.
Ross is the only sizable settlement in the county with direct links to the motorway network, and an important gateway for inward investment and tourism. The council’s wants to boost enterprise and build new communities in Ross to ensure it is strong enough to safeguard public services, jobs and affordable homes for future generations.
Around 1000 new homes could be provided in Ross over the next 15 years and two options are suggested, in the northeast and/or south of the town, next to the A40. The new model farm business park at Ross is also set to attract high quality knowledge-based and creative industries and high-tech businesses, bringing exciting new employment prospects.
Several villages in the area could see development designed to increase affordable housing and sustain essential services, including schools, and new shops, along with rural transport improvements. The options are also to promote extended employment land and more enterprise centres to encourage the creation of new jobs, particularly creative industries and environmental technologies to boost the economic viability of villages.
“Herefordshire Council needs Ross to share its views now in what will be one of the most important consultations ever to take place in the county”, added Councillor John Jarvis, cabinet member for environment and strategic housing. “It really is be up to local people to tell us what they think and help grow the right future for the county and the market towns”.
“We don’t want to deny anyone their contribution if it arrives just after the deadline, so any questionnaires arriving after the weekend, or until the end of next week, will still count”.
The Shaping Our Place 2026 consultation documents have been showcased at a road show and at public events and meetings in Ross. Around 40 public meetings, events or workshops have taken place in the city, the market towns, villages, parishes, schools and businesses across the county.
There are three ways that people can still get involved:
1. Pick up a consultation paper and questionnaire from your local council info centre - there is one in Ross and in every market town, or;
2. Log onto the council’s website www.herefordshire.gov.uk and complete a questionnaire online, or;
3. Fill in a simplified version of the questionnaire in the current issue of Herefordshire Matters, which is distributed to every household in the county, and pop it in the post with the freepost address.
Views will be analysed and proposed policies developed and presented back to the council’s cabinet later in 2010 and publicised, before being submitted to the Secretary of State, who will arrange for a public examination and inspector’s report with final adoption anticipated in 2011.