Leominster has a few days left to shape its future

Herefordshire Council has confirmed that Leominster 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.

The consultation says that Leominster has an economic importance due to its position on the A49 corridor and due to its rail links to Hereford and other centres outside the county. Around 2000 new homes could be built in the market town by 2026 and there is a proposal for a new community to the southwest. Growth will provide for a southern relief road to reduce traffic congestion and pollution on Barons Cross Road. The Enterprise Park is bucking the trend and proving the resilience of the local economy. Many firms are expanding and would further thrive and prosper if their local markets grew.
 
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 encourage the creation of new jobs, particularly creative industries and environmental technologies to boost the economic viability of villages.

“Herefordshire Council needs the residents of Leominster and surrounding villages to share their views now on how the market town will be safeguarded and developed for the future”, added Councillor Jarvis. “We need local people to tell us what they think so please complete a questionnaire and pop it in the post to ensure your voice is heard”.

“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 Leominster. 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 Leominster 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.