MORE than 100 new homes in a canal-side setting are planned for Hereford.

The scheme, for part of Hereford's Holmer trading estate, also includes offices, warehouses and industrial units - with major restoration of a section of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal.

Plans for the new-look estate were put to Herefordshire Council this week by Hereford Residential Developments Ltd. Pre-application talks between the two parties have been underway for some time Christopher O'Connor, representing the developer, said the current 8.5 acre site was outdated and unsuited to modern manufacturing.

"The plans now submitted represent extensive work to ensure a quality redevelopment scheme," said Mr O'Connor.

There would be no loss of employment land and affordable houses were included in the brief - in line with council policy, he said.

The new offices - much needed in Hereford according to local and regional planning strategies - is a big pitch for the brief, and there is room for a neighbourhood store.

Restoring part of the old Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal - where it cut through the site - is proposed, with a footbridge walkway link to the new sports fields at nearby Aylestone Park.

The restored section will be transferred to Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal trust along with the adjacent Aylestone Tunnel, which once took the waterway a quarter of a mile under Aylestone Hill and is still in good condition.

David Penny, commercial director of the Canal Trust, said: "These proposals represent a huge step forward in the restoration of the canal within Hereford.

"Not only does it see a very difficult section (a completely infilled cutting) restored as part of the adjoining development, but the developers have also worked closely with us to secure an extremely high quality of prestigious development on the site, which makes the most out of the canalside setting.

"We welcome these proposals and are always pleased to work with developers from the outset, as we have on this site.

"Not only will the proposals make a huge improvement to the area but they also provide a much improved quality of employment space to replace what already exists on the site, alongside the proposed imaginative waterside residential elements."

This summer will also see the restoration of the adjacent section of the canal through Aylestone Park as part of the partnership between the council, the Canal Trust and the local community. Within the new park the Canal Trust has already overseen the construction of the network of footpaths and cycleways as well as undertaking significant landscaping works.

The works at Holmer will form an integral part of the overall plan for restoring the canal across the city, which will see further progress as part of the Edgar Street Grid, a redevelopment of the northern part of the city including a new canal terminus basin and an approach canal heading back towards Aylestone Park.

A plan will be put up for public view at St Barnabas Church Hall, Venns Lane, Hereford on June 1.

Public consultation on the plan for Hereford's Edgar Street Grid - which also includes a major canal restoration - is underway. The plan will be on display at the Maylord Centre between June 4 and 9 and will be the subject of a seminar and discussion next Wednesday, from 10am, at the Courtyard Centre for the Arts, Hereford.