HEREFORD has found out it will receive a cash injection of more than £22 million from the Government – and this is how it will be spent.
The plans, drawn up after suggestions by various groups in the city, include a striking library at Maylord Shopping Centre, which was recently taken back over by Herefordshire Council in a £4.5 million deal.
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The #StrongerHereford board, backed by the council, has been responsible for putting the bid together, which also includes the idea for electric buses in the city and a revamped riverside.
The board describes itself as a "blend of people from private, public and community sectors who all have Herefordshire in their heart".
The total development cost of these projects was said to be £44 million, and the #StrongerHereford board asked the Government for £25 million from the Stronger Town Fund.
Here are the 15 ideas, which board member and Hereford mayor Kath Hey said were "very much about future proofing the city for the next generation".
1. SOIL FROM THE CITY
Total cost: £1,500,000
Soil from the city has been described by the board as a highly innovative, ambitious and achievable project, planning to divert food waste from landfill and turn it into a resource to benefit the city.
By using emission-free transport, like cycling, it should reduce vehicles on the road and emissions, with waste composted at a inner city brown field site.
2. ELECTRIC BUSES
Total cost: £2,400,000
The so-called Hereford City Zipper will be an electric bus service connecting Hereford's transport hubs with its cultural, retail and hospitality quarters as well as the main health facilities.
A regular service will be planned, minimising the need for users to consult a timetable.
The route will include the Station Medical Centre, town hall, Maylord and Old Market shopping centres, and the leisure pool.
3, GREENING THE CITY
Total cost: £1,500,000
The #StrongerHereford board says this project will change the face of Hereford and "significantly improve" its appearance, which according to the board has been neglected and contributed to the long-term underperformance of the visitor economy.
The project seeks to improve perceptions of Hereford city for visitors and to instil pride of place for residents.
4. NMITE FUTURE OF WORK HUB
Total cost: £2,867,000
The proposed NMITE Future of Work Skills Hub will be located in what the board says will be a technology-rich, flexible site in High Town.
Its aim is that the site will support Hereford residents improve their career prospects, from school leavers and NMITE learners to businesses and mid-career shifters. The board said the hub will aim to address the city's skills gap, with young people "disproportionately affected by the pandemic".
5. HCA SCHOOL OF CREATIVE DIGITAL FUTURES
Total cost: £850,000
The funding bid says this project will see an industry-standard centre created at Hereford College of Arts' College Road campus.
It says it will "turbo-charge the expansion" of the School of Creative Digital Futures, with curriculum areas including animation, games design and social media.
The rationale behind the plan is to offer a ladder of progression to Herefordshire learners, as well as those coming to the city from elsewhere.
6. MAYLORD LIBRARY AND LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE
Total cost: £7,000,000
The project aims to provide a master location for the relocated library which will evolve into a resource centre, creation of a new community re-use café and it will host expanded performance space and a new digital hub.
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The board says the re-purposed mixed use development will expand the reasons to visit Hereford, and encourage visitors to spend time and money in the city.
The learning resource centre would include a new public and higher education library, with services to support the development of people who are seeking a new career.
7. HOLMER EXTREME SPORTS HUB
Total cost: £1,959,000
The plans for the Holmer Road site are to create new facilities and improve current ones such as Hereford Skatepark which is running at "full capacity".
The board says access to the hub will create a focus for a number of wheeled sports in the city and wider county and will be almost entirely free of charge.
It is said the cycle track will "significantly enhance" Hereford's sports offer by creating a popular visitor attraction.
8. CASTLE GREEN PAVILION
Total cost: £1,560,000
The #StrongerHereford board said the Castle Green Pavilion project will enhance a much-loved but neglected community asset, open up access to the river Wye and add to the infrastructure of Hereford's visitor economy.
The refurbished pavilion will provide a home for the youth canoe club, a cafe, a multifunctional and flexible community meeting space and a gallery celebrating local arts and heritage.
The pavilion also has the potential of becoming a "festival village", having already hosted events with up to 3,500 people.
9. THE MARCHES EXPERIENCE (MUSEUM)
Total cost: £15,000,000
Hereford's visitor economy has significantly underperformed for decades, according to #StrongerHereford, and the existing museum in Broad Street is an asset with "huge unrealised potential".
The project will aim to establish a transformational world-class contemporary facility in the heart of Hereford with the capacity to accommodate our globally and nationally significant heritage assets such as the Magna Carta.
The redevelopment will also embrace the latest technologies such as virtual reality.
10. MEADOW ARTS (STATION APPROACH)
Total cost: £160,000
Contemporary art commissions will be put onto the side of the new student accommodation block in Station Approach, with #StrongerHereford claiming it will "act as a vibrant statement of intent, signalling the city's commitment to creativity and innovation".
11. ENCORE MUSIC HUB
Total cost: £800,000
The board said Hereford has no centre for community music and these proposals will fill the void.
Although it has never had a permanent base, Encore, sometimes known as Herefordshire Music Service, provides activities for nearly 5,000 people and a new home should meet unfulfilled demand from young people and the adult community.
The music and skills hub will regenerate a large retail unit in the city centre, #StrongerHereford said, giving opportunities for skills development and qualifications, creating apprenticeships and jobs, and attracting footfall.
12. POWERHOUSE
Total cost: £1,004,000
#StrongerHereford wants to see an under-utilised space at Maylord Shopping Centre transformed to create Powerhouse, a centre for culture and the creative industries.
The ground floor will consist of bookshop and social hub, and on the upper floor there will be a large multipurpose space.
13. DIGITAL CULTURE HUB
Total cost: £1,745,000
The Digital Culture Hub (DCH), led by Rural Media in partnership with Hereford College of Arts (HCA), should create opportunities in digital creativity and innovation, marking
the city and county out as a cultural leader in rural regeneration and social mobility.
#StrongerHereford wants the hub to attract start-ups from further afield to Herefordshire, as well as addressing the "critical issue" of ex-migration of young people.
14. RIVER WYE INFRASTRUCTURE
Total cost: £1,612,000
#StrongerHereford wants to the river and surrouding area enhanced, including a wide promenade-style pathway, lighting and power points alongside Bishop's Meadow and King George's playing fields for community events, pop-up cafés and markets, and a pontoon at the Left Bank Village and Sea Cadets facility to increase utility and access.
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The aim of the project is to provide infrastructure for camping, tourism and staycations.
15. SOUTHSIDE
Total cost: £4,257,000
The Newton Farm project, which falls in the bottom 10 to 20 per cent of the most deprived neighbourhoods nationally, could be revitalised by this project, the board says.
Southside aims to provide a vibrant, inspiring and inclusive sports, food and skills community focal point for the people of South Wye.
It would be a collaboration between Growing Local, Belmont Wanderers CIC, and NMITE.
The heart of the project will be the creation of a single building.
- Have your say about these ideas: letters@herefordtimes.com
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