Sweeping changes to investment spending in Herefordshire have been put forward by the county’s Conservative administration.

Setting out the changes to “around 10 per cent” of Herefordshire Council’s £327-million capital programme between now and 2027, cabinet member for finance Pete Stoddart said there would be £10.3 million, reduced from a earlier £12.3 million, to restart the southern link road (SLR) project.

The new road south of Hereford is part of a wider plan to resume building a bypass and river crossing west of the city.

Leader of the Independents for Herefordshire (i4H) group Coun Liz Harvey questioned the total figure of £35 million given for the SLR, which called “astounding”.

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Cabinet member for transport Coun Philip Price replied that he had been given the £35 million figure by consultants, and contrasted it with Hereford’s eastern river crossing proposal, which “started out as a cheap option but has gone several times over-budget”.

But previous council leader Coun David Hitchiner of i4H said the eastern option “would deliver a badly needed river crossing in a much quicker timescale”.

Greens leader Coun Ellie Chowns criticised the withdrawal of nearly £20 million for new housing and £2 million for retrofitting homes for better energy efficiency from the budget.

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But the SLR announcement was welcomed by Liberal Democrats group leader Coun Terry James, who said he was “angry with those who think the answer to the city’s appalling traffic problems lies in cycle lanes et cetera”.

Coun Stoddart said a further £10 million will go on “resurfacing those parts of Herefordshire’s road network which require the most urgent work”, in addition to existing commitments.

And £8 million will be used to finally begin the stalled Model Farm employment land project in Ross-on-Wye, with a further £4 million will be spent on economic development in the county’s other market towns.

Meanwhile £3 million for the Shirehall building in Hereford will “fund works required to enable this historic building to reopen as a cultural hub of the county”, with a further £100,000 going to create a care leavers’ base in the building’s annex.

Lastly, the £2 million saved from the SLR will go to a grants scheme for community hubs in the county, “to reduce the need for formal health and social care support”, Coun Stoddart said.