Key project for Hereford's river Wye 'should be refused permission'

Permission for a controversial plan make the river Wye in Hereford more accessible to boats now looks unlikely to be granted.

The proposal is a key part of one of the 15 government-backed “Stronger Hereford” schemes to boost leisure and creativity in the city.

“Wyeside” was intended to make the river “safer, more accessible, more attractive and entertaining space for residents, river users and visitors” and also to provide better river access to emergency services.

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Key to this was to be the installation of a ramp and boat-lifting crane on the riverbank in front of Hereford Rowing Club – one of the project partners alongside Hereford Sea Cadets and Hereford Rugby Club.

The scheme has already prompted a wrangle with Hereford & District Angling Association, which owns the river bed at this point and says the scheme would be a “nuisance” to its thousand-plus members.

The proposal has also drawn around 30 individual objections, along with a similar number of public submissions in support.

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Given its divisiveness, it has been passed to Herefordshire Council’s planning committee of councillors to decide on October 23.

But planning officer Ollie Jones’ report for the meeting recommends it be refused, saying both the council's ecologist and government agency Natural England found it would pose “significant risks to protected habitats and species”.

“While the development offers anticipated social and economic benefits, the environmental harm it poses renders the development unsustainable in the round,” his report concludes.

Natural England had warned there would be “a permanent loss of habitat at this location, including riverbed cover” and that the proposal went against management plans for the protected river, noted for its fish, crayfish and otters.

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The agency also took issue with what it called the “shadow” habitat regulations assessment provided by the applicants, saying this had failed to address the impact on wildlife of the boats, use of the crane and related noise, and any night-time lighting.

Such an assessment is usually carried out by the planning authority rather than the applicant.

Wyeside was the only one of the 15 Stronger Hereford projects to receive a “red” rating in a management board report published last month – which described it as at “higher risk due to planning issues and programme management challenges”.

The anglers meanwhile have their own plans, also awaiting a planning decision, to install 28 more “pegs” or angling platforms along the same stretch of river – which have also drawn environmental concerns from Natural England and others.