THE Hereford bypass debate must be the most talked about subject in the city’s modern life.

And although a clear majority would certainly vote yes in any bypass referendum, the solution to the polemical poser is far from that simple.

Councillor Roger Phillips, Herefordshire Council’s leader, is sure to have reignited many old arguments with his comments in this week’s Hereford Times.

Without using the politically lethal ‘B’ word, coun Phillips has staked his second term on another river crossing for the city within the next four years.

But, crucially, he has not said to which side of the city the new bridge will be built.

Following recent road building history, the logical answer would seem to be on the city’s eastern edge, close to where the soon-to-open Rotherwas access road has just been laid.

A simple extension of that road over the River Wye and onto the B4224 Hampton Park Road would surely take away much of the traffic coming into the city centre and relieve Mordiford, Hampton Bishop and Holme Lacy residents of unwanted motorists who invent a rural bypass of their own in times of traumatic traffic.

But as all walkers, cyclists and anyone with a vague interest in the countryside knows, the wonderful Lugg Meadows lie to the north of the B4224 with a ready army of prosters prepared to fight any eastern bypass to save the historic fields.

They argue, among other things, that the Lugg flats are what make Hereford special and different to England’s many other cities that have become satellite towns and commuter zones, having given in to the needs of the motorcar.

But for those who rely heavily on their car, the needs of the environment have given way to more personal ones and some Herefordians point to a western bridge and a bypass on the city’s Welsh side.

However, those lucky enough to have drank the water from Brienton Spring all know that this side of the city is also blessed with idyllic rural scenes and quiet country lanes that a major bypass would certainly destroy.

Opponents to the western road route also claim that most heavy traffic in the city heads towards the motorways of the West Midlands.

What is clear within all the arguments and accusations is that Hereford is a victim of its own beauty. And with so many wonderful walks and views right on its doorstep, there is simply no solution to the bypass debate.

And as much as coun Phillips may try, it seems, for the moment at least, as though future generations of Herefordians will grow up listening to and then arguing about the question with no answer - the Hereford bypass.