I WRITE in response to your front page article and opinion of March 28 regarding the ongoing debate in respect of an eastern link road to serve the Rotherwas Industrial Estate and the county generally.

As was stated, Herefordshire Council is presently consulting on the core strategy which sets out its development proposals for the county until 2031, so Jesse Norman’s timely intervention is to be applauded.

Not only is it the view of both our MPs, but also the chief executive and board of the Enterprise Zone have made it very clear that an eastern road is required if the Skylon Park project is to achieve anything near to its full potential which is of course vital for the future sustainability of the county.

It should be quite obvious to anyone that this is the only route which is affordable and deliverable within the near future, with the views of the very people we have chosen to oversee and deliver the project being so positive it would be highly irresponsible not to follow their advice and that of our two MPs and local business people generally.

The council’s core strategy is at present recommending the construction of a further 16,500 new dwellings within the county by 2031, which will obviously result in a substantial increase in the local population and they also will require the provision of employment and other supporting services.

We already have a high number of talented, mainly young people in need of suitable employment at present. We should all therefore fully support our MPs and others in their efforts to get the Enterprise Zone and the Rotherwas Industrial Estate generally, fully operational and I agree with them that the only way we will achieve this is by having a new road constructed as suggested.

I do however believe that most people would agree that if we are to become a more competitive and prosperous county, we will have to provide a great many more infrastructure improvements both in and around the city and the county generally if we are to successfully deliver what is being proposed. Currently, the most urgent need is to assist in getting our present local businesses fully operational, and hopefully then the rest will follow in coming years.

We cannot however, expect these business, which are already providing a sterling service for us in these extraordinarily difficult and challenging times, to go on delivering the opportunities and prosperity unless we provide then with the necessary infrastructure and support.

The present Conservative administration has repeatedly told us over recent months that it will carefully consider all suggestions submitted during the consultation period. I sincerely hope that it will listen to the views of these extremely influential people, and will make the necessary amendments to the proposed core strategy.

COUNCILLOR BOB MATTHEWS, Leader, Herefordshire Independents, Herefordshire Council