• Landfill
• Land north of Dorchester Way

Could you please provide an official status report about the Landfill site, one of Belmont estate's few assets. As we understand it, the site will be adopted by Herefordshire Council when methane gas emissions are reduced to an acceptable level by the owner.
        Is this the case, or have there been any changes in the Council's view? Also, is it possible to predict when this might happen?
       Are there any details we can include in the Plan regarding the Council's attitude to the land north of Dorchester Way which was the subject of two rejected planning applications and an appeal to the Inspector (also rejected).

I can confirm that your understanding of the situation is correct. Subject to the levels of methane gas emission being reduced to acceptable levels by the landowner, the site will be taken over by the Council for long-term management as public open space.
       With regard to the land to the rear of Dorchester Way I can confirm the following: the site was identified in the South Herefordshire Local Plan as proposed recreation land and later considered in more detail in the Belmont-Haywood Management Plan produced by Halcrow as the Council's consultants. This plan was adopted by the Council in July 2000 and included proposals for the creation of a wetland area with appropriate facilities for public access and recreational activity.
       The proposals were generally supported during the public consultation exercise undertaken in relation to the management plan. In view of the lack of budgets for this scheme, and the fact that the land in question remains in private ownership, the proposals have not been implemented.
       The site is designated as safeguarded existing open space in the deposit draft unitary development Plan (UDP) although the landowner has submitted an objection to the draft UDP designation on the basis of the appropriateness of safeguarding private land as public open space. This designation obviously conflicts with the landowner's aspirations to develop the land for housing. I would anticipate, unless withdrawn or otherwise resolved, the objection to the designation will be dealt with through the UDP public inquiry process, which should be concluded in Summer 2005 when the UDP is formally adopted.
      Subject to the outcome of this process it may be that the landowner would wish at a later date to offer the land in question to the Council for adoption and management as public open space.

Graham Dunhill
Director of environment
Herefordshire Council

• Crime

Analysis of a Belmont Rural PC survey suggests there may be differing perceptions of crime on either side of the A465, eg:

Crime-related responses to a survey question, “Life in Belmont. What are the worst features?”
NORTH. Dog mess (18), Litter (10), Vehicles travelling too quickly (8), Vandalism (4), Yobbish teenage behaviour (2), Graffiti (1), Motorcycles on Landfill (1).
Total: 44 responses out of 240 from North to this question = 18%
SOUTH. Litter (14), Not enough policing (5), Vehicles travelling too quickly (3), Abusive teenagers (3), Vandals (3), Dog mess (2), Burglaries, break-ins (2), Rising crime, esp car theft (1), Broken trees (1), Broken fences (1), Dumped cars (1), Drug addicts (1).
Total: 37 responses out of 88 from South to this question = 42%.

Selected responses to question, “Life in Belmont. What are the best features?”
NORTH. Low crime (8), Neighbourhood watch (1)
SOUTH. Low crime (0), Neighbourhood Watch (0)

For me the results confirm that in relative terms Belmont, like most of Herefordshire, is a low crime area. I would have been concerned if a significant number of respondents referred to drugs, violence, burglary, car crime and similar as amongst the worst features of living in the area, but this is not the case.
      That some respondents refer to litter, dog fouling, traffic speed and other anti-social behaviour similarly comes as no surprise as this mirrors the feedback from other surveys that have been carried out in the county. It is to tackle some of these issues that Herefordshire Division recruited ten community support officers earlier in the year, and why the Community Safety Partnership supports such projects as The Noise. Whilst this project aims to divert young people in South Wye into meaningful community-based activity, it is also about encouraging community ownership of issues. After all those depositing the litter, those allowing their dogs to foul, those travelling too quickly through the estates, and so on, are very likely to be those living there and whilst enforcement can be effective, in the long term education, pride and ownership of local communities is far better.
     I personally have no issue with local communities having the 'facts and figures' provided they are presented in a meaningful way and in context. This information should help to inform debate and identify what the 'real' issues are.
    As with many of these things the best approach to resolution is then for everybody to work together and it is for this reason that I welcome my beat managers working with the Parish Council in developing solutions to their issues.

Shane Hancock
Chief Inspector local policing,
West Mercia

• Northolme pavilion
• Five-a-side pitch

The pavilion (now Northolme Community Centre) and the adjacent five-a-side pitch are important assets to the estate, even though the latter is not large enough for any official children's soccer games. The group would like to include official, up-to-date status reports on both in the Plan.
       In particular we would appreciate a written statement to the effect that it is the Council's intention to ensure Westbury do the necessary repair work and internal finishing so that the building can be adopted as soon as possible.
      On a matter of greater urgency, could we also have confirmation that the scandalous lunar landscape nearby is converted as soon as possible into a usable five-a-side pitch so that the PC's specially purchased goal-posts can be erected.

I have kept up to date with the position and want to reassure you that we are as frustrated by the lack of progress as you are.
      As recently as last week (early April) we were guaranteed that the contractors would be on site. I believe they finally started work on site this week and anticipate completing the levelling by the end of this week. They are due to start planting grass seed immediately after this.
    With regard to the pavilion, as soon as we have received a satisfactory schedule of outstanding work it is intended to hand the building over to SHARP. I have asked Mr Cole to keep you informed of progress. He is visiting the site today (April 16, 2003)

Jane Jones (Mrs)
Director of policy and community
Herefordshire Council

• Traffic calming
• Road crossings
• Bypass

Traffic problems were among the topics polled on the survey form for the Parish Plan. Preliminary results show that this is a subject of some interest to residents. Some 37% would like to see traffic calming measures introduced on to the estate (a list of 15 locations has been compiled) and a similar percentage is keen to see more pedestrian crossings.
        Inevitably, 93.9% would like to see a bypass.
       The working group would like to include an official, up-to-date status report of Herefordshire Council's views on these subjects in the Plan.

I will address the three issues individually:
Traffic calming  Effective traffic calming is quite expensive and so the council has adopted a policy to target the available funds to locations with an ongoing record of personal injury accidents in order to maximise the safety benefits of the expenditure. The estate to date has a good safety record and so funding for traffic calming cannot be justified at present.
Pedestrian crossings The council has established criteria for installation of pedestrian crossings based largely on the difficulty of crossing the road. If you can let me know specific locations where you would like to see crossings I will arrange for these to be assessed.
Hereford bypass  There are no current plans for a Hereford bypass. Indeed a recent study has shown that only around 15% of traffic in Hereford is through traffic and hence bypassable. The same study has, however, recommended a 30-year strategy for Hereford incorporating bus priority, park and ride, improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and a number of other items. It also recommends construction of a “western outer distributor road” At present these are only consultants' recommendations, not council proposals. They will be considered by the new council and incorporated as appropriate into the council's Unitary Development Plan and future Local Transport Plans.

 
J. R. Colyer
Transportation manager
Herefordshire Council