WHY ARE THE COUNCIL ACTING AS THEY ARE?

Herefordshire Council wish to build a road from the A49 (at a point adjacent to the Grafton Public House) to the Rotherwas Industrial Estate.  The Council do not have the £17,500,000 for this project.   They aim to raise it by a grant from ‘Advantage West Midlands’ in the sum of £9.5m and the balance of £8m from a housing developer.

Originally, under the 106 Legislation councils were entitled to require developers to contribute to essential work related to a development where that development caused the council expense or to improve local amenities related to the development.  This has become somewhat of a grey area and councils are using it extract money for all sorts of reasons.  The cost to the developer is almost always passed on to he end user.

This legislation enabled the H.C.C. to extract money from ASDA for flood defences and road works.  They are intending to use this same legislation to obtain £8,000,000 from Bloor Homes. This money is to help fund a new Rotherwas Road by allowing Bloor Homes to build houses at Bullinghope. Here, the 106 Legislation must be tenuous as there is no meaningful relationship between the proposed Rotherwas road and the Bullinghope development.  The plans for the road do not include access or egress relative to the building land.

Originally the number of houses mooted was 2,000, but under pressure the H.C.C. is scaling that number down, in the proposed U.D.P., to 300.  Be assured that the initial 300 is only the thin end of the wedge.  Bloor homes already own the 300 acres between the Ross Road and Hoarwithy road at Bullinghope.  Would Bloor homes have bought so much green fields land without being confident of being allowed to build on it?