Richard Hunt

Reap repair rewards 

Applications for grants of up to £2,500 to help fund a venue, insurance, tools, training etc., now available – applications must be in by Friday 2nd September.  

Get together, share warmth together, share skills and mend and fix … don’t bin it. 

Do you enjoy tinkering and fixing old toasters radios and the like? Do you love getting involved with community projects?

Then running a repair café may be what you have waiting to do? Read on to find out what funding is available for people or community groups that run, or what to run, a repair café.

What is a repair café?

Repair cafés are places to meet, fix things and enjoy a good natter with other like-minded people who would rather repair an item than put it in the bin.

Find out more about them here: repaircafe.org/en/about.

Repair cafés are run by dedicated volunteers who enjoy a cup of tea with people from their community. If you don’t want to run one but have the skills to volunteer at a local repair café, please email craig.cornish@herefordshire.gov.uk.

So, where do I fit in?

Grant funding is available for those who want to run a repair café in Herefordshire. The funding scheme is designed to help communities cover the costs of setting up, expanding or restarting an existing repair café.

Successful applicants can get up to £2500 to hire a venue, and can help towards repair café membership insurance, tools, training, and promotions or expand an existing one to repair more items. More information can be found at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/repair. The scheme will open for applications on Monday 4 July 2022, and the guidance document and application forms will be made available via the above link then.

What’s in it for the community?

Repair cafés are brilliant for communities and the environment by encouraging repair and reuse. They:

• Use local venues, which benefits all residents
• Provide opportunities for residents to make the most of their repair skills and experience for the good of their community
• Support local climate and environmental work
• Build communities and relationships through repair (and drinking tea together)
• Save members of your community money by keeping their favourite items working for longer

 What are the aims of the project?

We want to build on the great work being done at existing repair cafés. As well as helping existing ones to expand, we also want to establish new ones to build a repair network right across Herefordshire.

This will help prevent tons of everyday household items (including clothes, furniture, electrical goods, bikes, crockery and toys, etc from being thrown away. In doing this, we’re supporting Herefordshire Carbon Neutral by 2030 target.

All of which will help residents save money, reduce waste and reap the rewards of repair.

Need more help? Please email: craig.cornish@herefordshire.gov.uk.

Visit Community Repair Network to find out more.

Don’t bin it, mend it!

PDF of Info Sheet

 

As you know, in January 2022 a consultation was undertaken on a set of county-wide spatial options, which allowed us to gather feedback and ascertain the most popular options around distribution of development over the next 20 years.

Place Shaping is the third public consultation to be undertaken in 2022, the results of which will help inform the preparation of a new local plan for Herefordshire. 

The consultation sets out possible options and/or potential strategic development areas for Hereford, each of the County’s market towns together with a range of alternative settlement hierarchies for rural parts of Herefordshire.

Information can be found at the following web address https://hlp.commonplace.is/

It is important that this consultation provides the opportunity for everyone to have their say at a formative stage of plan making.  The consultation does not set out firm proposals, which will come later in the process, but does look at different ways that Hereford, the market towns and rural areas could be developed over the next 20 years.

We are planning to hold a series of events, to give us the opportunity for Planning Officers to speak to residents face to face about the next stage in the Plan preparation and answer any questions.

Below are the events planned:

 

Town/City/Area	Venue	Date	Times
Ledbury	Market Place	Tues 28th	10-12
Bishops Frome	Village Hall	28th PM	2-4
Hereford	High Town market	Weds 29th	9.30-12.30
Fownhope	Village Hall	29th PM	2-4
Ross	Market Place	Thurs 30th	10-12
Lea	Village Hall	30th PM	2-4
Leominster	Market Place	Fri 1st	10-12
Wigmore	Community Hall	1st PM	2-4
Ewyas Harold	Memorial Hall	Mon 4th	2-4
Bromyard	Country Market	Thurs 7th	10-12
Bartestree	Village Hall	7th PM	2-4
Kington	Market Hall	Fri 8th	10-12
Weobley	Village Hall	8th PM	2-4

Formal consultation will begin on Monday 13^th June and run until Friday 29^th July.

Following the close of this consultation a draft local plan will be prepared.  Much of the evidence base for the plan will be developed over the summer and autumn and, together with the results of the consultations undertaken during 2022, will form the basis to support the plans policies and proposals.  Further consultation upon a draft local plan will be undertaken in 2023.

If you have any questions about the forthcoming consultation and events, please feel free to contact us.

ldf@herefordshire.gov.uk or 01432 383357.

Kind regards

Susi Gilson

Offenders claim to be Police to extort money, asking callers to help with ongoing fraud enquiries by Bank Transfer or by confirming financial information. Please make family and friends aware of this. THIS IS A SCAM!

The Local Plan 2021-2041 Policy Options consultation will run for 6 weeks from Monday 4 April to 16 May 2022.

It sets out a summary of the context around each of the policy areas and includes range of possible approaches that the new local plan could include.

As part of the preparation of the new Local Plan for Herefordshire the existing County-wide planning policies need to be reviewed, to determine their effectiveness, consistency with national planning policy and whether they would help to deliver key aspirations of the Herefordshire County Plan.

Consideration also needs to be given as to whether there is a need to include additional policies in the local plan in instances where there are gaps in the current policies.

The policies will be key in determining planning applications and so it is important that this consultation provides the opportunity for everyone to have their say early in the process of plan making.

The paper does not set out detailed policy wording at this stage, which will come later in the process, but does look at different ways that the policies could be applied in the new plan.

The policy options within the consultation paper cover general and county-wide matters they do not refer to specific places or areas within Herefordshire. Consultation on the policy options for specific places and areas, including the rural settlement hierarchy will take place later this year.

The responses received during this consultation, together with a number of evidence base studies, will help form the draft Local Plan.

For more information about the Local Plan 2021-2041 Policy Options and how to take part, go to:

https://hlp.commonplace.is/

I am writing to you on behalf of the Ramblers association, who are seeking some support from your Parish Footpath Officers or volunteers.

BBLP, HC, Visit Herefordshire and the Ramblers are collectively working to improve the Herefordshire Trail, delivering Stiles to Land Owners, Route Clearance, repairs and new bridges.

I note this trail passes through a vast array of Parishes and for those where it  does not, we would also be extremely grateful of any support you may be able to offer in assisting with the above maintenance to promote this wonderful route increasing active travel and allowing walkers to embrace the Herefordshire Countryside with the relaunch of the Trail for visitors in Easter.

Herefordshire Trail

Mike Goodwin is leading this from the front with his team commencing on the 11^th March 2022, could I request that any support that can be given be directed through Mike so we ensure a streamlined approach.

Kind regards and thank you for your support.

Anthony Agate

Network & Engagement Manager | Balfour Beatty | Services | Living Places

Unit 3 Thorn Business Park, Rotherwas Industrial Estate, Hereford, Herefordshire,  HR2 6JT

My name is Nick Hall and I am the Sergeant for the West Mercia Police ‘We Don’t Buy Crime’ crime prevention initiative funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion.

The main aim of the project is to protect residential properties in the West Mercia force area with Smartwater, a unique forensics property marking system that deters criminals from committing offences in protected areas. Data shows that residential burglary in West Mercia is down by 23%.

Each Smartwater kit is unique to the property it is registered to, so any property can be traced to a specific address. This makes property less desirable to criminals and more difficult to sell on.

The PCC is offering  25% of the total cost of the Smartwater kits for your chosen area and will pay 100% of the cost of the signage to promote your protected area.

I have attached some documents for your perusal.  PCC letter, Latest SmartWater Info Sheet

If you require any further information regarding the initiative or would like our ‘We Don’t Buy Crime’ Co-ordinators to attend one of your parish council meetings to give a presentation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

PS Nick Hall 3448

Nick Hall| Sergeant 3448 | We Don’t Buy Crime | Problem Solving Support Team | Bridgnorth Police Station | West Mercia Police |

Tel: National Non Emergency 101 Ext 7704214 – DD 01952-214954

Email: nicholas.hall1@westmercia.police.uk |

Address: Bridgnorth Police Station,Bridgnorth WV16-5BD |

As many of you will know, an extension has been granted to those parishes who are struggling to submit a response
to the Spatial Options consultation within the original deadline, due to meeting dates etc.
The website homepage will alter tomorrow, but the ‘Have Your Say’ tile will still be accessible to enter your surveys,
so please do use it if you possibly can. https://hlp.commonplace.is/proposals/have-your-say-here/step1
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Consultation on the draft Environmental Building Standards Supplementary Planning Document (EBS
SPD) runs for 6 weeks from 2 March to 13 April 2022. We would welcome your views.
The SPD sets out best practice recommendations to help drive up building design and construction to the
highest standards, in line with the council’s recognition of the climate and ecological emergency and our
vision for a zero-carbon, nature-rich Herefordshire.
The document does not introduce new policy but is designed to provide supplementary guidance on the
adopted Herefordshire Local Plan – Core Strategy environmental quality policies. It will be a material
consideration in the determination of planning applications.
All feedback during the consultation will be considered, before the final draft is put forward for formal
adoption by the council.
For more information on how you can take part in the consultation, please go to this web address:
https://hlp.commonplace.is/proposals/ebs-spd/step1
If you have any questions about the document, please contact karla.johnson@herefordshire.gov.uk

Let’s all Keep Herefordshire Warm

Our colleagues at Keep Herefordshire Warm (KHW) are offering a free online course, “Energy use in the home and fuel poverty awareness”.

The course helps us to understand what fuel poverty is and about the impacts of cold homes on health and wellbeing. It helps us to spot those at risk of fuel poverty and to be able to signpost and refer people to support and funding. There’s top energy saving tips too.

The course is for community workers, councillors, volunteers, frontline staff, professionals and those working with households at risk of fuel poverty.

There are two course dates coming up:

• Wednesday 16 March from 10am to 12pm
• Tuesday 22 March from 10am to 12pm

 You can book the introductory training through the Keep Herefordshire Warm Eventbrite page

and further details can also be found on the Talk Community Directory.

Have no fear, if you can’t make the date/s, you can ask the friendly KHW team about alternative dates through their training and events enquiry form.