The overall £6 million spend on the Hereford City Centre Improvements project has been scrutinised by many local residents and business owners over recent days, after being highlighted by Your Herefordshire.
Various councillors have had their say and the Herefordshire Coalition released a statement, explaining that the funds for the project hadn’t come from council tax. However, for some, that hasn’t been a good enough explanation, with some stating that despite the majority of the spend being via Government funding, that the costs for the projects involved seem very high.
With households struggling, many people have blasted decisions to spend more than a million pounds on planters and trees across the city.
Ann-Marie Probert, a local Conservative councillor in Newton Farm who was elected last year released the following statement in response to a statement shared by the Herefordshire Coalition earlier this week.
She said:
Councillor Ann-Marie Probert (Conservative Councillor for Newton Farm) has hit back at comments made by John Harrington (Group Leader for Independents for Herefordshire and Cabinet Member – Infrastructure and Transport) in a press release that was issued by the Herefordshire Coalition earlier today.
Councillor Probert said:
“Whilst Cllr Harrington says it was Government funded money behind the projects, my understanding is that it’s a Government match scheme and so while £3 million of it is Government funded, Herefordshire Council have to fund match it with a further £3 million.
“Who is covering the capital repayments and revenue costs that will occur? Who is paying for the maintenence and upkeep of these planters? Is that in the budget for the forseable future?
“Herefordshire Council has already cut the budget for Balfour Beatty and I spent most of last year asking why the grass wasn’t cut in my area. Are they going to cut the grass cutting budget further to water the new planters?
“I speak as a councillor who may have been recently elected but I see it as the public sees it.
“You put up my council tax one day and spend millions the next. Whilst this may be part government funded the upkeep and maintenence is just adding extra work for departments that the cabinet is cutting the budgets for.”
Ann-Marie’s comments are in response to the following press release that was shared earlier by the Herefordshire Coalition.
A political row has broken out after plans to improve England’s most expensive piece of tarmac with tree planters was linked to council tax increases.
Conservative Herefordshire councillor Ann-Marie Probert has slammed the proposals to install tree planters along Hereford’s City Link Road as ‘disgusting’, arguing that the money should be used for other purposes, including lowering council tax but Independent for Herefordshire’s Cllr John Harrington said: ‘The City Link Road, which Coun Probert criticises, perhaps not realising was a Conservative led scheme, was badly designed and badly thought out and has cost £30 million for less than a mile of tarmac, with no segregated cycle path and a huge ugly central reservation.’
‘We have managed to secure funding to put tree planters along the road that can be re-used when we are able to put in a proper tree planting system. This is not money raised through council tax, this is capital funding, raised and ring-fenced, that can only be used for this purpose – I know Ann-Marie is a relatively new councillor but she needs to get her basic facts right.’
The furore has been caused by calls from the Conservative councillor to ‘help residents first’. Defending the decision Coun Harrington said: ‘We have done exactly that. We have trebled the support for anyone who is struggling with council tax, but we cannot divert money from capital projects specifically for identified works, into revenue pots for running services. If Ann-Marie wants to help residents first then she should lobby her political masters in Westminster who have told councils they must ‘wash their own faces’ and ensure that services are funded by local taxes.’
‘We’ve lost £100 million a year in revenue coming in when you compare 2022 to 2010 and both her Conservative MPs voted for those devastating cuts – has she expressed her disgust towards them? This is not our decision; this is Conservative Party policy. We know how hard increased cost of living will be for many and therefore set aside wide-ranging support for anyone struggling.’
Coun Harrington said that deadlines for spending £6 million budget, half of which was from a grant from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, for the city centre improvement scheme were looming. ‘I took the decision not to dig up High Town, as planned by the previous Conservative administration, because I couldn’t justify two years of disruption to traders as a building site moved around High Town simply to replace a surface, that needs minimal repair, with a complete excavation and relaying with several millions pounds worth of Chinese granite.’
Coun Harrington said he had instructed that some of the funds were diverted instead to make improvements to the Widemarsh pavements which ‘have long been overdue and which the Conservatives refused to address’. The funds also ensure the Cycle Contraflow proposals for St Owens Street go ahead and improve the street scene around Hereford. Tree planters were chosen as they could be moved for the May Fair in the City and would give planners time to consider where to plant the planned increase of trees in the ground.
‘This has nothing to do with council tax’ said Coun Harrington, adding: ‘every councillor should know that. This is about spending funds ring-fenced for specific jobs that are important to Hereford, have been identified as needing attention for many years, and will start the process of improving air quality and the aesthetics of the county’s important mother city.’
