Hereford is set to get more of the sedum bus shelters that have already been installed in the Whitecross area of the city, as part of a £400,000 project to ‘Green the city’.

The shelters, already in place on Yazor Road and Whitecross Road, will be rolled out to other areas of the city, according to documents shared by Herefordshire Council.

In a recently shared document, the council confirmed the following:

“To approve the acceptance and spend of Stronger Towns £403,655.00 funding to complete delivery of the three elements of the project; community grants, sedum bus shelters, and active travel measures on the Great Western Way in Hereford.

“Greening the City aims to improve the appearance, environment and perception of the City of Hereford significantly and will complement, and add value to, a number of current and planned policy initiatives including Hereford City Centre Improvements Project, Hereford City Centre Transport Project, countywide Active Travel Measures and two projects that have received funding as part of the Accelerated Funding phase – e-Bikes and tree planting. 

“These “sense of place” elements will look to change perceptions of the city by introducing significant amounts of greening. 

“This will lead to a more welcoming and unique place to visit and spend time within, leading to increased footfall in the city centre as well as longer dwell times.

The Greening the City project will be delivered within three elements:

Active Travel Measures on the Great Western Way, between Widemarsh Common and Barton Road

Installation of sedum bus shelters at locations identified within the city; this will add to and support the existing roll out programme;

Community greening grants – these grants will be offered to community groups to undertake greening to areas in need of visual improvement, more greenery or greater biodiversity.

More Details – https://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=9257

Previous article that was shared when sedum bus shelters were initially installed:

Hereford’s looking up, with new bee-friendly bus shelters

When you’re next out and about, you may notice that three ‘green’ bus shelters with living plants on the roofs have been installed at the Red Barn Drive stop on Yazor Road, and the Memorial and Victoria bus stops on Whitecross Road. 

The roofs are planted with 16 different varieties of Sedum plants, which are known to have many benefits for the environment. As plants they help absorb CO2 and release oxygen, while their flowers are also great for bees providing a haven and a welcome food source for many different pollinators along the urban roadsides. 

The sedum plants can also filter fine dust particles and so help to purify air, cutting pollution levels and they can help to capture rain water – all while bringing a little bit of nature into the City.

Cllr John Harrington, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: “It’s marvellous to see the new sedum bus shelters in situ. They contribute to our efforts to tackle the Climate & Ecological emergency by absorbing CO2 and cutting air pollution, they’re great for bees and other pollinating insects – and with their blend of plants, they look great, too.

“We funded the shelters through the ‘greening the city’ strand of the Accelerated Towns Fund monies, and have identified shelters in prominent places that needed replacing. I’d like to thank Externiture for making this possible. They have installed quality shelters and been flexible enough to deliver the project on schedule despite several obstacles, none of which were of their making.”