Plans for the Maylord Orchard Library and Learning Resource Centre, as well as the redevelopment of the Hereford Museum & Art Gallery have moved a step forward, with the expenditure required to instruct the technical project manager and design team to complete the detailed design stage of each project confirmed.

The decision taken on the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery was that the redevelopment of the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery to create a new high quality visitor attraction project was approved. Expenditure of up to £1.5m of the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery (HMAG) redevelopment capital programme allocation was approved to complete the detailed design stage of the project including seeking planning permission and the Director for Community and Wellbeing, following consultation with Deputy Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets, be authorised take all operational decisions necessary to complete the detailed design stage and seek planning approval within the £1.5m approved budget.

From Stronger Hereford:

The project will establish a transformational world-class contemporary facility in the heart of Hereford with the capacity to accommodate our globally and nationally significant heritage assets such as the Magna Carta, Herefordshire Hoard and collections of antiquities dating back to the Ice Age, in addition to hosting national and international exhibitions.

The redevelopment will embrace the latest technologies such as Virtual Reality to tell the story of Herefordshire and the wider Welsh Marches region. The new museum will aim to attract progressive funding for heritage, culture and the arts to facilitate educational and cultural activity in the city and county, to strengthen community cohesion and engagement and to support the development of job opportunities in Hereford’s cultural sector

More Details – S20098D-Hereford-TIP-Document-NEW-FINAL-1.pdf (strongerhereford.co.uk)

The decision taken on the Maylord Orchards Library and Learning Resource Centre was that the redevelopment of Maylord Orchards to create a new library and learning resource centre project is approved. Expenditure of up to £0.45m of the Maylord Orchard Library and Learning Resource Centre project capital programme allocation was approved to complete the detailed design stage of the project including seeking planning permission and the Corporate Director for Community and Wellbeing, following consultation with the Deputy Section 151 Officer and in consultation with the Cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets, be authorised take all operational decisions necessary to complete the detailed design stage and seek planning approval within the £0.45m approved budget.

From Stronger Hereford:

Maylord Shopping Centre is a strategically significant site, with a footprint
of 145,000 sq ft in the heart of Hereford’s city centre. Herefordshire Council
secured control of the site through a £4.0 million acquisition in June 2020 to
enable its redevelopment to support the regeneration and the diversification of the city centre as a whole. The project will provide a master location for the relocated library which will evolve into a resource centre, creation of a new community re-use café and it will host expanded performance space for Powerhouse and a new Digital Culture Hub.

More Details – S20098D-Hereford-TIP-Document-NEW-FINAL-1.pdf (strongerhereford.co.uk)