• In July 2020 government announced that under the Towns Fund programme they were offering Hereford a grant of £750,000 to fund capital projects that can be delivered this financial year. This grant will be used to support capital spend within the intervention framework as set out in the Towns Fund Further Guidance.
• Whilst the City Trees scheme as part of the Green Space Enhancement project was extremely popular and was fully subscribed, only 519 of the 1,000 trees were available for purchase. This had required an alternative delivery solution for this project.
• Through consideration of alternative delivery options to provide green space enhancements in the Hereford City, the following two options were identified:
Larger Trees in public spaces
• Although the availability of smaller residential trees was limited, a number of larger trees are still available.
• Whilst this provides an alternative option to deliver the project objectives, due to the increased size these trees are not suited to residential gardens.
• Following a review of potential sites, the Hereford Enterprise Zone, Marlbrook School and Aylestone Park were identified as suitable locations.
Sedum Bus Shelters
• The opportunity to install sedum bus shelters was identified as an alternative solution to improve green infrastructure within the City whilst also improving biodiversity corridors and supporting the County Plan objective to improve and extend active travel options throughout the county.
• Following consultation with the public transport team three proposed locations were identified:
• Whitecross Road Memorial,
• St Martins Church, Ross Road,
• Victoria Court, Whitecross road.
• These sites are proposed as they are key locations with high use and require investment in the current shelter provision.