To receive questions from members of the public.

Under the Constitution a member of the public can ask a Cabinet Member or Chairman of a Committee any question relevant to a matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties, or which affects the County, as long as a copy of the question is deposited  more than six clear working days before the meeting.  Eight questions had been received in time to be included in the agenda.  The questions and responses are set out below:

 

Question from Philip Taylor, Hereford

 

"Following the last full council meeting on 4th November 2005 I was so pleased to hear the leader of the council, Cllr Roger Phillips' reply to the question put to him by Cllr Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes.  She asked him whether there were any discussion being held regarding putting a supermarket on the Edgar Street Grid.  He replied, "No, not to my knowledge, not at all."

 

My question is, whether we, the public, can be reassured that Cllr Phillips' assertion at the last full council meeting on 4th November 2005, that he did not know of any discussions being held regarding putting a supermarket on the Edgar Street grid, will indeed mean that no supermarket will be build on the grid.  I am also opposed to the Tesco supermarket being transferred from the Bewell Street site.  As a 21 year old post graduate currently training Worcester University for my PGCE, I feel it would be better for Hereford not to have any additional supermarket there.  We need many more things for the youth of Hereford, not a supermarket."

 

Councillor R.J. Phillips, the Leader of the Council responded by saying that the Edgar Street Grid masterplan envisages the development for retail and mixed uses of the Livestock Market site and provision for an enhanced retail development which complements existing city centre uses.  The emerging Unitary Development Plan provides for what is described as a Class A1 retail use.  This Class embraces all forms of retail, including but not limited to food retail.  No specific proposals are yet available for the form that this retail provision will take.   The masterplan also lists additional uses for the Edgar Street Grid site, such as cultural and leisure facilities.  The final retail use of the Market site will be subject to planning permission which will include further consultation.

 

Question from Rob Hattersley, Hereford

 

"Have the Council done an assessment of the economic impact on the city centre of any increase in retail capacity on the Edgar Street grid and if not, do they intend to? Will the Council publicise the results of such an economic impact assessment, and provide time for public debate and scrutiny to allow city centre retailers and their customers a chance to add their voice to the debate? How important do the Council believe it is to prove that the diversity of Hereford city centre will be enhanced and not compromised by competition from big off-centre retailers, before giving those retail developments the go-ahead?"

 

The Leader replied that work undertaken for the Unitary Development Plan has included a Retail Assessment which identified a range of additional retail provision which is necessary if Hereford is to maintain its role and status as a sub-regional shopping centre.  Provision for such development is made in the Plan, including the Livestock Market site.  To this end the site has been included within an expanded Central Shopping and Commercial Area.  These provisions in the Plan have all been considered by the independent Inspector at the UDP Public Inquiry in 2005.  He will recommend on the need for further retail provision and whether such new development should be located as proposed on the Livestock Market site.  Impact assessments are not required for town centre uses which are within the defined city centre.  The Leader reiterated his previous answer and confirmed that, as part of the planning permission process, reports will be made available for public scrutiny and result in public debate. 

 

Question from Edward Owen, Hereford

 

"I just wanted to raise a few questions for discussion at the next council meeting about a use for the old Denco car park. I understand there has been some interest in using the site for some sort of skatepark and I wanted to address this issue.

 

I have been involved in skateboarding for over 5 years now and over that time I have seen that sport, along with BMX and rollerblading, become very popular, to the point where I feel it warrants as much attention as sports like football.  However, activities such as football are catered for very well, with facilities for its pursuit widely available, in contrast to skateboarding which is ignored.  If skateboarding were even nearly as popular, then why is it so poorly

catered for ?

 

Hereford is a large city, but, after the decommission of the ramps at Whitecross, it has only one real dedicated location for skateboarding, the park in Newton Farm. The construction of the small skatepark in Hunderton is a step towards improving the situation, but it is not nearly enough. There is no easily accessible, well designed skatepark to cater for the large numbers of young people who need somewhere in Hereford.  Why does the council treat skateboarding differently ?  Obviously skating in schools or other public places is restricted, yet the council does not provide an alternative.

 

Wouldn't it make perfect sense to use the site in question to construct a skatepark which would fill the void that currently exists?  Is the council even aware that it needs to do something to correct the problem of young people not having a dedicated site ?

 

I have heard news over the past few years of various plans to build a good skatepark in Hereford, but they have all gone nowhere.  Does the council realise that this is the best chance to finally give the

'wheeled sport enthusiasts' of Hereford what they need ?

 

The situation of a skatepark in Hereford needs to be resolved, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.  The site near Denco would be a great location, so why not make use of it?"

 

Question from Spencer Davies

 

"My names spencer davies. Im 17 yrs old, i go to HCS college.

Im emailing you about the new idea of a skatepark being built near the leisure centre.

Im a skateboarder and i skate pretty much all the time out of college hours.

I'm so glad to hear that theres actually thoughts about a new park being built north of the river.

 

However, as good as it is to hear this idea, it could also go horribly

wrong.. What do i mean by this?

 

Ive been and seen a number of places around the UK and USA. Ive recently

watched a video where a pro skateboarder was asked to plan a "skate plaza"

in the town of kettering, Ohio, USA.  What he did was go to the street spots where he skated, take measurements, ideas and whathaveyou and try and REPLICATE these spots. Its not necessarily a skate park but a "park to skate in" if you see what i mean?

It doesnt even need to be so high tech with so many ramps and huge out of proportion obstacles, it could be so much more simple. i.e. these street spots that we want to skate so much yet we get kicked off by the staff, managers, security and then the police. The latter occurs  because we go back to the place as we love it so much.

 

I dont really have any major questions to ask... but all i want to say is dont make a park with no planning and thoughts which will end up not being used to its full capacity (which is what we want right?). If anyone needs a guidence just take a look at recent projects in the UK (stoke-on-trent plaza and prissick plaza in middlesbrough)."

 

Question from Christian Montez

 

"Don't you think that it is about time for people of Hereford to get a decent skate park. We skate the streets and get treated like terrorists, frowns and abuse from passers by, stopped and searched by the police. It isn't even illegal to skateboard through high town, even though we get threatened with legal action and the confiscation of our boards. Even if you ask the police to quote which laws you are breaking they can never tell you. We cant skate the parks because they are either too dangerous due to them falling apart such as white cross, or they are been used as crack dens and or places where prostitutes practice their arts such as under the ramps at newton farm. The council at the moment are surly liable for being sued for the state of the ramps at white cross, if someone comes off and slices themselves open on the splintered de-laminating wood it think you guys would be in trouble.

 

It is about time the north of Hereford got a skate park, and a decent one at that. Hereford has now got a large growing population of skateboarders, bmx riders and bladers etc that need to be accommodated. Its about time the backwards people in Hereford got down of their high chairs and did something that they didn't directly got a benefit from. If they are that worried about young people in town, build the park at Denco. It is perfect! easy access from town, down the back of Sainsbury and there are already plenty of zebra crossings in place for people to safely cross.

 

Common guys don't you think its time you did something for us? after all we are going to be the people in charge of your nursing homes ;)"

 

Question from Eliot Sargeantson, Fownhope

 

"just a letter to say , lately there has been a lot of hassle from police and members of the public about skaeboarders and bmxers riding in and around town, although i have been told by a member of Hereford council that it is legal to skateboard in town, the police are saying otherwise. there is currently nothing available on the north side of the river and i was wondering whether anything is going to be done about it. i have asked several times over the period of the last six years and nothing has ever come of it. please help us out."

 

Question from Nick Galloway

 

"Why? unlike every other major city and country in Europe has Hereford taken so long to acknowledge these activities as serious and permanent sports and leisure activities, that are soon to be acknowledged by other nations as Olympic sports come Beijing 2008, and why it has become such a long winded process since most elder members of the public lived through the boom during the 1970s and why the opinion of Hereford's public has changed so dramatically in the last 30 years?"

 

Councillor Stockton Cabinet Member (Community Services) said that the acceptance of skateboarding as a legitimate sports and leisure activity by the Herefordshire Council and its predecessor Councils has been well founded.  Provision for young people has been afforded at Ross-on-Wye and at two locations in Hereford City over the last decade.

 

The reasons why such provision has not been extended or developed are twofold: there has never been, until now, a co-ordinated body of support for the activity that have served to develop the sport at a local level, and it has not been possible to identify an appropriate site to develop a large-scale facility to service the needs of experienced participants.

 

Although it is recognised that significant efforts have been made to resolve these issues, there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure that these essential building blocks are in place.

 

Skateboarding and bmx bike racing in themselves are not illegal activities.  The question of illegality will depend on the specific location of activity and impact that it has on the safety and wellbeing of others.  On grounds of health and safety, the Whitecross facility was decommissioned in August of last year.  A replacement structure of the same material will not be contemplated.  Any new facility will be properly commissioned to ensure sustainability and fitness for purpose.

 

The Council are working in partnership with others, such as Hereford City Council, to try and identify a suitable site for the development of a stand alone facility for skateboarders and practitioners of wheeled sports.

 

The Council continues to investigate the potential of the site of the former Denco car park for the provision of a dedicated skatepark facility. 

 

Question from Lionel Meredith, Hereford

 

"Can the tax payers be made aware of the financial cost of the failure of Herefordshire Council to locate relevant case notes in a recent case (September 2005) concerning street trading and what action has been taken to ensure that such mismanagement will not reoccur?"

 

Councillor Mrs. J.P. French, Cabinet Member (Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources) replied that the Council's Legal Services Section has an enviable record of success in prosecutions brought on behalf of Herefordshire Council.  Most recent available figures demonstrate a success rate of in excess of 95% better than that achieved by other public bodies.  Success rate is not the only or best measure of effectiveness.  It would be easy to achieve 100% success by only taking the most straightforward cases. 

 

The case in question was one where the defendant was initially convicted in connection with the prosecution brought by the Council in the Magistrates Court.  The defendant appealed to the Crown Court on six grounds, all of which, with the exception of one technical argument were rejected by the Court.  However, in view of the fact that one of the arguments succeeded, the appeal was allowed.  No costs order was made against the Council.  The defendant was entitled to costs from "central funds" which means effectively that he will be paid by central government.  An order for costs from central funds is the usual order where it cannot be established, to the Courts satisfaction that the prosecuting Council was unreasonable in bringing the case.

 

The sole ground of appeal, which was allowed by the Court, was a temporary inability to produce a bound volume of resolution of the Council in the shadow period in 1997 prior to it becoming operational from 1st April 1998.  Procedures have been reviewed with regard to record keeping in respect of historic resolutions of Council.  This will ensure that these can be readily produced in future should technical arguments again be raised by defendants in any future prosecutions.