Around the ward

The new vehicle barrier at the entrance to the Old School Lane park has been completed. This took a little while to get over the line but I’m very pleased that it is there. This should reduce the risk of unauthorised encampments on the park.

I am very conscious that if this barrier is successful it will move travelling people somewhere else. There have been travelling people in Herefordshire as long as there have been settled people. I will be asking the Conservative Cabinet at Herefordshire Council what they are doing to make sure there are enough official spaces for travelling people to stay on temporarily in the county.

Hereford Sixth Form Students gave up another lunch break in July to take part in a litterpick of Churchill Gardens. They were rightly proud of what they’ve achieved over this academic year and the Sixth Form has agreed to ask students to volunteer once a month in the new academic year.

I visited a number of local residents who raised issues with me about the local area or difficulties they were having accessing services. I will be taking forward these issues on their behalf. If you would like to raise any issues with me please get in touch.

I learned that the Cabinet no longer plans to build a cycle route that will link Aylestone Hill to the city centre. This makes me very concerned about their proposal to build a cycle route up and down both sides of Aylestone Hill.

At the councils

I attended a meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee at Herefordshire Council. We looked at how Children’s Services handles and learns from complaints and made some recommendations. We also heard about progress the service has made since the publication of the Families Commission report and made some recommendations there as well. It was our first opportunity to meet Tina Russell who is the interim director of children’s services. You can watch a recording of the committee meeting and read the reports on the council’s website.

I attended a meeting of the full Herefordshire Council. We agreed to allocate £5M of capital to allow the Cabinet to buy properties to help alleviate the challenge of homelessness in the county. There is a real shortage of housing in Herefordshire and this has many consequences including the fact that the council is supporting over 140 homeless families each month. The LibDems have been pushing the Conservatives to take the issue more seriously and this decision of the full council is a step in the right direction. You can watch a recording of the council meeting and read the reports on the council’s website.

I also attended a meeting of the Community Development Committee of the City Council.

Out and about

On the 4th July I was at the Leisure Centre to witness the count of the votes cast in the General Election. I am aware that very few people get to see the count directly. It really is impressive how the process is carried out accurately and transparently. The fact that we have a robust system to ensure that every vote is kept safe and an accurate result is declared in every constituency is something we can be very proud of in the UK. Congratulations to Jesse Norman and Ellie Chowns on being elected as the two MPs for Herefordshire.

I attended a meeting of the Stronger Hereford: the Stronger Towns Board where we had updates on a number of projects but in particular the plans to develop the Shire Hall. I very much hope this will be a success and I am encouraging the project team to ensure that they have considered making sure the new space is welcoming and inclusive for all the people of the city and county. Stronger Hereford Board Minutes are published on the Stronger Towns website though, I think, the minutes for the July meeting will not be available until they have been approved at the September meeting.

I hope everyone in College Ward has a safe, enjoyable and relaxing summer.