Hereford Civic Society has described an editorial in the city's weekly local tabloid as "an unreasonable attack on a group of people concerned about the positive future of Hereford".

The unattributed opinion column appeared in the Hereford Times on May 10th, 2012. It questioned why the Society was objecting to a giant statue of a bull being erected next to the Black and White House in High Town, Hereford and went on to criticise the society for what the paper called "mischief-making".

In response, HCS Chairman John Bothamley wrote to the newspaper saying: "When the proposals for the Bull were lodged, following a proper debate, the majority of the HCS committee was minded to object for the reasons previously stated. The letter was far from being last minute, as you suggest. Our written objection was correctly submitted during the statutory consultation period."

Mr. Bothamley's letter explained that the Civic Society is a forum for the built environment, and that as such, "in the course of our activities we engage with policy makers, and regularly comment on planning applications."

The Chairman went on to point out the constructive contribution the Society makes to the debate on Hereford's built environment. "In the next few weeks [we have] a lecture on community owned pubs by CAMRA's local man, Mark Haslam at the Barrels, 7:30 23^rd May. [We are] hosting the City launch of the Herefordshire Pevsner (the authoritative updated reference book on every notable building) at All Saints 7:30 on 27^th June.  In High Town on Saturday 23^rd June there will be a stand explaining the slow process by Herefordshire Council in producing the Local Development Framework, a large piece of work which will have a huge effect on us all."

Further evidence of the proactive and positive role the Society plays can be found on the website, which hosts a wealth of articles, further links and details of events.

Hereford Civic Society has objected to the siting of a large bronze sculpture of a bull in High Town as follows:

Civic Voice is asking civic society members to join a sector wide campaign to ask the Government to reverse its proposed decision to remove "VAT relief on alterations to listed buildings". You can support this campaign by writing to your MP here.

In the 2012 budget, the Chancellor proposed removing the zero rating of VAT on alterations to listed buildings and this decision has prompted huge interest from civic groups including Guildford, Hexham, Northenden and Newbury (to name a few).

Up to now approved alterations to listed buildings have been exempt from VAT. This means that projects that have “altered listed buildings” have not had to pay VAT on their work at 20%. A building is altered when its fabric, such as its walls, roof, internal surfaces, floors, stairs, windows, doors, plumbing and wiring is changed in a meaningful way.

Civic Voice said "Sensitive alteration is often needed to secure a viable long-term use for many Listed Buildings. We fear that withdrawing VAT relief to these types of projects will be off-putting and many projects may not go ahead. Listed buildings are important as they contribute to the architectural heritage of an area, providing interest and variety to the streetscene and giving an important 'sense of place' to the locality. They play a very real role in promoting a sense of civic pride" .

The consultation closes on May 18th and you can contact your MP here

Civic movement to discover Hereford’s levels of civic pride

Saturday June 23 will be Hereford’s chance to measure how proud its residents are of where the town they live.

Civicwatch – a new national survey – is being launched by national charity Civic Voice to find out how proud we all are of with where we live. Civicwatch will be taking place during national Civic Day.

Civic Voice President Griff Rhys Jones said: “Civic Voice believes everyone has the right to live somewhere they can feel proud of. We hope to build up an annual picture of how proud people are of where they live – do people in Coventry have more pride? Is Yorkshire the place with civic at its heart? This is what we want to find out”

Hereford Civic Society’s John Bothamley said “What better year to launch this initiative than during the Jubilee year. There will be an increase in civic pride across Hereford. Let’s make Hereford the place that has the most civic pride across England”

Civic Voice will publish the results from each local survey so that people across the country can see how their town has scored compared to neighbouring areas. Individuals can take part in Civicwatch by visiting www.civicvoice.org.uk.

President Griff Rhys Jones added “We all talk about the importance of people having civic pride and having a connection with the place that live, but there has never been a nationwide assessment of this. By working with our members, we are going to be out in force across the country discovering our nation’s true civic pride.”

A new edition of Hereford Civic Society News is now available for download. The edition includes articles and comment on 'space', the ongoing ESG saga, and Yazor Brook. Click here to download this and earlier editions of the magazine.

A statement from the HCS Chair, John Bothamley, was sent to Herefordshire Council Cabinet on 9th April. It read as follows:-

Hereford Civic Society fully appreciates the necessity of commercial confidentiality in negotiations around this fraught subject. Although HCS is a non-political forum it has to strongly make the point that such a controversial decision should not have been taken behind closed doors. Much has been written by our Society, and other experts, over the last decade opposing many features of the proposals. Together with events in the wider world this project is now clearly flawed. The seven members of the cabinet have committed Herefordshire to a grim future, with the only benefit, if any, going to outside investors.

If only the Scrutiny committee, believed to be meeting on 23rd April, can find some procedural mistake, perhaps there is a chance of withdrawing from the whole project; taking a deep breath and reappraising it from the current and anticipated future perspective.

If there is no room for negotiation, yet again our Council has embarked on a poorly planned and unbalanced partnership with complicated and entangled organisations, that are more experienced, and more driven by the demands of their shareholders, than our Council is driven by the best interests of their electorate.
Collectively the Council has shown scant regard for Herefordshire’s citizens; preferring to be remembered for a supermarket and a link road to nowhere, but not a cinema, not a vibrant City centre, not an urban village.

We've come across the following interesting video about adding to our 'green infrastructure' in a rather innovative way. What do you think of it?

Things seem to be moving rapidly at Rotherwas. Since achieving its Enterprise Zone status last year, a new management board has been established, it has been re-branded Skylon Park and its new ‘gateway entrance’ is to be marked by a two-thirds replica of the Festival of Britain’s iconic structure.

In its February budget, Herefordshire Council set aside £6-million for the construction of a bespoke Council Records Archive at Skylon Park. Though its cost is known, its ‘site footprint’ has yet to be determined and the method of its procurement is undecided. Cllr Roger Phillips (an Enterprise Zone Board member) says the designs could either be handed over to Amey plc, undertaken by Design & Build specialists, or commissioned from an architectural practice. Council officials have lost no time in visiting local authority archives buildings in Cardiff, Hull and Wolverhampton.

This unique opportunity to create something truly 21st century for Hereford’s fledgling industrial park must not be squandered.

Official ‘aesthetic guidance’ for such buildings is sparse, with BS5454 being principally concerned with an archive’s fitness for purpose in housing official records safely and ensuring ease of access. But could not such a ‘closed shop’ building also have a public face? Rotherwas, after all, is steeped in history: James Gibb’s lost 1732 Palladian mansion; its sadly under-recognised wartime munitions operations; and the archaeological discovery, in 2007, of the Bronze Age ceremonial path which became known as the ’Rotherwas Ribbon’.

At Hull, the council’s new History Centre, opened in 2010, combines the city’s archives with its Local Studies Library (said to be well used by local family historians) and Hull University’s archives. Closer to home, Ludlow’s Library & Museum Resource Centre, as well as housing much of the county’s archaeological collection, has a well-visited public display of the world-famous Shropshire Woolly Mammoth. Because specialist archivists will need to be employed at Rotherwas, there might be a case for moving the county records office from St James.

Award-winning Rothschild Archive.  Photo: Richard Bryant

Though it was only completed 12 months ago, the Rothschild Foundation’s Archive building near Aylesbury (designed by Stephen Marshall Architects) has already won an RIBA Award and was short-listed for last year’s prestigious Stirling Prize. Set in landscaped grounds, the building features heat pumps, recycled ‘grey’ water, 1.5m-thick walls and external sculptural-like vertical louvres, to minimise solar gain within the centre’s reading rooms. It is said to be the largest naturally-cooled archive structure in Britain - which, for a building which plans to be around for a long time, is a very important plus point.

Our next event is entitled 'The plane truth: Hereford's B-24 crash' and promises to be a fascinating evening.

In August 1944, the crew of a US B24 were killed in a crash at Burghill. Due to wartime secrecy the truth has never been discovered until now, as local historians Jerome Corre and Neil Taylor take up the challenge.

This is a 'double bill', and Neil Kerr of Herefordshire Business Board will also update us on the new Skylon Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas.

The event is on Wednesday, 28th March 2012, with refreshments from 7pm and a 7.30 pm start at The WATERSHED, Wye Street, Hereford HR2 7RB. Please download, distribute and display posters as widely as possible.

Entry is free although we welcome you to join the Society.