The Hereford Issue

The Hereford Issue is campaigning for a new, fare-free bus service across Herefordshire, to help reduce congestion on our roads and pollution in our atmosphere. Please sign the petition, and please share with friends : http://chng.it/Vn2Bx9VBym Herefordshire's roads are getting busier and busier. And Hereford in particular has a traffic problem that needs to be fixed. Public transport is one solution. We know that more people on buses means fewer cars on the roads and less pollution in our atmosphere. But Herefordshire's bus fares are too expensive and services don't run frequently enough. This has to change. We need a county-wide bus service that runs more often. And, as many other cities have already done around the world, we need a bus service that is fare-free! Fare-free buses give the best incentive for drivers to leave the car at home. Being free means that riders are saving money on petrol and, over a number of journeys, this can have a big impact on household spendi

Progress is being made on a project that will deliver community-owned, affordable housing and an artists' and makers' space in Hereford city centre. At the end of last year Hereford Community Land Trust surveyed over 100 people to gauge interest in the potential project, to be built in the Aubrey Street–Berrington Street area. Now they have now formed a steering group to take the project forward and will open discussions with land owners. Local charity Rural Media will also be supporting work on a business plan.

Herefordshire needs a brand new fleet of electric buses. We could be a model for sustainability, providing low-carbon travel options throughout our towns and villages. Jesse Norman and Bill Wiggin need to secure government funding for new buses for Herefordshire, to reduce local car journeys and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

This is serious. Climate change is causing more rainfall and, as a result, more flooding. Because we are now more than 1C warmer as a whole versus pre-industrial times, every degree means 7 per cent more water in the atmosphere, and more rain in these heavy rain events. If temperatures rise by 3C – an increase that the world is currently on track for – storms could bring about 20 per cent more rain than they would have done without climate change.

Yes to Shirley and yes to feminism.

Parliament publishes MPs' voting records so the public can see how they've voted on key issues. Does the same thing happen with Herefordshire's county councillors? No. The council must make its meetings fully transparent and report how our councillors have voted. Secrecy does not build trust; it doesn't build a healthy, progressive democracy. We must be able to hold our councillors to account.

With the Old Bridge in Hereford still closed, it is time to make it permanent. Since its closure, cycling and walking on the Old Bridge has increased. It has made the area quieter and safer and, in time, will help breathe new life into the Bridge Street–St Martins Street thoroughfare. If towns and cities are to meet the government's target of 50% of all urban journeys made on foot or bike by 2030 then we will need more pedestrianised streets. Keep the bridge closed.

We're almost a year into the coronavirus pandemic and, one way or another, it's having an impact on us all. Despite this there are so many groups around the county that are still supporting their villages and neighbours. In Aymestry, Bromyard, Eardisland, Kington, Ledbury, Peterchurch, Ross-on-Wye and so many more, parish councils and groups, both formal and informal, are shopping for their neighbours who can't get out, distributing food to families that need help, looking after pets and farm animals… Going out of their way to look after other people. We may fall out over local transport plans or the idiosyncrasies of our MPs but there's a lot of love in this county and the support that we've given each other over this past year is phenomenal. Long may it continue.

“The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make. And could just as easily make differently.” David Graeber.

“We want half of all journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked by 2030.” No, these aren't the words of some limp-lettuce, tree-hugger. They come from transport secretary Grant Shapps, speaking last week to parliament's transport committee. Last year, the government's Gear Change strategy document, launched by Boris Johnson, stated the same. “We want to see a future where half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked,” it said, with Johnson promising to “kick off the most radical change to our cities since the arrival of mass motoring.” Last week, Herefordshire Council put the final nail in the coffin of Hereford's proposed bypass, to the absolute outrage of many Herefordians. The penny is yet to drop: the bypass would've be a white elephant before it was even finished. There is a political consensus that car travel – powered by fossil fuels or electric – cannot continue at its current rate. Herefordshire Council knows it. The Conservative g

✔ Plans are in place to build thousands of new, energy-efficient council houses in Herefordshire. ✔ Community litter-pickers, like Hereford Community Clean Up Group, are continuing to take pride in their areas and are cleaning up our county, one crisp packet at a time. ✔ A project partnership between Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and Extinction Rebellion Herefordshire is planting one million trees across the Marches. ✔ Herefordshire Council is refurbishing homes to house rough-sleepers. ✔ Community groups like The Living Room are stepping in to feed people in need, while a wealth of mutual aid initiatives like Aymestry's Good Neighbour Scheme are active around Herefordshire, providing support for their neighbours. ✔ Hereford Community Land Trust are looking at building a new artists' and makers' quarter in the Aubrey Street–Berrington Street area of Hereford, transferring privately-owned land into community ownership. ✔ A revolutionary new fare-free electric bus system is be

Plans for a fare-free bus service in Hereford should be welcomed. And if implemented in the right way it has the potential to bring real benefits to our city, not least in reducing the number of cars on the roads. Initial plans show Hereford City Council is hoping to run a free service from the train station, through town to the swimming baths. Let's hope those are just the first details to be released because, to be effective, buses from all areas of the city will have to be free. And services must be increased in frequency too. People won't consider leaving their car at home if the buses simply don't run often enough. Many other cities around the world already operate free public transport systems, and last year Luxembourg became the first country to make all its buses, trams and trains free to use. A system like this could increase footfall in the city centre and put cash back in people's pockets as they leave the car at home. And fewer cars on the roads mean traffic

Peterchurch has announced its 'litter-free' status after more than two years of village litter-picks. Dedicated organisers have held several community litter-picks to remove historical rubbish, as well as more recent litter, and they've collected more than 650kg. "We have cleared every verge, ditch and hedge as well as cleaned streets on a weekly basis," said group organiser Graham Cox. After raising the issue of rural litter with Herefordshire Council they decided to take the issue into community hands. "That scientists have found plastic in once thought pristine environments across the world, and even in the placentas of new born babies, should be a warning to us all," he said. Well done to the Golden Valley litter-pickers!