I read with interest the cabinet member for infrastructure’s allegations with regard to the Hereford southern lnk road (SLR) project, specifically that procurement and planning issues were not dealt with properly by the previous administration.

I was left wondering where he obtained this dubious information.

If it was passed to him by council officers, you may well ask if this same information was also passed to the previous holder of this office prior to the elections last May. 

If not, one must assume it was hearsay evidence, no doubt passed on by his It's Our County or Green Party colleagues, as a number of them have always been anti bypass devotees.

It should be remembered that this particular cabinet member had no experience of life in local government prior to the election, so it’s unlikely he would have come to these conclusions by way of his own previous understanding of these challenging subjects.

This particular cabinet post is an extremely difficult and arduous one and is usually awarded to very experienced councillors who have shown a high degree of ability in these matters and who can be relied upon to counter the often-vitriolic comments from opposition councillors and the public.

In the meantime, the Marches LEP has apparently withdrawn its offer of £27m to part-fund the SLR project, and a decision has still not been made on the future of the actual bypass.

With the withdrawal of the LEP from the scenario, the council administration will no doubt blame it for the failure to build the SLR, which would have become part of the actual A49 bypass and a vital new bridge over the River Wye.

If this administration continues to prevaricate in this way, no doubt resulting in yet more money being wasted, the result of the local elections in 2023 could be very interesting!

Bruce Baker
Sutton St Nicholas

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