Herefordshire Rural Hub CIC is a business support organisation for farming and rural businesses across Herefordshire.  Established in 2005, the Hub has grown from strength to strength and now has a reach to over 1,500 rural businesses.

Herefordshire Rural Hub has a history of being able to ‘pull’ support organisations together to work as a network for the greater good of the local businesses and farming community.  The Hub can give access to business development opportunities and keeps businesses and individuals up to date with information on events, funding opportunities, and rules & regulations.

Herefordshire Rural Hub newsletter 3 (Mar16)

What is Neighbourhood Planning?

Neighbourhood planning is a key part of the Localism Act. It is a process of determining and documenting the needs of our villages over the coming 20 years. This process requires consultation with residents and stakeholders as well as recognising the requirements of the Herefordshire Local Core Strategy 2011 to 2031.

The villages here are those covered by the Wigmore Group Parish – namely

• Wigmore
• Leinthall Starkes
• Elton
• Pipe Aston

What has been happening so far?

In these villages an initial paper survey has been conducted to gather residents views on a number of topics and  a draft neighbourhood plan has been published.

Wigmore Third Draft Neighbourhood Plan 25.11.14

After further consultations with residents and other stakeholders and an independent assessment of any proposals, the parish council will present a proposed plan to the local authority. Once agreed this plan will be the subject of a local referendum for residents.

With a simple majority in the referendum the plan may then be adopted and will have the force of law supporting it.

Please use the following link to view and/or download the Mortimer Village News from February 2016:

Newsletter Feb 16

Approved Minutes of the Wigmore Group Parish Council – February 2016 meeting

Approved minutes WGPC – February 2016

A belated Happy New Year to you all. Although the weather has been very wet I am sure like me you are very pleased that we have had no snow and very few days when the roads were really icy. However I know a number of residents in Mortimer ward have experienced some flooding issues. Nationally this seems to be an ever increasing problem and I can’t imagine how awful it must be to have your property flooded.

The Council has set its budget for 2016/17 which will see at 3.9% increase in Council Tax excluding whatever increase is considered by the Fire, Police and Parish Council. The increase will provide £1.9% (£1.6m) to protect council services including safeguarding our vulnerable children and 2% (£1.7m) to alleviate the significantly rising costs of adult social care for the county’s higher than average ageing population and the additional difficulties encountered in delivering this service in very rural areas. The proposed increase will mean a rise of around £4 per month for those living in a band D property.

Since 2010/11 the Council has been required to deliver £59m of savings and by 2019/20 this will have risen to £87m and this has meant having to make some very difficult decisions on what the Council spends its money on and how it spends its money.

A consequence of this is that the money available to Balfour Beatty for road re-surfacing and dressing has been reduced and this may well mean that some of those roads which residents have requested by resurfaced, may not be in the programme for the coming financial year.

I would like to remind you that Hereford & Worcester Fire Service provide for the elderly, people living alone and those with reduced mobility a free of charge Home Fire Safety Check which involves a representative from the Service calling at your home to offer safety advice specific to your household and personal circumstances. To see if you qualify for this free service please do not hesitate to contact the Community Risk team on 0800 032 1155 quoting reference PN14.

A Service to Civvy Street booklet has been launched designed to provide information to ex-service personnel and their families and to help them navigate their way through healthcare, employment, housing etc. The booklet was funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Grant. Electronic link here.

As ever if you wish to contact me to discuss a particular matter or just a general chat do not hesitate to do so either by emailing carole.gandy@herefordshire.gov.uk or phoning on 01568 780583

Please click to download the agenda for the next meeting of Wigmore Group Parish Council
8 February 2016, 8pm at Wigmore Village Hall.

Final Agenda (2) – 8 February 2016

Herefordshire Rural Hub CIC is a business support organisation for farming and rural businesses across Herefordshire.  Established in 2005, the Hub has grown from strength to strength and now has a reach to over 1,500 rural businesses.

Herefordshire Rural Hub has a history of being able to ‘pull’ support organisations together to work as a network for the greater good of the local businesses and farming community.  The Hub can give access to business development opportunities and keeps businesses and individuals up to date with information on events, funding opportunities, and rules & regulations.

We hope that you will find the newsletter both interesting and informative.

Herefordshire Rural Hub newsletter 2 (Feb16)