Gritters and schools on council's spending list

A new fleet of gritters costing £1.4m is on site and ready to use, the council said

Gritters, housing and school improvements are among projects in Herefordshire taking a step forwards after spending milestones were announced.

Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Pete Stoddart, said the authority was investing in more than 100 projects in the county.

A £1.4m fleet of council gritters was on site and ready to use, five properties had been bought to house single homeless people and £1.2m was being invested on a programme to repair and modernise schools.

Last year, the authority faced a worsening overspend with council tax payers facing an increase of nearly 5%.

A contractor will be found as part of a scheme to transform Hereford’s museum and art gallery

Opposition councillors questioned spending on road schemes and raised concerns about a scheme to improve Hereford’s shop fronts.

After Mr Stoddart said a land agent had been appointed and a programme agreed to progress the southern section of a city bypass plan, Independent Cllr Liz Harvey questioned whether the council should be spending on large road infrastructure when it was unclear if these would be supported by the government.

Green Party group leader, Cllr Diana Toynbee, said take-up of a scheme to improve Hereford shopfronts had been low “because the threshold was set very high”.

“That’s been a wasted opportunity,” she said.

Other projects listed by Mr Stoddart included the installation of six new vehicle charging points in Leominster.

He said the design stage of the city’s Shirehall library and learning centre was nearing completion and the project remained on track to open in October 2026.

Meanwhile, a construction contractor will be found as part of a scheme to transform Hereford’s museum and art gallery.

A design team has also been appointed to progress plans for an enterprise park in Ross-on-Wye.