Backing for city cycle hub

A planned £1.4 million cycling centre for Hereford should go ahead, officials say – but the final decision will rest with councillors at a planning meeting next week.

Lying within the city’s racecourse off Holmer Road, the Hereford Cycle Hub would cater for beginner cyclists up to competitive road racers and mountain bikers.

Its centrepiece will be a kilometre-long, six-metre-wide loop circuit, formed of three sub-loops. One full-size football pitch would be lost to the development.

The bid has the backing of British Cycling and Sports England, with Herefordshire Council and Hereford City Council also contributing to the cost.

However, Hereford Racecourse has objected, with concerns about the impact of the planned crossings over the course and the potential compacting of its surface, as well as over drainage and access.

But given the general support from other consultees inside and outside the council, and “the significant health and social wellbeing benefits that will result”, overall the scheme should go ahead, the council’s planning officer said.

But they recommended a condition requiring a landscape scheme to be first submitted and approved before work begins.

The public is entitled to attend the planning meeting, which will be held at 10am next Wednesday at Herefordshire Council’s office in Plough Lane, Hereford.