Hereford United and the Edgar Street Grid

Jonathan Bretherton, the chief executive of ESG (Edgar Street Grid) Herefordshire Ltd, has confirmed that the Hereford United football ground is not moving.

In a interview given to Bulls News Bretherton has also said that although parking spaces at Merton Meadow will be reduced they will be increased elsewhere in the area.

Firstly he was asked whether he was happy with the composition of the ESG board bearing in mind there was no one on the board connected with Hereford United football club.

"Although Charles Ingleby (one of the board members - ed) doesn't list it, I happen to know that he's a keen follower of Wolves whilst our Chairman (Clive Richards OBE - ed) is very involved in the sporting world, but with different shaped balls! We are tasked with redeveloping a massive area and whilst I absolutely agree with the importance of the club, we simply can't claim expertise in everything so in answer to your question, yes I'm very happy to have such a high quality board."

Asked if the football ground would stay where it is, Mr Bretherton replied:

"Yes. I believe that football grounds should stay in city centres wherever possible because they are an important part of the community and, having worked in football-mad cities (Glasgow, Newcastle and Sunderland) I like the feel it brings on matchdays, especially when the home team wins!"

It was then put to him that given the recent news that the main building work will not commence for about 4 years, was there a possibility that work at the football stadium could be allowed to start before the rest of the project. Some of the work is quite urgent especially as regards catering and toilet facilities.

"Yes, and I agree that some of this is urgent and there's no reason from my point of view why facilities can't be improved-they certainly need it. I would love to see early progress on redevelopment, and will do what I can to help-but any major changes must be in the best interest of the city. What I mean by that is that there is a big difference between replacing worn-out facilities which can happen quickly and far larger-scale redevelopment which needs to be carefully evaluated and fit in with the bigger picture."

It looks as though there will be a reduction in parking spaces in the Merton Meadow car park. Is that wise given that it is regularly full on match days?

"We will be promoting significant increases in car parking numbers within
the ESG area, but they will be concentrated in multi-storey rather than
sprawling surface car parks which take up too much land and look
terrible."

The Richardsons appear to be the lead developers, certainly as far as the football club are concerned. Speculation suggests that a deal between the Richardsons and Hereford United would be in the best interests of the club as the repayment of the 'debt' owed to the Richardsons by the club would be included in any deal. If the two parties wanted to go ahead before the Grid plans were ready would this be a problem? Could ESG Ltd stop any such development going ahead.

"The Richardsons will have a big part to play in the redevelopment of the ground and I hope that we can see this happen quickly. In answer to your question, I don't speak for the Council, which owns the ground, or the planning authority which will decide whether development gets approved or not, but I have no doubt that our board's views will be sought. I look forward to seeing some proposals that we can all get behind."

To keep up with all the Edgar Street Grid news please go to www.esgherefordshire.co.uk.

---