Edgar Street Grid Proposals

This week an exhibition featuring the plans of the three possible developers of the Edgar Street Grid is taking place at the Left Bank In Hereford.

Below is an edited article about these proposals taken from Edgar Street Grid Website (www.esgherefordshire.co.uk).

A vision of shopping in Hereford early in the next decade has been unveiled as the individual plans went on public view of the three short listed developers seeking to build the £200m Retail and Leisure Quarter on the old livestock market site.

An exhibition of the proposals, one of which will kick-start the £900m regeneration of Hereford when work starts in three years, opened at the Left Bank as part of the on-going public consultation process by ESG Herefordshire, which is co-ordinating the project on behalf of Herefordshire Council and the regional Government agency, Advantage West Midlands.

As well as making Hereford a top regional shopping destination to rival the likes of Worcester, Gloucester and Cheltenham, with a major department store and a Waitrose, the 12 acre site will come alive in the evenings as people flock to a new multi-screen cinema and family entertainment centre with lively bars and restaurants. A top class hotel, with up to 120 bedrooms and a conference centre, is also envisaged, overcoming the city’s lack of hotel rooms, and bringing in extra visitors.

The as yet unnamed shopping and leisure quarter, when it finally opens in 2012, will create up to 1,500 new jobs. More than 600 will be employed building it.

The three competing developers, Centros Miller, Modus and Stanhope, all currently involved in similar major redevelopment work around the country, are proposing to fill many of the gaps in shopping and leisure facilities that has led to Hereford losing trade to other towns. The development will also include 150-200 new homes, many affordable, and mostly built as apartments above the shops, with panoramic views over the city. One of the trio, Stanhope, is proposing a modern version of a traditional Market Hall, built of stone and oak beams, with shopping on the ground floor and the first floor as a showcase for local arts and crafts. The same team proposes small studio/workshops to help new businesses get started. Centros Miller has come up with the novel idea of creating a climbing wall on the outside of a new multi-storey car park, and, if chosen, would build an “amphitheatre and stage” in a new Central Square for open air performances. Their multi-storey car park would include a ‘cycle hub’ with changing and shower facilities for cyclists riding into work, or to shop.

Modus, in their proposals, would also build starter business units. A cluster of restaurants and wine bars would be included to further boost the aim of providing more leisure facilities for young people, and developing a new evening economy for the city.

Centros Miller wants to make its multi-storey car park a bright feature to relieve the dullness of Edgar Street. It would be built close to the football stadium, and one side of the ziggurat style park would be covered in natural greenery, and feature the sporty climbing wall, linked to a sports shop. Motorists passing on the A49 would be attracted by a ‘theatrical’ tower for people to exit the park, a perfect complement to The Courtyard on the other side of the street. Also, in their proposals, the defining building on the Edgar Street round-about corner is a hotel and conference centre, with undercroft car parking, entered via an eye-catching glass canopy. The cinema, in Centros Miller’s plan is located between the hotel and the Market Tavern, facing New Market Street. Modus also consider these to be the best locations for a hotel and cinema.

A top name department store is seen as the main anchor of the new shopping destination, and whilst it is too early to expect any to sign up, the likes of House of Fraser and Debenhams have shown interest. A large scale supermarket is not planned, but a more specialist food hall, especially one which would promote Herefordshire food and drink is envisaged, and Waitrose, well known for their support of local food producers, have indicated their interest in coming to Hereford. They already have stores in Monmouth, Abergavenny and Malvern.

Local materials, such as sandstone and oak, will feature widely in the new buildings and the architects will ‘borrow’ ideas from Hereford’s historical past to create iconic structures representing the 21st century. As one developer put it – ‘the rich tones of the city’s historic core has set the tone of our design.’

Following public consultation on the merits of each of the three schemes, ESG will announce the preferred developer early next year.

There are comments and photos on the ESG website.

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