ESG and Hereford United

The latest Edgar Street Grid newsletter features an article on Hereford United.

HUFC has played on the Edgar Street ground since 1924. Plans to move the ground to an out of town site were abandoned before ESG Herefordshire was formed - basically because a move was not financially viable. ESG also believes that having the football ground in the heart of the city centre is a good thing as an important part of the local community.

ESG is responsible for the redevelopment of the 100 acre area, and the football ground is part of this. However, ESG's role varies from actually leading some projects to helping others through the planning process. In the case of the football ground it is the latter.

The company has encouraged Richardson Developments (who lease the ground from Herefordshire Council) and the football club to put forward for discussion proposals for ground improvements. Ideas tabled by us include housing, leisure, ancillary retail and community based activity. ESG has offered to broker a land swap at the Meadow End to make that area more developable, and led discussions between Richardsons and Sanctuary Housing about how best to develop the Meadow End where the ground will abut the Urban Village. We do want to see the ground redeveloped but have no public money to subsidise such plans.

ESG has limited funds carefully allocated to alleviating flooding, building new roads and infrastructure, and buying land. If alternative funding sources could be found to develop the football ground ESG would be delighted, but the responsibility for taking this forward rests with the leaseholders.

Plans to construct a road alongside the ground from the new link road to the old livestock market site have now been amended so that immediately to the east of the ground there will remain a more informal space for pedestrians and vehicles on match days. Discussions are currently underway for a higher education facility to be developed to the east of this, on the existing NCP car park and former garage, further improving the setting of the ground.

For those concerned about car parking on match days, once Merton Meadow car park is no longer available due to the construction of the first phase of the link road, the current livestock market site will be resurfaced and used as a temporary car park until the multi-storey car park is built on part of this site. Car parking will be available for about 1000 cars.

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