One Public Estate

The OPE programme has part-funded feasibility studies for several projects across Herefordshire. These include:

Central Hereford - Co-location feasibility

• This project provided a joint front office for the Council and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), with potential further co-location of partner back offices. 
• The project is complete and created savings for Herefordshire Council and DWP.

Outer Hereford - Provision of student accommodation

• This was an investigation and feasibility study into the release of land to provide student and key worker housing to meet NHS and other needs. 
• The OPE programme funded part of the investigation and feasibility studies for these projects:
  • Station Approach: planning was approved for 175 units of accommodation for students of Hereford College of Arts and New Model in Technology & Engineering (NMiTE).  
  • The project commenced in August 2019; first student intake was in September 2021.
  • Flood Modelling: contribution to a wider study across known flood risk areas in Hereford City has fed into wider partnership proposed project delivery.

Leominster & Ross-on-Wye - Co-location of Police and Fire and redevelopment proposals

• Led by West Mercia Police, this project looked at the potential co-location of Police and Fire to release one site and enable a capital receipt and potential retail development.
• The OPE programme part-funded feasibility studies for this project.
• Feasibility work has been completed across all market towns and has fed into the work being undertaken by the Market Towns sub group.

Herefordshire Market Towns - One Town Review

• Review of all market towns
• The Market Towns sub group has been created to investigate options / opportunities within the market towns, which could include co-location, reduction of running costs, and potential disposal of land to create housing opportunities.
• Preliminary work has been undertaken through a desktop exercise.
  Further work is now taking place through the One Town Review to prioritise this to take into consideration the impact of the Covid19 pandemic.

Herefordshire Market Towns - Co-location of emergency services

• Led by West Mercia Police this project looked at the potential co-location of services to reduce running costs and release sites for development.
• Feasibility work regarding potential co-location of police and fire services has also been completed for Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury sites.  
• Co-location has taken place in Peterchurch.

Lionel Green Building, County Hospital

• A project led by Wye Valley NHS Trust to develop an outline business case
• Wye Valley Trust used OPE funding to scope and cost the allocation of office accommodation requirements in this building joining services together across the site .

Urban village

• Pre-feasibility, feasibility and master planning
• Feasibility work has commenced in some of the Urban village sites.
• The scope of the Urban Village project has been expanded to include the site at College Road, from the Royal National College for the Blind.

View a case study of our Development | Using public land to support housing delivery across Hereford on the LGA website.