Herefordshire's market towns each play a critical role in the county's economy as focal points for employment, retail, tourism, leisure, culture, business investment and growth, and for housing and access to services.
We have supported each of the five market towns - Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye - to create Market Town Economic Development Investment Plans.
Each town council worked with an independent consultancy and local stakeholders to develop their plan.
The investment plan for each market town sets out:
- A vision for growth
- Opportunities for economic development
- Potential investment projects to deliver the plan
It also includes a breakdown of likely sources of investment such as funding from:
- Herefordshire Council
- Grant opportunities
- External institutions
The investment plans set out the reasons and evidence for how each project will help the economic development of the town. It prioritises the activity needed for economic growth.
This will provide the basis for seeking and winning grant funding for key projects.
We will use the investment plans to work with the towns and community-led grant applications. We have also allocated £20.6million of funds in the capital programme to support the development of employment land and business incubation space.
The Market Town Investment Plans were approved at Cabinet on 31 March 2022: