Hereford & district · Local news you can trust
Herefordshire can show only 2.81 years of housing land against a five-year rule, down from 3.11. What it changes for planning, and the sites that dropped out.
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Road safety
A4137 Marstow Crash: Police Want Sunday Dashcam Footage
A motorcyclist was seriously hurt at 5.40pm on Sunday. West Mercia wants dashcam footage, and our own DfT figures show the A4137 five-year record.
Hereford bypass
Hereford Bypass Costs Rise: Re-tender Now an Option
Cabinet's 24 September report says design changes have pushed costs up and much of £3.5m in planned savings is unachievable. Re-tendering is now a formal option.
Herefordshire Council
Herefordshire Council Budget: £11.6m Overspend Forecast
Herefordshire is forecasting an £11.6m overspend on its £234.1m budget three months in, and the reserve built to absorb exactly this is down to £1m.
Mental health
Hereford Pubs Get 20,000 Suicide Prevention Beer Mats
Herefordshire Mind has put 20,000 beer mats into over 40 Hereford pubs, bars and clubs, with a flowchart showing staff how to help someone in crisis.
Herefordshire Council
Lugwardine A438 Overtaking Ban: £439k Works Already Awarded
Lugwardine's £398,792 traffic calming contract, overtaking limits included, was signed off in July. Objections to the A438 overtaking ban close 18 September.
Schools
Peterchurch Primary School Opens £10m New Building
Pupils moved in on 7 September, and capacity rises from 105 to 140. The decision that funded it also promised an 8-place SEN Nurture Hub from this month.
Roads
Hereford Transport Hub Bus-Only Plan: Object by 2 Oct
A draft order advertised on 10 September would ban cars from the new Transport Hub access road off the A465. Objections close at noon on Friday 2 October.
Hereford bypass
Hereford Bypass: Contract Vote Off, Paths Shut 14 Sept
Cabinet is no longer being asked to award the bypass contract. The decision is now an update, moved to 24 September, and four footpaths shut on 14 September.
Schools
Herefordshire Secondary School Places: Apply by 31 October
Applications for September 2027 opened on 7 September and close at midnight on 31 October. Five county schools took more first choices than they had places.
Bonfire Night
Hereford Fireworks 2026: Sat 7 Nov, Adult Tickets £8.50
Hereford Racecourse fireworks are Saturday 7 November 2026, gates 5pm. Early bird has ended: £8.50 adult, £6.50 child until the day, then £10. No sparklers.
Christmas
Hereford Christmas Lights 2026: No Date Yet, Likely 15 Nov
Hereford's 2026 switch-on is not announced and the city council's page still shows 2025. It has fallen on the third Sunday of November four years running.
Christmas
Hereford Christmas Market 2026: Six Dates From 4 December
Herefordshire Council has published the 2026 dates: three Fridays and three Sundays in High Town and Commercial Street, 4 to 20 December, with 30 to 40 stalls.
Herefordshire is one council, one county and very little else in between. Hereford is the only city and holds about a third of the population. Leominster, Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Kington are the market towns, and the rest is farmland, orchards and villages spread thinly right up to the Welsh border.
Hereford Today reports what the record shows across all of it. Herefordshire Council has been a unitary authority since 1998, so planning, bins, roads, licensing, council tax, schools and social care all sit with the same body, and there is nobody else to pass the question to. It publishes the evidence for its decisions where almost nobody reads it. We read it and write down what it says, with a link to the document every time.
Every fact links to the document it came from.