The Stronger Hereford Board wants £2.34m pulled from the Shire Hall library. The council says it decides, and is pressing on with new designs and a mezzanine.

The board that controls Hereford’s Towns Fund money has recommended pulling £2.34m from the plan to move the city’s library into Shire Hall. Herefordshire Council says the final decision is its own, and it is pressing ahead with new designs.

The two sides set out their positions in separate statements this month.

What the board decided

The Stronger Hereford Board is the independent body that oversees the city’s £22.4m from the government’s Towns Fund. It published its decision on 15 October.

The statement says that on 2 October the board decided to recommend that its further contribution to the Shirehall Library “should not proceed”. It gives two reasons:

  • concern about “the project’s current viability”
  • a “lack of assurance of its ability to meet the Government’s funding timetable”

It wants the £2.34m moved to other eligible projects across Hereford. Its £2.32m for Hereford Museum and Art Gallery (HMAG) stays committed, “with progress to be monitored closely”.

Abigail Appleton, the board’s chair, said the recommendation came “only after very careful consideration of the current position, risks and timelines we need to meet”.

The board says it “remains open to considering a revised Shirehall Library scheme”.

What the council says

Herefordshire Council answered on Friday 30 October, in an update on both buildings. It said it had “acknowledged the Board’s recommendation and the views expressed”.

But it added that it “remains the accountable body for the programme”. Decisions on the projects, it said, “will be made through the council’s established governance arrangements and ongoing discussions with funding partners”. The board’s own statement agrees that the council decides whether to take the recommendation forward.

The council says it is due to meet government officials in early November. On the agenda: the revised proposals, the funding and the steps needed to move them forward.

How the plans have changed

The council describes its revised designs as stripping out decades of false walls, suspended ceilings and partitions in both buildings.

At Shire Hall, the 19th century building by Sir Robert Smirke, the council says:

  • the library would go into Court Room Two and the areas around it
  • a mezzanine floor is planned to make use of the court room’s height
  • wider works would stabilise the building
  • the Assembly Hall and Court Room One could come back into use “in later phases”, subject to funding, planning and approvals

At the museum on Broad Street, the council says it is “exploring” a street-level café at the front, and galleries redesigned to use more natural light.

Both schemes, it says, still need detailed design, listed building consent where required, confirmed funding and council approval.

How much has already been spent

In January 2024 the board voted to back moving the library to Shire Hall rather than Maylord Orchards. That vote put £3m of the Towns Fund towards it.

In August the council gave the spending so far:

  • about £600,000 of Towns Fund money on the library project
  • about £2.6m on the museum project

It said the money had gone on design, surveys, technical investigations and professional advice.

Bar chart of Stronger Hereford Towns Fund money for two Hereford projects. Library: about £0.6m spent by August 2026, and £2.34m the board now wants moved to other projects. Museum and Art Gallery: about £2.6m spent by August 2026, and £2.32m still committed.
Chart by Hereford Today. Sources: Herefordshire Council, 4 August 2026; Stronger Hereford Board, 15 October 2026.
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The same August update said both schemes had been hit by “long-standing structural issues, construction cost inflation, rising delivery costs” and other problems. The council’s latest update gives no date for building work to start on either.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. The board has made a recommendation, not a final decision. The council has to decide whether to accept it.
  • If the money moves, the council would need to find another way to pay for the library, or change the scheme. The board says it would look at a revised one.
  • The museum’s Towns Fund money is safe for now, but the board says it will watch progress closely.
  • The council says it will share the designs with community groups once they are further refined. It has not given a date.

For other big schemes in the city, see our Hereford planning news page.

Sources