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Search the Public Notice PortalA Hereford FC fans’ representative has added his voice to concerns over the redevelopment of the city’s Merton Meadow, now underway next to the club’s Edgar Street ground.
“There will be an impact on car parking at the ground in the medium term,” according to Richard Tomkins, chairman of Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) which remains true to the club’s old name.
The trust’s surveys show that when supporters park in Merton Meadow to attend home games, “around 60 per cent bring other people with them, who typically go off shopping, so bringing money into the city”.
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“If that dissipates, who knows what will happen,” Mr Tomkins said.
Within the sixth-tier National League North, the club’s average home gate last season of 2,826 was more than twice the league’s average, and second only to now-promoted Scunthorpe United.
“The car parks are well-used, especially for the bigger gates, which is revenue for the council,” he said.
The “truck and coach park” at Merton Meadows, now closed in order to be turned into a floodwater attenuation pond, has been full of matchday cars including this season, fan photographs show.
“We rarely get a lot of visiting supporters, maybe 50-100 unless it’s Kidderminster or Telford,” Mr Tomkins said.
“But a lot of home fans drive to matches. Only about 50 per cent are from the city, the rest are from elsewhere in the county, or neighbouring counties.”
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Mr Tomkins, who has followed the club through its ups and downs for 60 years, said its Edgar Street ground “has always been at the centre of the city”.
“The fact that it rents the ground off the county council has saved the club during several crises,” he added. “The council is obliged to provide the county with facilities, not sell them.”
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However, Herefordshire Council announced at the end of 2023 it was giving Hereford FC a new long-term lease on the ground, which Cabinet member Coun Harry Bramer said would “give the club the security they need to grow and develop in the years ahead”.
Meanwhile the council’s consultation on the redevelopment of Merton Meadow finished at the end of August.
The current flood alleviation work in and around the car parks will “pave the way for an environmentally led transformation of the area”, bringing “up to 400 new homes”, it said.
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