Local MP Jesse Norman, who has led the campaign to Clean Up the River Wye for over three years, has today hailed the publication of the Government's new Action Plan for the River Wye.

The government has pledged £35m to help clean up the River Wye. The cash comes after years of campaigning and legal action taken by conservation groups, who say the pollution from agriculture is “killing the river”.

It is a rare moment when cash and opportunity come together. We now have a colossal potential long term win before us. And we are in danger of missing it, badly.
 

As I write, we have just had the brilliant news that Herefordshire has been allocated nearly £102 million from the government's new Local Transport Fund, set up after the cancellation of HS2 Phase 2.

Jesse Norman has expressed his delight at the news last week that his historical novel The Winding Stair has won the 2024 Fiction/Non-fiction Parliamentary Book Award at a ceremony in the Palace of Westminster.

I write to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of Sir Colin Shepherd, who has recently passed away, shortly after his 86th birthday. 

Helping to place an elderly woman with dementia in a suitable local care home. Getting a driving licence for a lady who had been isolated in a rural location for five months waiting for DVLA to respond. Arranging suitable compensation for constituents cut off without water for almost a week.

George Orwell once brilliantly remarked that “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”

Our new local university project, NMITE, continues to go from strength to strength.