Uttingly Ridiculous and the NWA?

12th FEB 2025

Read all about it! Read all about it!
Ross Gazette. Get your Ross Gazette.
“Kitten Stuck in Tree for 7 hours”.
Read all about it.
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Once again the Ross Gazette is flying off the shelves in its 100s with its front page “Kitten Stuck In Tree for 7 hours”. Sorry. No. That’s page’s two, three and four. Ahem…. yes, here it is, the front page, the much less exciting “Town Centre Pedestrian Study Gets Under Way”….
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Going by local chatterboards on Facebook, news in the last few months that £25,000 is to be spent on a pedestrianisation study was something that already did not go down well. Why? Who knows, but many people have seemed to dismiss the idea of pedestrianisation with what can only be described as somewhere between anger and a serious allergic reaction.
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Of course, as per the Ross Gazette’s reporting, in this week’s council meeting Cllr Julian Utting pointed out that consultants wandering around Ross in the week were just doing a pre-feasibility study for a feasibility study. He said when the various options have been put forward from the pre-feasibility study then these will then go out for public consultation, which is probably the actual feasibility study, something like that. Cllr Utting went on that “no funding has been allocated - “at this stage we don’t know if any proposal will help with any regeneration of Ross or not”.

It was at this point that smelling salts were issued to those present to try bring people round.
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Keen-eyed readers of the local rag’s front page will have noticed the wording under the image of the Market House “the exterior of the Market House could be terraced as part of the proposal to pedestrianise the town”. Christ, not this again. Is this an idea that Cllr Utting keeps trying to resuscitate? He’s certainly brought it up before. Well, perhaps Ross has put up with it’s pesky slopes too long now. There was a rumour Cllr Utting was seen in said meeting wearing a red baseball cap with Times Roman all-caps lettering reading ‘MAKE ROSS FLAT AGAIN’.
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Is the prospect (not that prospect) of terracing outside the market house a ridiculous idea? Would it enhance or deface the sandstone centrepiece? - you decide - and let’s face it you probably already have!
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You might also note that in the Ross Gazette it mentions that the Consulting firm, errm, what’s the word? - Consulted(!) with representatives from the Ross Tourism Association. Um? Now would that include ex-councillor and Chair at the centre of that, one Caroline Utting?
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Could these two people be connected in any way? Lord knows, but if they were to be husband and wife, their sphere of influence would appear to be all over Ross, covering the council, Ross CDT, CreateRoss, and Friends of St Marys. Saying that, they wouldn’t be the only dynamic duo to be all over the town, Cllr Chris Bartrum and his partner Jane Roberts have their fingers in a lot of pies too, the council, the county council, Ross CDT.
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Oh well, volunteering is nice work if you can get it, it feels good, and the kinds of people who do it would never have any controlling agenda, oh no. Although there was once a rumour the council was looking for three quotes for some “Welcome to Ed O’Driscoll’s Ross-on-Wye” signs to be placed on major routes into the town - but that was likely just bollocks.
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It’s not like there’s a Hot Fuzz-esque, hooded-gowned team incorporating the NWA (Neighbourhood Watch Alliance) that meets in the churchyard to decide the future of Ross-on-Wye, that would look down or frown upon anyone who doesn’t fit the desired profile or toe the line, invested in the ‘greater good’ ….‘the greater good’ - (click to watch the classic Hot Fuzz clip).
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Let’s leave it there.
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Here’s one final treat though, just for those who like to headbutt walls… from the Ross-on-Wye Investment Plan all the way back in 2021, on the very same subject:
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Project:
Market House and Plaza Apron.

Summary:
To renovate the 17th Century Market House via one of 2 options:
- to ‘glass in’ the ground floor of the Market House
- to seek Herefordshire Council’s permission to terrace the Market Apron and create a central focus to the Town Centre.

Provisional budget:
£1.5 million.

…..right, anyone need an ice pack for their forehead?