A county council has paid just under £2m for a West Midlands trading estate. The purchase of the 21-unit site also unlocks access to an adjoining plot already earmarked for industrial development.
The Herefordshire county authority has already confirmed it is funding the acquisition of Hereford’s Three Elms trading estate — from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) — with cash now available from the repayment of loans.
Originally owned by the now defunct regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, the seven-acre site was to be used to re-locate businesses from the town’s Edgar Street area under the organisation’s Hereford Futures project. It then passed to the HCA which offered it to the County Council.
Last October the estate was valued at between £1.75 and £1.85m. Explaining its bid the authority said that if it purchased the land after the repayment of prudential borrowing, the council would have a site for “major economic development” with the potential to generate “significant surplus income” to contribute to its overall budget position.
The sale price was £1.75 million and council cabinet member for contracts and assets, Harry Bramer, told the Hereford Times that taking control of the site was “firmly aligned” with his authority’s economic growth agenda.
“We have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to develop Hereford’s core with the development of Old Market, to achieve Enterprise Zone status for Rotherwas Industrial Estate, and to construct the City Link Road.
“The purchase of Three Elms complements the efforts made so far to focus on a prosperous future for the city,” he added.
There are currently 14 businesses trading from the Three Elms estate, ranging from coach hire company Yeomans Canyon Travel, Twyford Cookers, trade tool retailer Hereford Industrial Supplies and lubricant manufacturer and supplier, D A Stuart.
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