Councillor says why he abstained from bypass vote

One of the councillors who had not responded to the Local Democracy Reporting Service’s enquiries over the Hereford bypass vote has now come forward.

Herefordshire Council voted to cancel the proposed bypass west of the city at an extraordinary full council meeting on February 2.

A total of 27 councillors voted to stop the progress of the southern link road and western bypass schemes while 19 voted against and six abstained.

However, councillors did not call for a recorded vote and there was no way of knowing how each elected member voted on the issue.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked all 52 who took part in the debate how they cast their vote.

Ross East councillor Paul Symonds did not initially respond when asked.

However, he now says he voted for the unsuccessful amendment put foward by councillors Jim Kenyon and Bob Matthews which would have allowed members a separate say on the southern link road and Hereford bypass projects.

And he abstained in the subsequent vote to cancel both projects.

The Liberal Democrat councillor says he apologises for not responding sooner.

Coun Symonds said that he abstained because he felt the western bypass was the best option for Hereford but the environmental impact also needed to be considered.

“I supported the amendment but abstained from the main item in the end because, whilst I felt it would undoubtedly be the best option for Hereford, the climate change argument is hard to ignore in terms of the carbon footprint of building a bypass,” he said.

“In hindsight, the money will just get spent on another road building project in which case I’d rather have it benefiting Herefordshire, so I should have stuck with my original position of supporting the bypass, though this would not have changed the outcome of the vote of course.”