Official Hereford bypass vote records revealed

County councillor Bob Matthews, who said he voted to cancel the Hereford bypass, says he was “shocked and surprised” to find official records show he actually abstained.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can now reveal the council data which shows how councillors voted in the crucial debate earlier this year.

The public had no way of knowing how each councillor voted when Herefordshire Council decided to drop the western bypass and southern link road projects from its capital programme in February.

Council officers said at the time that, because there had not been a named vote, there was no way of telling how each elected member voted in the crunch online meeting.

The council initially said they had no record of councillor votes and so the LDRS asked how they voted on the day and subsequently published the results.

On the day, a total of 27 councillors voted to axe the schemes, while 19 voted against and six abstained.

However, a total of 30 councillors told the LDRS they voted to ditch the schemes, while 17 said they voted against, four councillors either declined to say or did not respond. And only one councillor said they abstained.

But now council officers say they have been able to access the data which was logged on the electronic voting software and it shows how each of the elected members voted.

True Independents leader Bob Matthews, who had told the LDRS that his group voted in favour of axing the road scheme, actually abstained according to the data.

He said his clear intention was to vote to cancel the road project and was “shocked and surprised” that an abstention was recorded.

The records also show a mix of votes for, against and abstentions among his group of councillors.

When asked about these discrepancies, he said his understanding at the time was that his councillors had voted to stop the western bypass as they had agreed in a group meeting prior to the full council meeting.

“It came as quite a shock to me when I read that I was recorded as abstained whilst voting in response to the recommendation to stop the western bypass at the council meeting of February 2, 2021,” coun Matthews said.

“All members will recall that I spoke strongly in favour of the administration’s recommendations to stop both the western bypass and southern link road.

“I supported an amendment to provide a serviceable link between the A465 and the A49, in the form of upgrading Heywood Lane to help alleviate some of the congestion and pollution within the built-up area of Newton Farm.

“I have been responsible for both the Credenhill and Newton Farm wards during the past few months and I have played a lead role in opposing the western bypass for the past 10 years, or more.

“While I was leader of the Herefordshire Independents at the last election, the group successfully gained 12 new seats which brought about a change of administration.

“Without these seats, the Western Bypass would have been well under construction by now.

“I have always supported an eastern bypass, which I firmly believe would be far more beneficial for the local economy and our emergency services.

“This is a view also held by many local business leaders.

“I am absolutely confident that members and my constituents are well aware that I would never support a western nypass. As the public record will show, my views in this regard have been clear for many years.

“On the day of the Hereford Transport Strategy debate, a meeting that was held virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19 health emergency, I was experiencing some technical difficulties.

“It was my clear intention to place my vote ‘for’ the recommendation, so it was with some shock and surprise that an ‘abstention’ was recorded.

“If I had been aware of this error at the time, I would have alerted the chairperson to ask for the opportunity to correct the mistake.

“Unfortunately, this error was not discovered until now and cannot be rectified.

“Thankfully, it made no difference to the result of the vote.”

Below is the official record of how councillors voted: