Hereford charity plans expansion to store wigs

A Hereford charity that supplies wigs to children being treated for cancer is expanding to meet demand.

The Little Princess Trust in Berrington Street is seeking planning permission (application 251619) to convert two buildings at the nearby 12 Little Berrington Street to house “several thousand” of its wigs.

The currently derelict site was previously home to Hereford Radiators, which relocated within the city some time ago.

The new plan proposes reusing a two-storey brick building while replacing an adjacent single-storey workshop with a new pitched-roof extension.

The two would be of brick on the ground floor with grey composite cladding on the upper floor, echoing the trust’s main building.

Its application says its proposal “will enhance the site, the streetscape and the wider conservation area setting”.

Its chief executive Phil Brace said: “The need for the Little Princess Trust’s wig provision services has increased over the past few years and we are now helping more children with hair loss due to cancer treatment than ever before.”

If approved, the new building would “reduce storage costs and improve efficiencies” and “breathe new life into an underused site in Hereford city centre”, he said.

A previous application to convert the buildings to a cafe and motorbike workshop was approved in 2018 but never implemented.

Comments on the current application can be made until July 17.