More than £80k to fix Hereford shopping centre’s leaky roof

A contract worth £87,220 has been awarded to fix the leaking roof of Hereford’s Maylord Orchards shopping centre.

Herefordshire Council announced it has given the work to Central Roofing & Building Services, which has a Hereford office, following a competitive tender.

Last March the previous council administration agreed to capital spending of £1.1 million by next year on a programme of repairs to the city-centre building, of which £450,000 was for “replacement of flat roof finishes and associated upstands, flashings, rainwater goods etc”.

The need to replace its flat roof “is demonstrated by ongoing leaks”, given that previous patch repairs “have been unsuccessful and water ingress is damaging tenanted areas”, the council said at the time.

The latest award covers phase two of the roofing work.

Other agreed spending on the council-owned building includes £250,000 on its street frontages, £150,000 on rewiring and £95,000 on new more efficient internal LED lighting.

Meanwhile the council has declined to reveal the cost of its decision not to proceed with converting part of Maylord into a new library and learning resource centre for the county.

Its chief executive Paul Walker told the Hereford Stronger Towns Board in November that the council would meet “any aborted costs” in relation to the Maylord site, following its decision ro relocate the project to the city’s Shirehall instead.

But in response to a freedom of information request asking how much these sums would amount to, the council said: “We are currently in discussions with the appointed contractor to finalise their abortive costs.

“These negotiations are commercial in confidence at this stage.”