Bromyard Councillor Bernard Hunt says a plan to support a change in management of the Bromyard Downs is “slap in the face” for the current guardians.
But The Bromyard Downs User Group, an opposition group who have campaigned against management of the downs for a number of years, say Cllr Hunt’s views do not represent the majority. The long-running dispute over the issue was ignited again last week when town councillors opted to appoint four representatives to take part in consultation talks over the future of the Downs’ management with Herefordshire Council.
The Town Council have publicly supported recommendations for the creation of a franchised management group consisting of members from several local bodies. But Cllr Hunt says the recommendations are “flawed” and that removing the power from the current guardians, The Bromyard Downs Management Committee, would be a mistake.
He said: “I’m very disappointed. This flawed town council statement, which I hope will not be implemented by Herefordshire Council, would mean that the Downs’ management would not be as good again. It’s a slap in the face to the people of Brockhampton, Linton and Norton because it says they cannot be trusted to look after the Downs despite fifty years of dedicated and loving care.”
Cllr Hunt, who acts as an observer at the Downs’ Committee meetings, has prepared a report into the proposals in which he says he the Management Committee should remain in charge. He states: “To do anything else would lower standards, damage local morale and undermine work done in the past and the future and prosperity of this much loved wildlife area.”
But Roger Steeds from the Bromyard The Downs User Group says the “closed culture” of the Management Committee is unacceptable and Cllr Hunt’s views are not widely held. He said: “He is no more knowledgeable than anybody else and he is putting forward a view to which nobody in particular agrees. For him to claim to represent Bromyard town is a travesty of the truth.”
