From solar lighting on a bridge to creating a town square using coloured tarmac – some of the ideas of how £200,000 could be spent in Kington

The town has a chance to claim £200,000 of public realm funding for work to the town’s pavements, road surfaces and signage.

Councillors were told last month that Balfour Beatty, Herefordshire Council’s contractors will work with the town council on the project but the money will need to be spent by the end of March 2026, so the timing is tight.

A working group made up of Kington Mayor Councillor Philip Sell, Deputy Mayor Councillor Martin Woolford and Councillors Esther Rolls and Bob Widdowson was immediately set up and they met and came up with four ideas.

At a meeting on Monday, Deputy Mayor Councillor Woolford said although the funding would cover work to the toilets the group did not think that work could be completed by the deadline of the end of March 2026.

So he said they had come up with other projects.

One idea would be to complete the renovation of the pavements along Mill Street, Church Street and Bridge Street. 

This work started when money was made available after Covid and the town council used it to re-surface the high streets and replace the pavements.

A second project would be to create some road calming areas on Church Street and Victoria Road, by putting in chicanes to narrow the carriageway rather than speed bumps to slow it down.

The third idea is to place solar lighting on the bridge on Bridge Street as members felt it is quite dark there and the fourth project would be to change the colour of the tarmac around the Market Hall to create a town square and slow the traffic down.

Councillor Woolford said the town council had submitted all of the ideas to Herefordshire Council by the deadline of October 3.

He said the council was meeting with Herefordshire Council officers this week at the sites to discuss the proposals.

“We have the potential of £200,000 of funding and we did not want to miss the opportunity and we want to get as many of the projects done as possible.”

Members noted the report.