Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision on the A4103 at Much Cowarne in which a motorcyclist sustained fatal injuries. The collision happened on Friday, 2nd May outside Fir Tree Garage at 11.13am. Two vehicles were involved; a blue Range Rover headed towards Worcester and a silver and yellow Aprillia travelling in the opposite direction.

The motorcycle rider, Mr Ainsley Smith, aged 17 from Breinton Road in Hereford, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. He died as a result of his injuries in the early hours of Saturday. The male driver and a passenger from the Range Rover were uninjured in the collision.

An inquest into Mr Smith’s death is expected to opened and adjourned today (Tuesday) by the Herefordshire Coroner. Police collision examiners began an immediate investigation into the collision. The road was closed in both directions with diversions in place, reopening at around 6pm.

A number of witnesses have already been spoken to, but police investigating the collision would like to hear from anyone else who saw it happen or saw either vehicle travelling along the A4103 immediately beforehand.

Anyone with information should contact PC Steve Wood at the Hereford Roads Policing Unit on 08457 444888.

Local parliamentary candidate Jesse Norman has issued a strong call for all concerned to support Hereford United FC in seeking to rebuild the stadium at Edgar Street.

Speaking after the Bulls' promotion parade and civic reception, he said, 'What a fantastic day - just what the team and club deserved after such a great season. The Mayor and City and County Councils have done very well to organize this event with HUFC on such short notice. Now we need to take that civic energy and shared resolve and use it to help the club to rebuild the stadium at Edgar Street within the new Edgar Street Grid.

Next year we will have the likes of Leicester City and Bristol Rovers visiting the ground, and we need to show them and other First Division teams that we are on the move as a city as well as a football club. With grant funding as well as private sector money potentially available, there is a huge opportunity here to make something happen if we can get all the parties round the table.'

The new Museum on the Move will be launched on Tuesday, May 6 at The Courtyard Theatre in Hereford. This brand new, purpose-built exhibition space on wheels replaces the old purple one which has toured Herefordshire and Shropshire for the past 10 years.

Climate change is the theme of the exhibition on board the Museum on the Move and it will look at how the world has changed from before the age of dinosaurs up to the present day, finally focusing on The Gambia, an entire country at threat from flooding. For the launch, local musician Pedro Brown will have taught 10 pupils from Lord Scudamore School the techniques of Gambian drumming, using his own Gambian drums. The pupils will be giving two presentations of drumming at the launch, which starts at 11am.

The exhibition on board is an exciting, hands-on one. Visitors will be able to find out the effect of climate change on giant cockroaches, mammoths, puffins and humans and what they can do to slow down the process. Visitors will also be able to sit under a mango tree and experience the sounds of Africa, go fishing in a Silurian sea, study slides under a microscope, watch debates on climate change on the computer and open drawers to discover more.

The Museum on the Move exists to go out to communities who might not otherwise have access to the museum service and is also very popular with schools. Its exterior design, with the logo 'Route to discovery' has been chosen to reflect some of the things in the museums' collections, including a silhouette of the famous Herefordshire bull!

A Herefordshire Council has published population forecasts for the county to 2026, which show that the county's population of older people will continue to grow, while the number of children is expected to decline until 2016, before stabilising at this lower level.

Herefordshire Council's research team produces projections and forecasts of the future resident population of the county of Herefordshire. These are based on Office for National Statistics estimates and take account of nationally predicted trends in fertility, mortality and migration, as well as the likely number of new houses in the county.

The results are used to help plan for the future, to make sure there are the right levels of services for different groups in the population.

Key results from the newly published 2006-based principal population forecasts suggest that the total population in 2026 will have grown by nine percent from 2006, but that the number of under-16 year olds will continue to fall until 2016.

The number of 16 to 64 year olds will continue to increase very slightly until 2011, but will then begin to fall steadily as the post-war 'baby-boomers' move into retirement age and are replaced by smaller groups of young adults. By 2026 this age group will have reduced to 103,600 people (five per cent fewer than in 2006).

Whilst the younger population is declining, the number of people aged 65 and over is forecast to continue increasing, but more rapidly than in recent years. By 2026 the number of Herefordshire residents of this age is forecast to be 68 per cent higher than in 2006. In particular the number of people aged 85 and over is expected to more than double from 4,800 in 2006 to 10,200 in 2026.

Councillor June French, Cabinet Member for Corporate, Customer Services and Human Resources, said, 'Herefordshire Council is continually planning for the future and such population forecasts are a very important part of that planning process.'

The population forecasts will be used by organizations and agencies across the county to plan commercial and public services and are available on the council's website www.herefordshire.gov.uk/research.

The UK's longest running annual celebration of the photographic image is now in its 18th year and an exciting range of exhibitions will be held in Hereford this June. This year's festival, which is funded and sponsored by the Arts Council and Herefordshire Council, develops from last year's focus on international work from South Africa but is also linked to work that looks at life in and around Herefordshire itself.

Hereford Museum and Art Gallery in Broad Street will be holding exhibitions between Saturday, 17th May and Sunday, 15th June as part of the festival. These are:

Shadow Chamber by Roger Ballen, who has lived and worked in Johannesburg for some 30 years, photographing the inhabitants of isolated rural communities. Focusing on the strong social statements he found in the people, animals and objects. In this exhibition, Ballen moves into a surreal, metaphorical realm, away from the pictorial confines of documentary photography, described as 'the underbelly' or 'shadow chamber of existence.'

Black Empowerment by Per-Anders Pettersson includes images from Johannesburg which show a new and emerging South Africa which, despite its racially divided past, begins to provide opportunities for its people despite their race and ethnic background.

Beyond the Rainbow by Andrew Jackson examines the Born Free Generation, the group of young people who, free from the ideologies of the past, are the first group of South Africans who are seemingly able to construct their identities at will. The images Examine the separation from the generation before them as well as the burdens that befall them as they become torch bearers for a nation where half the population is under 21.

Other exhibitions are being held at The Courtyard Centre for the Arts, The Cider Museum and King Offa Distillery and Hereford College of Arts.

For further details about all the exhibitions and events at the festival contact the festival office on 01432 351964, email enquiries@photofest.org or log onto the website www.photofest.org

As of Tuesday, 1st April, after 10 years of managing it, Herefordshire Council has handed the day to day operation of the City Walls car park back to the land owner.

The car park, which remains a public Pay and Display car park is now independently managed and all matters relating to enforcement and everyday management are now the sole responsibility of the owner.

Children in Herefordshire are being encouraged to use healthy food to create art in libraries during the half term holiday. Herefordshire libraries will be running fantastic arts activities during the week of Monday, 26th to Friday, 30th May, which will help children think about healthy food choices and recycling.

Children aged between five and twelve are being invited to work with artists to use clean used food packaging to create a series of huge plates of food. Workshops will be taking place at libraries across the county and the finished works of art will be displayed in the libraries for everyone to enjoy.

The project is a partnership between Herefordshire Council's Healthy Schools, Libraries and Learning Team, and one of the aims is to encourage children to think about the eat well plate. The eat well plate is a picture of food used regularly in health promotions which makes healthy eating easier to understand. It shows the types and proportions of foods needed for a well balanced diet.

Healthy Schools Co-ordinator Tess Boyes said, 'As well as helping parents make sure their children eat a balanced diet, it's important that children themselves become more aware of what's good for them and think about the food choices that they make every day. Children will have great fun participating in these arts workshops, as well as learning more about healthy eating in a creative and exciting way.'

The workshops will take place as follows:

Tuesday, 27th May at Ross Library - 10am to 12 Noon
Wednesday, 28th May at Leominster Library - 10am to 12 Noon
Wednesday, 28th May at Hereford Library - 2pm to 4pm
Friday, 30th May at Ledbury Library - 10am to 12 Noon
Friday, 30th May at the Bromyard Centre - 2pm to 4pm

Tickets are £2 per person and are likely to sell out fast,so booking is essential.

For further information contact your local library, or check out the Herefordshire Libraries website.

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