HEREFORDSHIRE Council leaders will not revisit a decision to delegate £3.65m for officers to spend on progressing the proposed Hereford bypass.

Councillors had called the decision by infrastructure cabinet member Philip Price to authorise to take all necessary steps to progress detailed design for the Hereford Transport Package.

The March 11 decision allows director of economy and place Richard Ball to commission external professional advisers to inform future decisions on the scheme to a maximum further cost of £3.65m to deliver.

But seven opposition councillors felt the decision had been made without sufficient information and called for the council’s general scrutiny committee to revisit it today (March 29).

Many opposition councillors suggested it would be unwise to commit so much spending because the council could revisit the project after the May elections.

And during the debate councillor Andrew Warmington proposed sending the decision back to the cabinet member to consider only spending up to £1.425m to progress the project until June.

The scrutiny committee however rejected this proposal by four votes to two.

Councillors Sebastian Bowen, Roger Phillips, Steve Williams and Bruce Baker voted against it while Jenny Bartlett and Warmington voted for it.

A subsequent vote to endorse the cabinet member’s decision was approved by the same difference.

Members of the public, who turned the backs to the committee when they voted, also said representatives of Balfour Beatty Living Places and WSP should have declared a benefit because their companies stood to benefit from the decision.

After the meeting coun Ellie Chowns felt the committee had not properly addressed the concerns she raised about the lack of a justification for the decision and lack of detailed business case.