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| The Blackfriars End has been described as a blight on the city |
Herefordshire Council is set to spend more than a quarter of a million pounds to draw up plans for the dilapidated Blackfriars End at Edgar Street.
The council, which owns the stadium, will explore options for student and key worker accommodation for the Blackfriars End which is "dilapidated" and a "significant blight to the regeneration of the northern area of the city".
A report drawn up for the council before a decision is made said there has been redevelopment in the area around the football stadium - notably the "highly successful" £90 million Old Market Shopping Centre which opened in 2014 and the new university NMITE.
But due to health and safety restrictions, the stand is currently unusable by the club and isn't included in the lease so the council receives no income from the land. Club chair Chris Ammonds has previously said demolition work could start this summer and a seated stand would be preferable.
"The need to improve the appearance of the site has now become clear," the report by director of resources and assurance Andrew Lovegrove said.
The council will also be looking at the College Road campus near the Royal National College for the Blind and wants to find out how suitable and feasible the sites are, work out building costs, get planning permission and draw up a business case.
The report said the county faces a number of "significant economic challenges" such as wages being 19 per cent below the national average and productivity 27 per cent below the national average.
More than a quarter of people who live in the county are also aged 65 or over and there is a lack of higher education opportunities which drives younger people to leave the county to study elsewhere.
As for the Blackfriars End, the proposed approach is to redevelop the site with a use that offers student accommodation and is in keeping with the strategic long-term priorities of the area.
The report said that bringing forward this project will deliver a valuable improvement while the overall masterplan for the development of sites across the city is further developed.
"It is proposed that the project will replace the current unsafe and unsound stand with a facility that meets the basic needs of Hereford Football Club including the need to have a four-sided ground," it added.
"It will provide a safe and useable facility for Hereford Football Club which will be designed to enable student accommodation on the site."
Other than that, there is limited mention of footballing facilities at the site. Plans had been tabled previously, but they were paused by the previous Green-Independent coalition, with a minority Conservative administration now in charge.
With the stadium less than a mile from Hereford County Hospital, it is being eyed up as a good place for student accommodation - but the Wye Valley NHS Trust, which runs the site, also wants homes for key workers.
Among its plans are to strengthen links with Birmingham City University, Coventry University, Worcester University and the University of West England. That's on top of already working with medical students from Aston Medical School, University of Birmingham and Three Counties Medical School.
There should also be higher demand for student accommodation from NMITE.
The next steps will see cabinet member for community services and assets Cllr Harry Bramer approve spending of £253,679 on March 12.
This will be used to find and appoint a development partner to take forward plans for the student accommodation at the two sites, advise on future investment models and support in the creation of business cases.
After the views of the football club were garnered in December, the report said they were "in support of evaluating these sites further and progressing the scheme as detailed in key considerations".