The Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company Ltd (Gloucester Heritage URC) launched an ambitious £1 billion regeneration programme in late 2006 for one of England's oldest and most historic cities. Now, in February, 2007, it's been agreed that a total of £150 million of public sector funding will be invested to support the regeneration programme from The South West Regional Development Agency, English Partnerships, Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucester City Council.
Development has now entered an important new phase with studies showing that, once complete, the plan will have delivered an estimated 2,000 new jobs and over 3,000 new homes, as well as wide-ranging office, retail and leisure opportunities suitable for the 21st century.
The 10-year plan currently being implemented is based on the regeneration of seven key sites within the City centre. Nicknamed the 'Magnificent Seven', these are: Gloucester Docks, Gloucester Quays, The Railway Triangle, King's Square, Greyfriars, Blackfriars/Westgate Quay and The Canal Corridor. Alongside these projects, Gloucester Heritage URC is planning an integrated public realm and public art strategy which will link together the key developments.
Comments Peter Wynn, Regeneration Consultant (Gloucester URC) comments: "Gloucester is a great historic city, a pivotal county town with a rich heritage illustrated by the cathedral, the docks, the underlying Roman city and the remarkable collection of ecclesiastical buildings. The Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company will focus on this rich history by bringing life back to historic areas of Gloucester, reflecting their special character while creating a new and prosperous urban centre for the 21st century."
Targets for the Gloucester URC include:
* Reclaiming and developing 100 acres of brownfield land
* Repairing and re-use of 82 historic buildings
* Developing 300,000 sq ft of retail floor space
* £1 billion of private sector investment over 10 year
* 300,000 sq ft of comparison goods retail to be developed
* 150,000 sq ft of commercial floorspace to be developed
* A new College of Further Education
* 4.25km of waterfront area upgraded
* A new mainline railway station and restored rail services
* The completion of Gloucester South West Bypass
* Improve infrastructure with a new mainline railway station and inner relief road.
To improve access into and around the city, a major new landmark bridge spanning the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal is planned, alongside the completion of the city's South West Bypass.
Confidence in the city's regeneration is riding high with more than £100 million of private sector investment already secured by Gloucester URC. Major changes have been seen at St Oswalds where Hammersons developed more than 16,722 square metres of mixed use retail space, later let to B&Q which opened its largest store in Western Europe there, and at Gloucester Docks, where Crest Nicholson and Laings have renovated old warehouses and built new apartments to provide over 150 homes in this previously run-down area of the city.
In June 2006, planning permission was granted for a £200 million scheme to redevelop Gloucester Quays . British Waterways and Peel Developments are currently working in partnership to redevelop 25 hectares of brownfield land and industrial heritage buildings. This redevelopment will provide a designer outlet centre, food superstore, 1000 new homes, a hotel and a range of commercial and leisure activities. In addition, £35 million is currently being invested in a new campus for the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (Gloscat) at Gloucester Quays, adjacent to Llanthony Priory. The new college will be ready for the first intake of students in September 2007.
The aim of the regeneration framework, produced by specialist planning consultants Terence O'Rourke, after wide-ranging consultations with local community and business forums as well as county and regional organisations, is to shape the renewal of this great English City, bringing life back to the historic areas of Gloucester through the development of a safe and sustainable urban centre.
Greg Smith, Chair of Gloucester Heritage, said: "This regeneration is about improving the lives and opportunities of the local communities who live and work in the city, and those who visit the city either from the surrounding area or as tourists. The masterplan is ambitious, but reflects the determination of local residents, businesses and other regional stakeholders, all of whom played a major role in the development of the regeneration framework, to bring our vision of a revitalised Gloucester to life. This vision is shared by those investors and developers who have already signalled their confidence in the city's plans by significant financial investment."
Gloucester Heritage Chief Executive Chris Oldershaw said: "The Gloucester Heritage URC regeneration framework sets out wide-ranging investment and development opportunities. In keeping with the historic City of Gloucester, many of the developments will be heritage-led, placing strong emphasis on distinctive high design quality to complement the city's rich architectural legacy. Other opportunities exist to bring large areas of brownfield land back into reuse in areas where access both to the city centre and arterial roads are excellent."
The city of Gloucester regeneration plan is unusual. No other UK regeneration centre has played such an important role in the history of England and still contains so many historic sites and buildings of such unfulfilled redevelopment potential. The Gloucester Heritage URC area covers 340 hectares of land in the City centre. This includes 33 ancient monuments and 490 listed buildings. Almost a quarter of the total Gloucester Heritage URC area, 88 hectares, is covered by conservation area designations. The regeneration plan sets out a design framework which does justice to the city's stunning architecture, much of which became hidden during some insensitive development in the 1960s and 1970s.
Within the next two years, Gloucester Heritage will be launching national and international design competitions for two major public spaces within the city. A national design competition will be launched for Blackfriars whilst the more pivotal King's Square in Gloucester will invite design submissions internationally. Gloucester Heritage URC Board Chairman, Greg Smith, said: "These are enormously exciting plans for the city and we are confident that this massive level of investment will inevitably lead to a step change in the city's economic fortunes."
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