GLOUCESTER | Full Summary of Projects

[pharmj]

Greyfriars Update
Edward Ware homes have been chosen as the 'preferred builder' for the greyfriars site, off Brunswick Road. The site is currently occupied by Gloscat, and soon both the main site and the media centre are to be vacated as it moves to the new GLoucester Docks Campus. The 9-storey building will be demolioshed and up to 400 new homes arranged over buildings up to 5-stories. There will also be shops, squares and public open spaces. A great focus into being eco-friendly is also a key part of the development. A large portion of the sales will have to be to people on low-income and first time buyers.

A detailed planning application is expected later this year.

See http://www.gloucesterurc.co.uk/pr.asp for a couple of links to renders.

[pharmj]

Latest Retail News
High fashion giant Animal have announced plans to open a store in the city. They are taking the unit currently occupied by Profile in Kings Walk, however Profile are going to relocate so there will be no loss of a shop. Animal are a high end sports retailer who already have a store in Cheltenham. The shop will be opening on Aug 2nd.
Next are believed to be sticking by their commitment to the city and are looking for alternative premesis after the were forced out of the current site on Northgate Street.

[Schmeek]

NIce 2 see Gloucester making a bit of a comeback - It's been far too quiet there for too long.

Great to see Glos. Rugby expanding but I can't believe that in this day and age they are building a stand with a load of supportive pillars in the way!!

[pharmj]

Heya Schmeek, welcome!

Yea gloucester is really coming leaps and bounds!

Gloucester Quays development is continuing with demolishion of the old industrial buildings off llanthony road. Orange hoardings have been put up around the areas where this is happening, in readiness for the new designer outlet centre.

Latest retail news:
Sports Direct.com (formerlly Sports Soccer) have opened their new store on Northgate street opposite marks and spencer. The 3 storey shop is the biggest sports store in th city centre. This frees up the former store in The Mall, which is now Original Shoe Inc.
BB's Muffins and Ice Cream have taken a large unit by the entrance to the Mall on Southgate Street.
Rosebys in The Mall are moving to Th Peel centre, though the new tenant for this unit is not yet known.
Pilot, a womens fashion store have opened a branch on Northgate Street, near the cross.

In gloucester docks, redevelopment of Merchants Quay is due to begin later this year, with all the retiail stores now empty. The final work around Barge Arm is taking place, with new lighting and paving being installed, to give the area a nicer finish.

[pharmj]

Unfortunatly music retailer Fopp recently opened in King's Walk has gone into administration,and many of its stores have closed. It is hoped a buyer can be found for them soon, as its Gloucester store was always very busy.

Redevelopment of Gloucester Rugby Club continues, with steelwork for the new stand postively flying up. It is hoped the stand will be ready for the new 2007/08 season.




Flooding has caused massive disruption to the City of Gloucester recently. The deluge was that severe that parts of the new bypass were overwealmed briefly. Our thoughts are with those who have suffered damage in the severe weather.

[pharmj]

Exciting news regarding the old Kwik Save site, situated on Worcester Street/Black Dog Way/Northgate street:

Plans have been submmitted for 98 apartments spread over a mixed 4/5 storey building, to totally replace the monstrocity that is there at the moment. The ground floor will contain units for offices, food/drink or retail. The asscoiated car parking will be in a courtyard contained within the complex and accessed from Worcester Street most likely. See some renders on the Gloucester Council planning website http://www.glcstrplnng11.co.uk/AWMWeb/viewDoc.aspx

Gloucester Kingsway has also seen a massive boost in its ambitious plans, with the council approving another 650 homes for the new town. By the end of the decade, the site will have more than 3300 homes, schools, a retail park, public open space, a church and many more facilities. The approval came after the council withdrew plans for a freight rail terminal off the A38, hence freeing up 9acres for development.

[davejack82]

It is pleasing that the eye sore that is the former Kwik Save site will soon be going, what's happening with the former Courts and Dunelm sites over the road? If you travel in along london road you can see a build up of rubbish behind Dunelm, it's become a place where people sleep rough! With so much planned for elsewhere i hope this area isn't forgotten. i suggest restaurants for Dunelm and an ice staking /ten pin bowling centre for Courts, this could be linked to the new development of kings square via overhead links. Just an idea, don't want these or any other eye sores to be left to rot any more!

[pharmj]

Welcome to the forum davejack82! There are at present, no planning applications for the Dunelm/Courts site on Bruton way, which is a real shame. Personally, the Courts building should be pulled down completely, and the dunelm building restored I feel. The main problem is that the access on the site is very difficult, so the council will not want more traffic trying to get into the site than it already has, unless a new access is formed from station street.

If anyone has any up-to-date photos of anything going on in/around the city..please do post them! I am not in the area right now so cannot update the site as often as i'd like!

[pharmj]

Plans have been submitted for Gloucester to recieve 2 new fire stations, to replace the one currently situated on Eastern Avenue. The stations are located on Elmbridge Court Roundabout, Barnwood...and Sherpherd Road, off Tuffley Lane (Former Highway Depot).

Gloucester Parkway took another possible small step forward this week. The franchise for the cross country services in Gloucestershire have changed, with Virgin CrossCountry losing the franchise. Arriva Trains have now taken it over, and say they support the Parkway Scheme, in 'principle'. It was Virgin that caused part of the problem with the scheme before. Arriva did admit it could cause the loss of some services that stop in Cheltenham, but feel the scheme benefits the region as a whole.

In other news, Gloucester City Council has expressed an interest in making Gloucester an international centre for music, attracting high class acts and big names to the area. Schemes being looked at include an arena being constructed on the railway triangle, refurbishement of the Guildhall (involving taking back the current C&g premises) or a new cultural centre in the heart of the city. We shall have to watch this space....

[pharmj]

Gloucester Quays update:

Plans have been submitted by Peel and British Waterways for a 106 bedroom hotel to sit on St Anns Road, alongside the fashion outlet centre. Demolition work continues on the old warehouse, and 1970's industrial buildings, in readiness for construction to begin later this year. The Fielding and Platt warehouse that used to run alongside the entrance to the Peel centre has now almost completely gone.

A detailed planning application for Gloucester Quays was submitted a few months ago, details can be seen on Gloucester's planning pages using reference number 07/00708/REM.

King's Quarter update:

The area encompassing King's Square, King's Walk, the Bus Station and car parks is due for redevelopment, as part of Gloucester URC's magnificant 7 plan. An international design competition will be launched later this year, and the plans will include 295,000 sq ft retail space and 250 flats/apartments.

St Oswalds Park update;

Persimmon homes are due to begin the 450 home developement later this year as phase II of the St Oswalds Park, (phase I being the B&Q/retail complex). A large sheltered housing complex is currently under negotiation with the city council, and work should begin 2008 all being well.

Gloucester Rugby Club update:

The work on the new stand at GRFC is surging ahead...

[pharmj]

GLOUCESTER FLOODING

I would like to firstly take this oppotunity to pay tribute to the emergency services, who have done a marvellous job in the city, tirelessly working to help evacuate people, save the power station and pump the water. The Royal Navy and RAF also deserve a mention in this regard.

To update on the current situation in the city,

GLOUCESTER DOCKS is currently closed to all members of the public. Work has halted on the Gloucester Quays project, and the new Gloucestershire College is closed as a precaution.

GLOUCESTER CITY CENTRE the council is reccommending people avoid the city centre for risk of further flooding. Most shops are currently closed due to power problems. Westgate street has been particulary badly flooded.

ROAD CLOSURES:
Quay Street
Llanthony Road
Gloucester North Bypass
Bristol Road
A40 between Elmbridge Court and Highnam junction (caution as occasional other parts of this road are also flooded)
Cheltenham Road East to Churchdown closed.
A417 closed between C&G roundabout and M50 junc 2
A38 (Tewksbury Road) closed between Gloucester and Tewksbury
Kimbrose Way/Ladybellegate Street closed
A419 Gloucester - Cirencester closed
Over Causeway / Westgate Bridges closed

Numerous other smaller roads are closed, so please take care on the county's roads. Avoid all unessential travel, as the roads need to be kept free for emergency vehicles.

WATER SUPPLY
Gloucester city along with tewksbury, cheltenham and stroud have no supply of water at the moment (about 350,000 people). Tanks containing water are distributed around the area, for the latest locations see www.bbc.co.uk/gloucester. There are emergency water points where the Red Cross are giving out water, these are at ST Oswolds Tesco, Sainsburys Barnwood, ASDA city centre.

POWER SUPPLY
The power station at Gloucester has been spared by the water at the moment, thanks to the heroic efforts of the ermegency services. Most power has been restored, however it is intermittent.

Our thoughts must surely be with all the citizens of Gloucestershire as we hope the water recedes and the damage isnt too extreme.

[pharmj]

GLOUCESTER FLOODING UPDATE:

The city is now through the worst of the actual flooding, however is still on high alert as rain is due for the next 3 days, which could worsen the situation. Severe weather warnings have been issued.

Longford, Bristol Road Area, Tewksbury Road, Hempsted and the Western side of the city still remain badly affected by flood water, which has yet to drain.

The county's water is still off, and will be for at least 2 weeks (Severn Trent estimate). There are now 900 tanks located around the city, and they are being topped up by the military. Tesco (Quedgely/St Oswolds), Sainsburys Barnwood and Asda City are acting as emergency water centres for free bottled water.

Power has been restored to all but 200 homes now.

The heroic efforts of the emergency services and the military have saved the Gloucester Power Station. Had that gone off, an emergency plan for a phased evacuation of the whole county to centres in Bristol and Birmingham would have taken place. Police and the army would have patrolled the streets to maintain order. This was released on the BBC this morning, as gloucestershires emergency contingency plan.

We are lucky that did not happen, but came so close. It was only 2inches!

It must call into question the future planning of large scale and important infrastructure like power stations and water plants.

Needless to say, pretty much all the exciting developments in the city have ground to a halt for the meantime. All non essential staff at the council have been sent home, so planning applications are also being very held up at the moment.

More details soon..

[pharmj]

With the current situation, and lull in activity, thought i would post some photos of the current work around the city:

Barge Arm, Gloucester Docks




Gloucester Docks showing new apartments


Also, recently announced:

Gloucester could be in line to host a new international maritime festival. The festival would aim to bring tall ships from all over the world to the city, with the aim of bringing more visitors to the docks area, one of the UK's most inland ports. Gloucester URC is looking into the feasability of holding the event, and funding possibilties.

[davejack82]

it was a heroic effort to keep the water out from the two power stations and as far as i know only a few areas of gloucester flooded which was good news. the road issues need to be addressed in the future plus getting another source of water into the city would be a good idea!

In other news the new basketball court built in Armscroft playing fields looks good, i'm hoping for a tidy up of the parks and a reopening of the path that subsided nearby, and removal of the rugby posts that are in disrepair!
It's great to see the work being done at gloucester quays and i hope it gets back on track as soon as possible!

[davejack82]

just a thought about the parkway station, how many trains come from the south through Gloucester train station and head on to Lydney? i suspect not very many due to the severn tunnel. therefore remove this line, build the station at the triangle (this would reduce the costs of signalling with no need to stop trains from the south having to wait for trains to leave the main station), reduce the size of the main station to one platform either way (opening up more land to redevolop) and create a shuttle service between the two. a park and ride should still be built at the elmbridge court roundabout just like the hugely popular one at the other end of the golden valley bypass.

[pharmj]

I agree with on the need for the park and ride facility by Elmbridge Court. There are no facilites out on this side of town at present,and it could also be used to alleviate traffic for the Gloucester Rugby matches as well, as Kingsholm does suffer badly on match day! As for the Parkway station, it sounds as though plans have been all but abandoned once again due to goverment departments not working with each other to get a project through. The line going through Gloucester's present station will always remain fairly busy as its the main link to Cardiff, which carries quite a lot of commuters. The railway triangle i think is a real wasted opportunity at present though, a station would be good there, as one of the main issues with parkway was how people get into the actual city itself.

[pharmj]

Here are the latest pictures of the new grandstand being constructed at Gloucester Rugby Club:




Pictures are courtesy of the BBC.

Webcam is available at http://www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk/304_3136.php

[pharmj]

Barnwood Hotel Application
A major planning application has been recieved by Gloucester City Council concerning the site off Corinium Way in Barnwood. The site is served bby a slip road off the Wall's Roundabout bypass. It is behind the Total Garage on Barnwood Road.

The plans are for a 100-bedroom hotel along the bypass, with a large football pitch, offices and 14 dwellings behind. The plans also incude a replacement for the controversial post office currently adjacent to the garage which was earmarked for closure a few years ago. The brand of hotel is not currently known.

This comes along side the new 106 bedroom hotel planned at Gloucester Quays, already being considered by planners (however highly likely to be approved). Plans for a large scale luxury hotel in the city centre, most likely in blackfriars are also in the pipeline, to boost the city's tourist appeal.

In the city centre, Burtons/Dorothy Perkins are to undergo a refurbishment to theit store, along with new signage on Eastgate Street. This comes along with the refurbishment and provision of more ATM machines at Lloyds TSB Eastgate street.

Plans for a Borders bookstore have been boosted, with the council giving full permission for the building, being located at St Oswalds Park. Construction should begin on this and the other 4-5 units later this year.

[pharmj]

Kingsway Development Update

Plans have been boosted with the conucil giving full backing to phase 4 of the development. Phase 4 consists of 600 homes, on what was planned to be a rail freight terminal. The terminal is no longer required as part of the development. The total homes in Kingsway will now be 3600. Work has begun on construction of the first of two primary schools that will serve the estate. Phase 1 is now complete, and 600 occupiers are in. Phase 2 and 3 is under construction, with the following companies offering homes for sale :
George Wimpey, Bloor homes, Laing homes, Taylor Woodrow, Barratt, Persimmon, David Wilson, Bryant, Miller Homes, Lion Court Homes.

The transport infrastructure work also continues, and a new bus route serving Kingsway was launched recently. Work will commence on the village centre soon, containing shops, main food store, place of worship, health club, pub/restauraant and cafe. There will also be tennis courts, additional housing, play areas and 20 new apartments in the complex.

[danz013]

the riverside stuff further up looks nice..it seems like the water will have a nice atmosphere... you seem to be the guy holding up this thread pharmj lol