GLOUCESTER | Full Summary of Projects

[gntzpope]

Ok, we managed to get to the recent ‘Future of The City’ exhibition at Blackfriars and was reasonably impressed to what was on show.

Had a good chat with British Waterways who was heading up the Gloucester Quays display. This had new computer generated imagedy on display and an updated walkthrough of the site on a large LCD screen! Things to note was the confirmation of the proposed Waterbus service from the new market named ‘Hempsted Meadows’ site with further intended stops at the new Sainsbury’s superstore, the restaurant quarter next to the designer outlet and a further stop in the heart of main docks basin. There was also talk of a start off service near the small marina near the Pilot Inn, Hardwicke. Currently, two operators are in the running for this. Think this could really become quite an attraction for tourists and hopefully popular for commuters too.

Confirmation of the Cineworld mixed use expansion, which will have the entrance on the waterfront! So, that’s really good news, long overdue in my opinion and hope they progress this asap (in time for the designer outlet opening?!?). He also mentioned the refurb of the Peel Centre retail park or a complete rebuild of the site, with a timescale this time next year.

Tenants of the designer outlet are still being kept under wraps but he emphasised that people will be really, really surprised and pleased to whom they have got coming to Gloucester come March 2009!! I can say I know two of the four anchor tenants but cannot say no more.

There would be lots of moorings sites for boats along the quays stretch too.

Blackfriars – the ugly county council buildings are in intended to be demolished, the shire hall could become the 4 star hotel fronting onto Westgate St, and the crown courts could become a new central theatre for the city. It was emphiased that the funding for the new proposed university for this site was now key to enable this complex site to be developed.

The LXB property images looked impression for the northern part of the railway site which included a science park, conference centre, eco homes with lots of water/lakes incorporated throughout the scheme. We all know that there is a strong feeling for a new train station being built here too, just hope this does not put these plans in jeopardy?!?

One exhibitor was missing thou and was planned to be there. They were the Bishops brothers plans for the remaining of the Bakers Quay site. This really does need to get a move on, this derelict area is right next to the designer outlet and once complete will form a great waterfront from the new Cineworld all the way to the main docks basin with numerous restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and a fitness gym I believe. Am aware that they are no more working with Broadway Maylan but does anyone know more on the progress? Please advise!

[pharmj]

That is some excellent news gntzpope! Im pleased one of us made it to the presentation, sounds like it was well worthwhile!

SOme more good news for Gloucester, this time referring to RAF Innsworth:

HUNDREDS OF TROOPS IN INNSWORTH MOVE

Hundreds of British troops from a Nato headquarters unit will move to Innsworth in 2010, it has been confirmed.

The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) HQ and its support units - believed to total around 600 families - will move to Gloucestershire.

Mr Ainsworth insisted the move, part of a plan to bring 3,600 troops back tothe UK, did not signal a change in the UK's commitment to Nato.

In a written statement to MPs, Mr Ainsworth also said plans were being made tomove 1 Signal Brigade and 102 Logistic Brigade to Cosford in Shropshire.

Mr Ainsworth said: "These moves and the work of the programme team in no waysignal a change in either our commitment to the Nato alliance or our overalldefence policy, nor do they in any way devalue the continued close bilateraldefence relationship between the UK and Germany."

[pharmj]

The impression I have got from the University of Gloucestershire is that they are pretty dedicated to building their Gloucester City Campus. It was them after all that announced the intention! This could be such a massive leap forward for gloucester, as it will drive a new wave of retail and leisure demand in the city as well.

The shire hall complex is pretty dire, though its kind of endearing in a way, as its one of the only buildings that we have that give gloucester a big city feel! Though I wouldnt say no to a new hotel and theatre complex. Westgate could become a real cultural hub!

In terms of Kings Square, im not surprised there has been a delay on this project. The credit crunch and the complexity of land ownership was bound to complicate it. My dream for Kings Square...

Kings Walk extended along the length of the square with new glass fronted 2-storey shops, (maybe Gap, Monsoon, Next style stores). The square will have some nicer benches in, and the toilets filled in and flatenned. That horrid glass building in the middle would go as well. As you came to end of the mall (where the bus station road is) you see a new addition to the centre, a nice 4/5 storey John Lewis with other stores and maybe restaurants around it too. The bus station has been relocated alongside the railway station, and this area has totally new paving, trees..etc. Debenhams store is also totally refurbished and tarted up on the outside, and the square becomes a hub of music and performance, with cafes to sit around the edges...

./.thats my dream, lol

[pharmj]

Some good news on the health front for Gloucester:

WORK STARTS FOR £29M BABY UNIT

Work has started to clear land for a £29 million state-of-the-art women's unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Health chiefs say the unit - which will be completed by 2011 will provide some of the best maternity care in the world.

Campaigners in Stroud who fought to save the town's midwife-led maternity unit two years ago believe NHS bosses will stick by their word and let it run alongside the new centre in Gloucester.

Wards are now being emptied for a start-time later in the year.

The completed unit will house 60 beds and will include intensive care and high-dependency units. It will replace the hospital's Orchard Centre.

There will be a link built from the unit, off Claremont Road, to the tower block, to ensure easy transfers for emergency patients.

It will also form an important base for research, training and teaching in the UK.

Although the unit will form a hub for maternity care in Gloucestershire, midwife-led units will continue in Cheltenham and Stroud to provide non-technical care for mothers.

When NHS bosses in Gloucestershire decided to keep Stroud Maternity Hospital open in September 2006, it followed a huge campaign backed by The Citizen.

They had wanted to centralise all maternity services in Gloucester, but eventually agreed with the public's demand that pregnant women should have the choice of a home birth, a midwife-led unit birth or a birth in a delivery suite.

Stroud MP David Drew welcomed the investment at GRH and said: "Stroud still has a role to play. The figures are robust.

"It's great that GRH is getting fit-for-purpose facilities but they must not be at the cost of Stroud.

"They do a lot of work with special needs and women whose first language is not English and there is a strong need for Stroud Maternity."

Mandy Robotham, of campaign group Stroud Maternity Matters, said: "We have proved in two battles for Stroud maternity that people want choice."

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is considering setting up teams of midwives specialising in home births at GRH.

Paul Byrne, divisional director of service delivery at GHT, said: "When it is finished the maternity unit will be one of the largest in the country.

"We are not aiming to create a baby factory, but we want to give individualised care.

"There will be a brand new NICU unit and the high dependency unit will be extended to include more cots so more babies can be treated in the county.

"There will be 24-hour clerical support available to free up clinical staff and we will have some of the best medical support in the country.

"There will be research, training and teaching opportunities and that will attract attention from professionals across the world."

Gloucester Citizen 27/5/08

[joeperez]

do you know who the builder will be ? thanks

[gntzpope]

Came across this article on 'Property Week' about the legal case plus a further 20% (now 65% full?!?) of the Quays outlets are nearing contractual agreements.

European ruling is royal pain for Morley
16.05.08
By Christine Eade
‘Full tender’ judgment delays £100m Gloucester project
The Kings Quarter, Morley’s proposed redevelopment of Gloucester’s Kings Walk shopping centre, is the latest project that could face delays because of last year’s European Court of Justice’s ruling that local authorities cannot award preferred developer status without a full tender.
In February 2007, Morley and Gloucester City Council selected Thornfield Properties for the £100m Kings Quarter a month after the decision in Jean Auroux v Commune de Roanne. The council is now reviewing whether Thornfield can proceed.
Chris Paterson, specialist retail fund manager at Morley, said: ‘This is a hugely sensitive situation. We are currently in dialogue with the council. These discussions relate to the Roanne directive. We are exploring various alternatives.’
He added that going out to tender could take four months if it was considered unavoidable.
But Paterson made the point that Thornfield was ‘consultant’ rather than preferred developer.
When the Morley and Thornfield tie-up was announced last year, there were hopes that development could begin in February 2008.
Morley, then Norwich Union Investment Management, developed Kings Square in 1973, anchored by BHS. Debenhams faced the square but was outside Morley’s ownership.
Morley plans to transform the windswept square with 269,100 sq ft of shops, including a new department store, flats and 72,119 sq ft of offices.
Gloucester is used to protracted retail planning procedures. Peel Holdings and British Waterways fought for planning consent for eight years before developing the Gloucester Quays designer outlet centre at Gloucester Docks.
On 6 May, Peel hosted a topping-out ceremony for local dignitaries for the £250m Gloucester Quays, which will open in spring 2009.
The names of the retailers and manufacturers that will lease the 100 shops are yet to be announced. Grenville Bird, a director of Peel and Gloucester Quays, said that 45% was in solicitors’ hands or exchanged, and that Peel was in advanced negotiations for a further 20%. A quarter of the shops would be for designer brands, and the remainder high street retailers.
The budget hotel above the shops is also under offer, while another hotel operator will develop a four-star hotel across the Sharpness Canal. English Partnerships and the South West of England Regional Development Agency paid £10m for the St Ann Way bridge, which will open to traffic in August.
Peel won its planning battle on condition that it let shops only to retailers that sold their merchandise at a discount.
Bird said of Morley’s problems: ‘If they have to tender, it could mean that they are going to get a better scheme in the long run. We want to complement the city centre, rather than compete with it.’

[pharmj]

Thats some really interesting news gntzpope. Nice one!

Am in Gloucester this weekend, and things are changing fast now. The designer outlet centre is now dwarfing the Peel centre, and is 3-4 stories high in different places.

The junction with Southgate Street and St Anns Way is now a roundabout, and the lights have been removed ready for the new junction. The new entrance to the Peel Centre is now almost complete too.

Gloucester's National Waterways Museum has now reopened following extensive refurbishment and has been very busy.

Went for a meal at the Monkey Tree,and was very impessed. This used to be the Brewers Fayre by the old cattle market. Very nice food, it was packed too. Went to Homesense today too, again very busy (though I would have preffered for it to have still been a Borders). Work appears to have restarted on the housing development opposite too.

Finally, international property experts Savills have been appointed as consultants for the new Blackfriars redevelopment, including Gloucestershire Uni' new campus, a theatre, 4/5*hotel and apartments. Fingers crossed this doesnt get help up like Kings Quarter has.

Im honestly not too surprised though, given the economic climate and the complexity of that part of town.

[pharmj]

New nuclear training academy open

A £3.5m state-of-the-art centre for training nuclear experts has opened its doors in Gloucestershire.

British Energy, at Barnwood near Gloucester, has set up a Nuclear Power Academy to train the next generation of industry professionals.

It will be responsible for overseeing the standard of people working in power stations across the country.

British Energy's David Barber said: "It is part of (our) commitment to creating world leading nuclear professionals."

The opening comes on the day British Energy is due to publish its full year results.

The company is currently up for sale with three interested bidders - EDF in France, Iberdrola in Spain and RWE in Germany.

Taken from BBC NEWS 29/5/08

[DanP]

Announced today that it will go-ahead.

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co....entPK=20776913

Whats everyones opinion on this?

I think if this is to go ahead the infrastructure in the area will need big improvements made. It could also be a better location for the Gloucester Parkway station than Elmbridge Court, if a station could be incorporated in the proposals.

[vinnienet]

As far as railway stations go I think that the south of Gloucester (near to Naas Lane) would be an ideal spot for a new City station / P&R.

Looking at the area the trackbed is sufficiently wide due to the former double tracks of the LMS & GWR running lines into Gloucester so it would be easy to create two island platforms with the mainlines on the inside and local lines on the outside. Using those we'd have a shuttle service into the present Central station for P&R pax and also those alighting Inter City services on the old Virgin cross country route.

The location would also provide a more local IC station for Stonehouse & Stroud and the distance from Cheltenham would mean that their service pattern wouldn't be interuppted as it may've been had there been a station at Elmbridge Court.

[DanP]

Further to my post above, I have just found this additional info about Hunts Grove:

http://www.huntsgrove.co.uk/

[davejack82]

despite the negetive press this development has created i'm impressed with the designs it's just a shame that the council tax generated will go to Stroud District Council, hope Junction 12 has a make over at the same time and they seriously reconsider putting a new railway station down there to. would be an excellent place now.

[davejack82]

Any news as to when the new St Ann bridge opens, it must be soon i would think?..

[pharmj]

I dont think it can be too far away now to be honest. I am fairly sure they were looking for a June opening date. It looked from what i saw last time that they are just completing the highway work around it, and the last bits of the control box for it.

Getting excited about the names involved with the designer outlet centre and the hotels, cant be long before we see some announcments now.

Re: Hunts Grove, I think that this could have the potential to be a good thing for Gloucester, as we need the population to continue supporting developments in the city. I do question whether we need it considering the poor uptake of new houses in the market at the moment, what with the credit crunch.

We definately need to consider having some much better transport links with the south of the city, since this is becoming a real population centre for the city. It should defiantely include a Quedgley station, with the potential for shuttle trains between GLoucester and Quedgley.

Railway Triangle news: Apparently GURC has been asked to re-examine the chances of having a new station located in the traingle, due to the loss of direct services between gloucester and london. I feel this is only a good thing, as these services are essential, and the station in its present form is a poor welcome to the city.

Some other suggestions have included a science/medical park, conferance centre, theme park, zoo and nature reserve. I feel that some kind of tourist attraction would be a good idea, as its close to the city centre and doesnt make development in this awkward area too dense. At the same time though, there is a great deal of potential for this site in other ways...will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

What do you guys think we should do with the area?..

[vinnienet]

Are you sure about the loss of direct train services to London Pharmj??!!!!!!!!

[davejack82]

http://propertysearch.alderking.com/...tle_Centre.pdf
just a bit there on the Whittle Centre in Brockworth, mainly to do with the commercial side of the project, looks good i think, also they have begun the construction of new homes on the opposite side of Hucclecote Road/Ermin Street.

[davejack82]

http://propertysearch.alderking.com/...tre_Severn.pdf
noticed this on the same website future development out by Ten Pin and Virgin Active, doesn't give any clues as to when it will happen though...

[pharmj]

Nice find Davejack...I agree, Whittle Centre looks good, nice to see some reletively dense development there, could make Brockworth into a really nice gateway into Gloucester.

The loss of train services I was referring to was the one a few years ago by Virgin..its damaged business a fair amount i think. Dont worry, no new losses though!

[pharmj]

Woop..some news is starting to come out about the Quays!

Travelodge have announced they are opening a £8.7million hotel at Gloucester Quays, as part of their wider expansion plans.

As reported in the Citizen:

A MAJOR hotel chain is opening an £8.4 million hotel in Gloucester.
Travelodge has announced the unconditional exchange of contracts on a new hotel development site in the Docks.
The deal, which is part of a £78.4 million UK wide expansion programme, will create 20 new jobs as well as pumping millions of pounds into the city's economy.
The 96-room hotel located in St Ann Way will provide accommodation from £29 per night.
Planning permission for the hotel has been approved by Gloucestershire County Council and construction is due to start in November.

The development, led by Anglo Holt Ltd, is expected to be completed in May 2009.
Travelodge chiefs say the hotel will be in a prime location for business and leisure travellers within easy reach of the motorway and other visitor attractions in the county, like the Cotswolds.
Tony O'Brien, Travelodge's development director, said: “As price and location continue to drive consumer behaviour we are seeing customers shift to budget hotel accommodation. We want to give travellers every reason to visit Gloucester and stay longer.
“Increasing the availability of low cost accommodation in the area is central to achieving this objective. We continue to actively seek and pursue new development and growth opportunities in the South West and look forward to opening our first hotel in Gloucester.”
Mark Owen, chairman of the Gloucester branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said the arrival of Travelodge was great news for the city.
He said: “We always hoped that part of the Quays development would include a budget hotel and Travelodge has a great reputation. The knock on effect will be that more business people will stay in Gloucester, spending their hard earned money, which will regenerate the Docks and the city where they will spend cash in local stores.
Mr Owen, who is also MD of Moose Partnership creative media relations and advertising agency, added: “Hopefully another good quality hotel will come to the Docks, Gloucester definitely has room for more hotels, and this will create an opportunity for local suppliers.”

[pharmj]

Not heard much news from the city recently. All seems to have gone quite quiet. We should have had the announcement of the winner of the Kings Square redesign. Anyone got any news or photos of developments going on in the city?