City secures £700,000 toward plan to boost city centre living
Nearly three quarters of a million pounds has been won by Gloucester City Council to help clear the way for 200 new homes near the city's railway station.
* If you have not already, please do consider subscribing. Everything we do on Raikes is only possible because of our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors: Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers who support this community interest company so it can support Gloucester. Please do send us your press releases. We will publish the best right here and use them as inspiration for our editorial agenda. Email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.
A plan to build up to 200 city centre homes has taken a significant step forward after Gloucester City Council successfully bid for around £700,000 of Government Funding.
The grant from the Government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund will allow the council to prepare the site of the former Wessex House, on Great Western Road, unlocking its potential for redevelopment into around 45 new homes.
The now demolished building that sits behind Gloucester Railway Station, had been the offices for Edmundson Electrical but stood empty for several years before being knocked down.
The grant of £688,484 will see the site decontaminated and archaeological investigations take place to prepare it for development.
The council owned building is on the list of locations and empty or derelict buildings recently announced by the council as key to providing much needed housing in the city centre.
It is also hoped that the plans to boost city centre living will give a further lift to the economy by bringing more people to live in the heart of Gloucester.
Also on the list is land next to the 19 award-winning Whitefriars apartments, which are part of the £107m Forum regeneration scheme.
The city council previously secured for £477,903 from the Government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund to build 32 modern apartments on the land.
The money has been used to remove the dilapidated former Thai restaurant on Market Parade, extensive decontamination, and archaeological surveying.
Other potential sites to be targeted are the former Fortis Insurance building at 67-69 London Road, in Kingsholm, 106-114 Northgate Street known as Spread Eagle Court, that has also been empty for several years and has fallen into disrepair, and 20-26 The Oxbode, opposite the university’s new campus in the former Debenhams.
The city council’s plan for around 200 new homes created will continue the massive regeneration taking place across the city, which includes the £200 million regeneration of Kings Quarter with the council’s partners Reef Group and the University of Gloucestershire.
Councillor Jeremy Hilton, leader of the city council, said: “This is good news and means we can get the ball rolling on developing this prime site on Great Western Road, which is close to The Forum and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
“It’s a real boost to our plan to tackle these under-utilised sites that are within or close to the city centre, which will not only help provide much needed housing, but will help improve the built environment in central Gloucester and this corner of Kingsholm. It should be good for business too.”
Councillor Luke Shervey, cabinet member for housing at the council, said: “Housing is one of our key priorities and I’m acutely aware of the need for more good quality housing in the city. We are fully committed to tackling the shortage and providing good homes which we know are linked to so many other important factors including health and quality of life.”
The story above is a press release sent to Raikes on 16 October 2024.
* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to paid, you’ll be part of this community interest company too. In an era when local journalism is all but gone, we are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, to defending it, challenging those who need to be held to account and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire, the series that follows the financial fortunes of our biggest firms by turnover. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable. Please do join us.
You can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once.