27/09/11 - Peel to invest extra £60m at Gloucester Quays - read Paul's article

The Gloucester Quays development was a long time in the making.  The scheme was unanimously approved by the Full Council in November 2004 following years of planning by the teams from Peel and British Waterways.  It opened at possibly the worst time in the economic cycle and if the credit crunch had hit a few months earlier it may not have been built at all.

The trading environment has remained difficult for all retailers and there are still more empty units at Gloucester Quays than we would like.  The response of some organisations to these circumstances would be to retrench.  Thankfully Peel take a different approach.  The announcement of further investment underlines their determination to make the scheme a success and shows that they believe in Gloucester.

Events like the Food Festival and the Tall Ships Festival have proved hugely popular and have seen the Docks and Quays packed with people.  This shows the area’s potential. Peel recognise that Gloucester Quays needs to be part of a bigger offer in the Docks and the city centre.  They have shown their willingness to work with key partners to ensure their proposals complement what is being planned in the rest of the city centre.

The latest phase of development is exciting.  By providing a new state of the art cinema in the heart of Gloucester Quays in place of a pretty tired facility at the Peel Centre, we can stop the leakage of film fans to places like The Brewery in Cheltenham.  And it will generate the footfall to bring in big name restaurants which the city currently lacks.

At a time when the economic climate is still uncertain, Gloucester is fortunate to have so many big development schemes being pursued.  The Council’s partnership with Stanhope for Kings Quarter  is our highest priority regeneration scheme and is vital to the city centre’s future.  LXB’s plans for the Railway Triangle could see one of the city’s worst eyesores removed after a 20 year wait.  Tesco’s plans for a massive new store at St Oswald’s Park are a big vote of confidence in Gloucester.  And Peel’s pledge of major investment at Gloucester Quays will help it to achieve the potential we all know is there.

The Council’s Planning Committee will need to determine these proposals on their merits and will look closely at the impact of each of them.  If all of these proposals successfully come to fruition, over the next few years we will see the city’s transformation taken to another level.