Did a missed opportunity sail by for Gloucester Docks?
Summary
Amid fears that tall ships could imminently find Gloucester a silted-up no-go zone as a result of the Canal and River Trust ‘s (CRT’s) financial straits, a Gloucester businessman who campaigns for investment and growth in the city has urged planners to support a stalled bid for 141 dockside flats.
Details
John Chilcott ‘s pleas to Gloucester City Council , shared today with Punchline-Gloucester.com , come in the wake of the withdrawal of the ambitious West Quay development.
This six-storey bid for 141 flats within new apartment blocks and the conversion of an existing warehouse for commercial use along with amenity space was conceived to revitalise a run-down “missing piece” in the city centre and ease pressure on the city’s private rental sector and was sought by developers H2O Urban Partnernship in tandem with bloc .
The scheme relates to a parcel of land off Llanthony Road that sits on 6,423 sqm of space at Gloucester’s West Quay. While local objections were raised and caveats for further support were issued by Historic England pending design changes to the proposed building, the proposal aimed to maximise the potential value of the land, which crucially is owned by the CRT.
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The CRT, as the body in charge of maintaining 2,000 miles of canals nationally, including Gloucester Docks, currently faces a systemic funding crisis fuelled by soaring infrastructure maintenance costs coupled with a decision by Westminster to slash its funding in real terms by £300m in the decade ahead.
It consequently sees the monetisation of land it owns as being pivotal for fulfilling its responsibilities – including the prevention of silt in Gloucester’s waterways – with the sale of West Quay being a prime example of its key options. However, the project ran aground last month and H20 and the CRT have remained tight lipped about where it will now go.
Mr Chilcott told Punchline: “It feels as if the council is asleep at the wheel – and is allowing a golden opportunity to sail by.
The council administration has shown itself to be totally out of its depth in dealing with these ambitious proposals.” He added: “Worryingly, the cabinet appears to lack the vision, ambition, critical thinking skills, business acumen, sufficient understanding of urban economics, socioeconomics and place-making to even grasp an understanding of the magnitude of the opportunity that was in front of them.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester