⏩ The Gloucester Start: Monday December 2nd
Drugs at fake cafe | Christmas bin dates | Noah born in floods
Good morning to you on this first Monday of December. I hope you’re feeling suitably festive and enjoyed a good weekend. We’re on edition number 6 of the Start and are up to nearly 30 subscribers - thanks for taking an interest, and please do give us a share to keep the momentum going 🙏.
🚓 Drug dealing and criminal activity was allegedly going on behind the doors of a fake cafe in Barton. The tea room had become notorious among neighbours before police found ‘substantial evidence’ of drugs being dealt, including seizing cocaine and cannabis worth almost £6,000. The shop is now subject to a three-month closure order banning anyone except a select few from entering. - Gloucestershire Live
🏗️ New flats could replace the old Fad and Fated building in Worcester Street. Plans have been drawn up for two four-storey blocks to replace the empty building, which would be demolished. ‘No interest’ was shown in an earlier plan which would have included a retail space. - Punchline Gloucester ↪️Elsewhere, 30 new homes - all to be made as affordable housing - are on their way to land near The Crypt School. Bromford Housing will start building at New Dawn View in 2026. - Gloucestershire Live
🏉 Rugby legend Kevin Sinfield kicked off the second of seven consecutive ultra-marathons from Kingsholm this morning, raising money and awareness for motor neurone disease charities. Ex-Gloucester player Ed Slater, 36, has been battling MND since his 2022 diagnosis and his friend, former Cherry and White teammate Fraser Balmain, has spoken movingly about their relationship. “We have a laugh and that will never change,” he said. - BBC Gloucestershire ↪️ Donate to Kevin’s fundraiser here
🌡️ Today’s weather: Should stay largely dry, although grey and overcast for much of the day. Highs of 9-11C.
🛥️ Rescuers headed down Sandhurst Lane by boat to get a stranded resident out of their home. Floodwaters rose again before the weekend and the Severn Area Rescue Association was called on to get the homeowner to safety. - Gloucestershire Live ↪️ Check the latest flood warnings here
👶 Couple Becky Whittle and Luke Browning have quite the floods story of their own - their aptly-named baby boy Noah was delivered outside Malvern Tyres after their car got stuck in floodwater on the way to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. It happened during Storm Bert last Sunday, with Noah seven weeks premature. - BBC Gloucestershire
⛈️ Liberal Democrat MP Cameron Thomas, whose Tewkesbury constituency covers parts of Gloucester, has told the Labour government to grab the issue of flood defences ‘by the horns’ after they blamed much of the Storm Bert devastation on the previous Conservative administration. - BBC
♻️ Christmas bin collection days have been announced by the city council. Leaflets with the December schedule will be dropped off from this week and it’s available online too. Garden waste collections have also stopped until February. - Gloucester City Council
📽️ Doctor Who, Harry Potter and Wolf Hall to name just a few. All those and more have one thing in common - they’ve filmed in Gloucester. Now the city council wants to increase such opportunities further as part of its Film Gloucester initiative, saying it attracts visitors and investment. - Gloucester News Centre
🎸 The Crash Test Dummies are coming to Gloucester Guildhall next May. Best known for 90s earworm hit ‘Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm’, the Canadian band reunited after 20 years away in 2018. Tickets are £35. - Gloucester Guildhall
☀️ Solar panels are being fitted to lots of county council-owned buildings in its bid to go carbon neutral by 2045. Gloucestershire Coroners Court has had 220 panels fitted and the Gloucestershire Archives building in Alvin Street is next, before several schools. - BBC Gloucestershire
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🗳️ ‘Essential discussions’ have been prompted by the controversial bill on assisted dying, according to Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre - the only county MP to vote against it - as he explained his decision. The bill was passed by 330 votes to 275 meaning it can move to the next stage of Parliament. - Gloucester News Centre
📈 International migrants who arrived last year make up 1.1% of Gloucester’s population, figures show. Analysis of the latest data is off the back of the Prime Minister accusing the ousted Tory government of running ‘an experiment in open borders’. Gloucester’s net migration - the number of migrants arriving minus those who left - for the year to June 2024 was 1,483. - Gloucestershire Live
🚨 Police appeals have been made after two assaults. The first, on October 21st, happened on Painswick Road where a man attacked two teenagers. More here. The second, on November 1st, left a man with serious injuries after being repeatedly punched in the face in Eastgate Street after leaving Trilogy nightclub. - Gloucestershire Constabulary