⏩ The Gloucester Start: Monday December 16th
Santas & tractors bring joy | Millions unspent | Car boot diss row
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🎅🚜 What do 650-plus Father Christmases and several dozen decorated tractors have in common? They brought Christmas spirit and fun in spades to Gloucester over the weekend. Saturday morning kicked off with the annual Santa Fun Run, where record numbers turned out in fancy dress to jog a 5km route through the city centre. - BBC Gloucestershire
↪️ And the weekend was brought to a close by an epic convoy of festive tractors finishing their annual trek across the county at St Oswald’s last night. - When Farmers Do Christmas
💰 Tens of millions of pounds in payments from developers to improve Gloucestershire’s community infrastructure sits unspent. There’s £62million being held by Gloucestershire County Council and a further £4.6million with Gloucester City Council. The money is lost if it’s not spent within five years and, across the county, the total amount held has increased rapidly in recent times. - Punchline Gloucester
🏘️ House-building needs to increase in Gloucester to meet Labour’s ambitious - and controversial - new targets. The government wants more than 370,000 new homes built across the country each year. Gloucester’s share of that works out at 685 annually, 245 more than has been achieved over the past two years. - Gloucestershire Live
⛅ Today’s weather: Dry, clear and mild, with temperatures hitting 11C for much of the day.
🚗 Things got heated in a row about car boot sale parking. The future of the Hempsted Meadows site is up for grabs, with the current car boot operator, Reg Daldry, questioning the number of spaces being made available. An exchange between him and city council leader Jeremy Hilton ended with both men saying ‘don’t diss me’. - Gloucestershire Live, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service
📞 Concerns about Gloucestershire police’s ability to answer 999 calls quickly enough have eased. The constabulary now answers 80% of emergency calls within 10 seconds, still below a target of 90% but well above the 59% it was achieving in the year to June 2023. - BBC Gloucestershire
🏗️ The owners of Bakers Quay are working to remove the name because of its links to the slave trade. The latest phase of development there will see a 10-story tower block built, partially restoring the old Downings Malthouse and High Orchard Street Warehouse. - Gloucester News Centre, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service
👮 Extra police, including officers on horseback and a police dog, were out in Gloucester on Saturday night. It was part of Operation Comet, to tackle drug dealing and help people feel safer out at night. - Gloucestershire Constabulary
💪 A new city centre gym is reopening in Northgate Street. Anytime Fitness, above TK Maxx, is being fitted out at the moment and will open soon. - Anytime Fitness
🚨 Crime alerts
The below have all been reported over the past few days via Your Community Alerts:
A Nissan Juke was entered in Spa Road. Toiletries and jewellery were taken between December 11th and 12th.
A Ford Transit van was stolen from Garnalls Road in Gloucester between December 10th and 12th.
A business premises was entered in Barton Street. A small amount of money was taken from the till and a computer was stolen, overnight on December 12th/13th.
An Audi was entered in Derby Road. Hair dressing clippers, straighteners and tongs were taken, between December 11th and 12th.
A car was entered in Stroud Road. A ‘point of sale ‘system was stolen, between December 10th and 11th.
📅 Weekday what’s on
Some mid-week events to plan for:
Paint a Christmas tree at Gloucester Brewery - Tuesday 7pm-9pm. Details here.
Visit Santa at the Chamwell Centre - Wednesday 11am-1pm. Details here.
Christmas at the Movies concert at Gloucester Cathedral - Wednesday 7.30pm. Details here.
Ghost hunting at Blackfriars Priory - Thursday 7pm. Details here.
Jazz Collective Christmas Party at the Thirsty Pine - Thursday 8pm. Details here.
Meet the Wish Fairies at Eastgate Shopping Centre - Friday 11.30am-2pm. Details here.
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