⏩ The Gloucester Start: Wednesday December 4th
£90k council job | Costco on the way | Clapham Court kibosh
Welcome to Wednesday and edition number 8 of The Gloucester Start. A reminder that you can help make sure we’re covering as much as possible by dropping your stories and events through this form. And please help spread the word with a share.
🚫 Roads around much of Gloucester were gridlocked yesterday evening after a five-car crash on Corinium Avenue. Buses were delayed by more than an hour and traffic on several roads - Great Western Road, Horton Road and London Road around the hospital among the worst hit - came to a lengthy standstill. - Gloucestershire Live
💷 A salary of up to £90k awaits the successful candidate for a senior Gloucester City Council role. The head of finance and resources will be responsible for the city centre’s regeneration programme, leading a range of services and making sure public finances are carefully managed. Applications are open until December 22nd. - Gloucester City Council
🏨 Will the redevelopment of Westgate Street’s historic Fleece Hotel ever happen? Fresh doubt surrounds its future after city council leader Jeremy Hilton said the money’s ‘not there’ to bring it back to life. More than £6million allocated to bringing the 15th Century building back into modern-day use was redirected to support The Forum development instead, although a meeting is planned with The Phoenix Village Project group to see how their vision for the site - a mix of supported accommodation and independent businesses - has progressed. - Gloucester News Centre, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)
⛅ Today’s weather: Dry and fairly bright for much of the day, possible light showers later in the evening. Temperatures reaching 10C.
🏗️ Several major developments were decided by planning committees in Gloucester and Stroud last night. Membership discount megastore Costco will be coming to Eastern Avenue, with building work to start as soon as possible but safety concerns were raised about the traffic it’s likely to attract. - Gloucestershire Live (LDRS) ↪️ The demolition of Clapham Court, Gloucester’s only high-rise block of flats, was sent back to the drawing board amid serious concerns about parking. Gloucester City Homes wants to replace it with modern social housing but will have to rethink its proposals. - Gloucester News Centre (LDRS) ↪️ Forest Green Rovers’ new wooden stadium and eco-park, on land next to junction 13 of the M5, was unanimously voted through by Stroud District councillors. - Stroud District Council
🚉 Gloucester Railway Station handled more passengers than ever before in the last financial year. Its platforms welcomed 1.58million people either beginning or ending their journeys, up from 1.45million the year before. It’s the country’s 327th busiest station, out of more than 2,500, new data shows. London Liverpool Street is the busiest, with 94.5million passengers, and Denton in Greater Manchester the quietest - just 54 people started or ended their journey there in 12 months. - Office of Rail and Road
🚨 Christmas songs have been reimagined in a campaign to stop motorists driving under the influence. Gloucestershire Constabulary and partner authorities have reworked the lyrics to festive numbers as part of their initiative which runs until January 1st. - Gloucestershire Constabulary
🎄 Love spotting those homes that go all in with their Christmas lights? Photographer Katie Mitchell has put together a handy guide to where the best ones can be found in Longlevens. - Katie Mitchell
🚯 There’s a new weapon helping to clean up the city centre’s streets - a mega-vacuum. The Glutton H2O is a mobile street hoover and spot washer paid for by Gloucester BID (Business Improvement District) to blast litter and street waste. You can help keep the city tidy too by joining the BID’s clean-ups on the first Monday of every month, meeting at Gloucester Cross at 10am. - Gloucester BID