⏩ The Gloucester Start: Wednesday February 26th
Cycle spine reaction | Schools will merge | Council tax bill
Good morning, welcome to Wednesday’s Start. I curate these bulletins manually each morning to put as much as I can find about our city - news, events, community information and more - into one place for everyone to access. Please share to help spread the word. It’s been a quieter 24 hours news-wise - here’s everything I’ve found for today.
🏫 A merger of two Gloucester primary schools has been approved by the Department for Education, meaning the closure of Moat Primary Academy. It will amalgamate with Robinswood Primary Academy from September 1st. Both are run by the Greenshaw Learning Trust. - Gloucestershire Live
↪️ Only days ago, and as covered in Monday’s Start, Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre called for the timeline to be delayed after declaring the consultation process ‘inadequate’. - Alex McIntyre
🌦️ Today’s weather: Strong likelihood of showers with sunny intervals as temperatures hit 9C peaks.
💷 Gloucester City Council meets tomorrow (Thursday) to approve its budget for 2025/26, with a 2.99% increase on the cards for its portion of council tax. If agreed, a band D household in the city will face an annual total bill of £2,238.80 - or more by £44.06 in Quedgeley, which has its own town council - a total rise of 4.7%. View the agenda here.
🚴 There’s been a strong public reaction to news that the city centre stretch of Gloucestershire’s cycle spine is to start imminently. More than 100 comments have greeted the county council’s Facebook post, with several criticising it as a waste of money or unwanted. Work begins on March 10th.
🏉 Kingsholm Stadium has been renamed Queensholm ahead of Gloucester-Hartpury’s play-off semi-final showdown with Bristol Bears this weekend as they chase an historic third Premiership Women’s Rugby title in a row. More than 3,000 tickets have already been sold for Sunday’s clash. They’re still available here.
🍛 Thai flavours will arrive at Gloucester Food Dock tomorrow (Thursday) for the opening of the latest restaurant there, Kinn Kinn. It’s the second outlet for the independent eatery which is already a hit in Newport. - Punchline Gloucester
💜 How the government plans to tackle domestic abuse in Gloucester was raised in Parliament this week by city MP Alex McIntyre, in an exchange with Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips. She’s pledged to ‘tackle the scourge’ everywhere. You can watch part of the exchange here and read the full back-and-forth in Hansard here.
🚨 Multiple cars have been broken into in Gloucester in recent days and weeks, with items including cash and bank cards stolen. - Gloucestershire Live
📌 Community Noticeboard
📌 Gloucester Civic Trust is looking for a new treasurer to join its Council of Management board of Directors. The voluntary role is responsible for presenting financial reports and overseeing the preparation and scrutiny of annual accounts, among more. See more.
⁉️ What have I missed? Send in submissions for our community noticeboard, covering news, events, announcements and more, via this simple form.
The top posts from Tuesday’s Start:
🚲 City centre stretch of Cycle Spine to start on March 10th
🫶 Vigil marks three years of Ukraine-Russia conflict
❌ Kings Theatre forced to close for safety improvements