Thousands of people across Gloucester have received information on the City’s regeneration, new homes and job opportunities being created, - and this number is set to rise significantly in 2010
The Gloucester Heritage URC team took to the road more than 250 times last year visiting schools, community and business groups across the city. Links have already been made to neighbourhood groups and schools including Central Technology College, Barnwood Park Arts College and Gloucestershire Chamber of Commerce & Industry to name but a few.
With more community and business engagement planned over the coming months, the GHURC team are looking forward to getting the wider communities involved.
“We’ll visit any group across the City to share information on the regeneration of Gloucester and the opportunities it’s creating, and encourage those who haven’t contacted us already to get in touch,” said Sam Hoad, GHURC Community Engagement Manager.
Despite huge cranes towering over Gloucester Quays whilst High Orchard Bridge and the Designer Outlet Centre were being constructed, the real meaning of regeneration only became evident to many when the Outlet Centre opened.
“When they opened, creating 500 new jobs and opening up this area of the City for the first time, people finally understood the scale of what was being undertaken,” added Sam.
The public response to the regeneration has grown significantly since then, especially at the recent large-scale consultations on the future of Blackfriars and Greyfriars, two of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ sites across Gloucester leading the regeneration, where hundreds of people attended consultation events and responded to questionnaires.
GHURC works closely with such organisations as Gloucestershire Association for Voluntary and Community Action (GAVCA), a support service for voluntary organisations across Gloucester, but is concerned that there are still people who may still not understand the relevance of the City’s regeneration to them. The GHURC Community Engagement Team is determined to identify and approach as many of them possible in 2010.
Chris Oldershaw, Chief Executive of the GHURC, said: “Everyone in Gloucester will benefit from the massive £1 billion regeneration investment in the city, £450 million of which has already been secured. More than 600 homes at St Oswald’s Park, including a ‘care village’ are currently being built, £11.2 million of Government investment has been secured through the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) to complete improvements at Gloucester Docks and create vital pedestrian links between Gloucester Quays and the city centre and more than £7 million has been secured to start improvements at Blackfriars Priory which includes a new concert hall and a language immersion centre.
“There are big opportunities for those who want to get involved in the city’s Regeneration and we’re working to ensure that as many people as possible know about them.”