GLOUCESTER RENAISSANCE
The Quay at Gloucester has great potential
Of all the Magnificent Seven schemes, it is the Gloucester Docks development that has perhaps given Chris Oldershaw the greatest satisfaction. “There was concern that, if Peel went ahead, it would take a lot of business away from the shops in the city centre,” he said. “We took the view that it only takes a few minutes to walk from the Cross to Gloucester Quays and if we could improve those linkages that would help people move between retail areas. “We persuaded the RDA to put in about £7 million to upgrade the Docks area in terms of public space improvements and public art to a high standard. It gets more people to visit the city who would probably have not come otherwise, hopefully enjoying what they see and coming back again.”
And things still to be done? He feels very strongly that the Severn waterfront Quay area in front of the former prison up to the Countrywide site still has great potential. “If you reduce the carriageway to a single lane each way it will give you an extra six metres on the Severn river water front.And most cities that have a waterfront make more of it than Gloucester does, “said Mr Oldershaw. “We actually prepared designs for that and had hoped it would come forward fairly quickly. To open up that area would create another asset for the city that it is not really making best use of. It is an undervalued resource that has huge potential. If you landscaped that, you could create something very special that would encourage more people to come into the city.”
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58 | July 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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