GLOUCESTER RENAISSANCE
Restoring confidence in a great city
Ian Mean, former vice chairman of Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company and past Citizen editor, recalls the regeneration journey. Time was, when developers and those who might be potential investors in Gloucester just would not touch the city with a proverbial bargepole. They had lost confidence in the city council to deliver, as a result of some poor planning decisions, and it looked as if this historic city’s future was going nowhere. That was until our new MP at the time, Parmjit Dhanda, asked Prime Minister Tony Blair if he would give government help to set up an Urban Regeneration Company to drive the developments the city badly needed. That was the start of the regeneration journey. I well remember the early meetings of the GHURC - lots of councillors were there initially. They were told in no uncertain terms by Colin Molton of the government’s Homes and Communities Agency - a great mentor to us - that this was a proper company. It would not be run like some council meetings. And from that day on, the penny dropped. Until at the very end of the company in March 2013, we had just a few key councillors involved. To me, the key to any success we may have had was down to our people. We recruited a great no-nonsense chief executive in Chris Oldershaw, who had a tremendous track record of regeneration work. And we had a great chairman in Greg Smith, principal of Gloucestershire College - at the heart of the Docks regeneration - who asked me to become his vice chair.
Ian Mean
I knew nothing about urban regeneration, nor did Greg, but we were enthused by the huge task ahead and had great help from our partners. People like Paul James, who is still doing a great job as leader of Gloucester City Council. When people often questioned me about why I was vice chair - as editor of the local newspaper - with no knowledge of regeneration, I simply told them that I stuck up for Gloucester. I said I wanted to see Gloucester as a better place for the community and part of a growing local economy. There were times when being editor of the Citizen did help things along a little. I remember the day of the big planning decision for the Gloucester Quays Design Outlet by Peel Holdings. I ran three pages, including page 1 of the Citizen, with pictures of all the planning committee councillors, gently reminding them that they would not be forgiven if they made the wrong decision that evening! They made the right decision. And now Gloucester Quays is an outstanding success,
66 | July 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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