'No plan B' for Eastgate Shopping Centre revamp amid £11m uncertainty over levelling up

Gloucester City Council leader Jeremy Hilton asked civil servants what was happening to the levelling up funding for the round three bids.
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There is currently “no plan B” for the regeneration of Eastgate Shopping Centre should Labour not honour the £11m which was promised by the previous Government to Gloucester for the scheme. Gloucester City Council was told in November last year that it had been successful in its bid levelling up funding bid which would pave the way for a complete revamp of the Greyfriars Quarter.

The project aims to see part of the shopping centre including the market hall, given an overhaul and repurposed with spaces set aside for community activities, a new market and food hall, as well as a park and gardens, all set within the grounds of the 13th century Greyfriars monastery.

However, despite the council receiving confirmation from the then Conservative Government in May that they had been awarded the funding, civil servants could not confirm the grant was being processed after the change in Government. Council leader Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton) says the authority is still in the dark and there is currently "no plan B".

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He said this week that his view on whether the council will get the funding is “pessimistic”. But also said the new Labour Government has yet to give them a clear direction on what their priorities will be.

He believes high street regeneration will be one of their priorities and they may be able to secure the funding through other means. “There’s not really a plan B,” he said.

“There’s not one designed yet. We might get a dollop of money which is not the full lot. We might get £4.5m, I don’t know.

“Until we see the outcome. There are no specific works being done on a plan B but I’ve got an idea of what the priorities would be.

The council hopes to create a multi-purpose dance, music, fitness and cinema space in the current market hall.
The council hopes to create a multi-purpose dance, music, fitness and cinema space in the current market hall.

“It’s about improving the offer of the indoor market which would be beneficial to attracting traders. Labour mentioned High Streets are a priority.

Cllr Hilton raised the issue at the City Region board meeting last month. He asked civil servants what was happening to the levelling up funding for the round three bids.

“We put in a bid, we were successful for the regeneration of the Greyfriars area which is Eastgate Shopping Centre. The High Street is important to the Government, Michael Gove signed that off.

“Two days after the last Prime Minister called the general election and communications between then and now we don’t know what’s happening. Good to know whether we ought to remain positive or completely pessimistic that we won’t get the funding.

“It’s about £11m, it would really help that scheme proceed.”

Gloucester City Council was successful in its bid for Government funding in November which will pave the way for a complete revamp of the Greyfriars Quarter. However it is uncertain whether the new Labour government will provide the funding
Gloucester City Council was successful in its bid for Government funding in November which will pave the way for a complete revamp of the Greyfriars Quarter. However it is uncertain whether the new Labour government will provide the funding

Chris Parsons, of The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said there was uncertainty about the funding. "The honest answer is we just don’t know at the minute,” he said.

“In terms of the funding, as I stated at the beginning, we are in a challenging environment fiscally. It’s a fair question on the levelling up funding (LUF). I wish I could give you more certainty at this moment.

“Pretty much all of our funding streams are under review as part of the wider spending review that is going on at the minute. I would probably want to give indication that LUF round three brownfield land relief funding and community ownership are all very much under review.

“The reason I’ve picked out those three is we had essentially either live windows for applications or application windows that had just shut. In the case of LUF three had literally, under the previous administration, either been agreed or was in the process of being agreed.”