Frustration over 'unloved' building in Gloucester

Concerns have been raised about the state of Spread Eagle Court in Northgate Street

Attempts to convince the owner of an empty and "unloved" building to improve the site have yet to be successful.

Gloucester City Council has tried to contact the owner of Spread Eagle Court in Northgate Street.

The building is one of the first sights to greet people travelling towards the city centre from London Road.

Councillors have for years called for something to be done to refurbish the site.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, opposition leader Jeremy Hilton asked for the authority at a cabinet meeting to redouble its efforts in getting the owner to regenerate the site.He said: "On completion of the Forum and the Whitefriars apartments, the Spread Eagle Court cannot be left to slowly decay unoccupied and unloved as it is at the moment and we need to redouble our efforts and engage with the owner to get something done about this important and prominent building on Northgate Street."Council leader Richard Cook agreed that it would be an eyesore especially when the nearby regeneration is complete.

He said: "It is unloved, as you say. "But it is owned by somebody else and our officers can work with them, work with them and work with them and get nowhere because it is their property not ours."I am aware that officers have made many attempts to contact the owner and probably succeeded in contacting him but he's not yet prepared to do something with that building although I'd love to see something done about it as soon as possible."City councillors have previously raised concerns about the state of the building which has broken windows and missing tiles. Council officers have engaged with the owner of the property periodically, but have been unable to secure an agreeable solution for its redevelopment to date.