Gloucester car park may never reopen amid redevelopment plans

Phoenix Village will be a place people can live, work and socialise

A multi-storey car park may never reopen due to new plans to redevelop a former hotel.

Gloucester City Council leaders have backed proposals to turn the former Fleece Hotel on Westgate Street into an enterprise hub for young people.

The Longsmith Street Car Park may also be redeveloped after shutting in September due to safety fears.

A report put to cabinet suggested parking may need to be provided elsewhere.

The Fleece on Westgate Street has sat empty since 2002

Previous regeneration plans for the hotel stalled last year as no detailed designs were forthcoming from Dowdeswell Group, the council's preferred partner for the site.

Now, council leaders are exploring the possibility of turning the site, which has been closed since 2002, into a state-of-the-art community and business hub for young people who need a helping hand.

Cabinet agreed a statement of intent with The Phoenix Village Project aims to redevelop the historic building and the Longsmith Street Car Park on Wednesday, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The scheme wants to "offer supported accommodation with skills training and assistance with health and mental health issues to help them reach their full potential".

But to make it viable, the proposals also include redevelopment of the car park.

And the council will need to consider proposals to relocate the parking provision as part of the development of the Phoenix Village project, the report said.

This is subject to ongoing demand, the full use of other car parks in the city and the opening of the new 400 space carpark at the Forum.

Longsmith Street Car Park has been closed since September

Council leader Richard Cook told the cabinet meeting that previous plans for a boutique hotel were not forthcoming due the economic changes caused in the city by the coronavirus pandemic.

"As a result the agreement with Dowdeswell was reviewed in 2023," he said.

"However, funding from Historic England in the interim has enabled works to take place to analyse parts of the site.

"The Phoenix Village Project have expressed an interest and are developing a business plan for use of the site as a one stop full service provision for disadvantaged young adults potentially delivering a strategic link between the Cathedral and The Docks."

He also said it could become a vibrant mixed-use scheme providing small scale retail, food and drink, leisure and even residential opportunities.

This would be done while tackling issues of homelessness, substance abuse and lack of skills for local young people, Cllr Cook added.

The council will also look to secure grant funding to make the redevelopment a reality.

The land is deemed to have a negative value and it could be given to the project for free.