After years of battling to win approval for a scheme to redevelop the final part of Gloucester Quays, developer Rokeby Merchant has won a major victory - outline planning permission.
The firm's ambition scheme would see the creation of a ‘vibrant plaza’, space for restaurants, shops, 117 apartments and a 10-storey tower at the gateway to the already popular waterside residential, retail and leisure destination.
Sixty of those apartments would be in the new tower, and plans describe low-carbon dwellings, near zero energy bills, with the project also saving the derelict listed Victorian Downings Malthouse.
Gloucester City Council’s planning department voted in favour of the plans for the 1.245 acre-site on Tuesday 4 April 2023, but has put a number of conditions in place before any work can go ahead.
Adrian Goodall, of Rokeby Developments, which worked with Gloucester architects Roberts Limbrick on the low carbon dwellings and was behind the redeveloped of much of the rest of the Quays site, told SoGlos he was hopeful work could start before the end of 2023.
‘I genuinely feel this is the last chance saloon for Downings and am excited there seems to be a solution.
‘It has been five years since we agreed phase one, and this is our fifth variation before we reached planning in terms of finding a viable solution.
‘There are still hurdles to overcome, but city planners have given outline planning permission to a major scheme which would deliver the final redevelopment of historic Gloucester Quays.
‘There is a 106 agreement before we get full planning, after that there is quite a number of considerations to discharge. We have said for some time now that we just want to get on and do it. We now just need to progress the technical decisions.
‘If we can discharge the various planning conditions, we can go out to tender to find a contractor, who will need to find subcontractors. That will take two or three months and if everything goes well we will be able to start work in November 2023. If not, we will be looking at New Year 2024.
‘What I think flows from this will be the confidence in Gloucester. The site is an arrival point into the city when people are heading to the Docks and Quays, they get dropped off right where this development will be and it will be the first thing they see.'
