Council on track to deliver a city that works for everyone

Gloucester City Council is on track to complete 94% of the promised actions and projects laid out in its Council Plan.

A report seen by cabinet on 11 March 2020 goes in to detail about the 38 actions and projects outlined in the authority’s 2017 to 2020 Council Plan and how they are progressing.

Each action or project falls under one of the council’s 4 priorities: working to create a vibrant and prosperous city; working to maintain a safe and attractive city; working to build strong and resilient communities and; working to provide great services that ensure value for money.

Gloucester City Council is on track to complete 29 of its targets by May 2020. Of the remaining 9 projects, 1 is no longer being progressed, 1 is a long term ongoing action, and 7 are forecast to complete beyond May 2020.

Significant achievements since 2017 include:

• Working to create a vibrant and prosperous city
  • Completing the Gloucester Transport Hub in 2018 and planning approval for Kings Quarter awarded in March 2020
  • Phase 1 completion of Blackfriars student accommodation
• Working to maintain a safe and attractive city
  • Purple flag status achieved in 2018 and reaccredited in spring 2019
  • City Centre Wardens trialled in autumn 2017 and formally introduced in January 2018
  • Green flag status awarded for Robinswood Hill, Barnwood Arboretum and Saintbridge Balancing Pond and Allotments, with ongoing work with Friends Group in Gloucester Park for green flag qualification
  • Successful grass cutting social enterprise in Podsmead, offering employment and training opportunities in the community with a proposal for a similar scheme in Matson
  • Increased recycling in the district, from 43.6% (2017/18) to 45.4% (2019/20)
• Working to build strong and resilient communities
  • Community builders working to support residents and develop community assets in areas of the city including Kingsholm, Abbeydale, Longlevens, Tuffley and Quedgeley with national presence through NESTA, Key Cities and Centre for Public Impact
  • Successful pilot of Beat the Street in summer 2018 and summer 2019
• Working to provide great services that ensure value for money
  • Know your bin day’ tool launched online
  • Improved customer contact telephone system
  • Request it and report it functions launched online

Cllr Richard Cook, Leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “The plan laid out our vision for ‘a city that works for everyone’, and it’s fantastic that we are set to have completed more than 75 per cent of this plan’s projects and actions by May 2020.

“These ambitious projects have set the tone for our commitment to the city, its communities and its future.”