Looking back, I think we can be fairly pleased with how Gloucester fared in 2014. It’s been a year of solid progress. In regeneration terms, the Greyfriars scheme has been on-site and people have started to move into the new homes created in the heart of the city centre. The Gloucester Quays leisure quarter became a runaway success, with the new cinema and restaurants trading well.

We made great strides forward with the Kings Quarter redevelopment, securing funding for the new bus station and acquiring the land owned by Aviva that we need for the scheme. We prepared a masterplan for the Blackfriars area with our colleagues at the County Council and the Cathedral has got the first stage thumbs-up from the Heritage Lottery Fund for its Project Pilgrim, which is designed to improve the visitor experience. Gloucester’s first PaintJam street art festival went down a storm and I ended the year riding a camel through the gate streets for the Christmas Procession!

So much that we want to achieve
A poor end to the 2013/14 season for Gloucester Rugby was replaced by a sense of optimism, with a raft of new signings on both the playing and coaching sides.

2015 is going to be Gloucester’s BiG Year! Of course, it’s the Rugby World Cup in Sept-ember and October, with four matches being played at Kingsholm. But there’s so much more that we want to achieve on the back of the tournament – improvements to the city, a legacy of sporting participation and volunteering, more prosperity and enhanced pride in the city.

It’s also the year of the fifth Gloucester Tall Ships Festival, and Sir Elton John is going to be performing in concert at Kingsholm, plus one other big name (not announced at the time of writing). I hope that regeneration progress during 2015 will include resolving some of the more difficult issues like Bakers Quay, The Fleece Hotel and the Eastgate Indoor Market.

I’m determined that 2015 really is going to be Gloucester’s BiG year. I hope it brings you everything you wish for too!