I said in my January article that I hoped 2017 would be the year when it all starts to come together. As the year starts to draw to a close and we look back, I think it’s fair to say that it has been.

Some of the projects and developments that have been in the planning stages for years are now on site – from Bakers Quay, where phase one of a new hotel, restaurant and apartment building is well advanced, to the former Kwik Save site where a 15 year wait for a development to start is now over. The new bus station is now coming out of the ground and our three major heritage projects – the Cathedral’s Project Pilgrim, Llanthony Secunda Priory and Discover DeCrypt – are all now on site. Project Pilgrim in particular has already had a major impact, with the former car park now replaced by a landscaped public square.

The University of Gloucestershire’s new Business School is taking shape

Accommodation for nearly 300 students is moving ahead on the Barbican site next to the Prison. This is for the University of Gloucestershire’s new Business School at Oxstalls, which itself is taking shape.

On a smaller scale, but still very important, the former Jumpin’ Jaks in Brunswick Road is undergoing major works to reopen as a bar/club/restaurant after well over a decade of sitting empty and derelict, and the former Job Centre in Southgate Street is being converted into 14 apartments with a new retail unit on the ground floor. This 1970s building will be transformed by the addition of some smart metal cladding, which is due to be installed by the end of the year.

A planning application is now in for the former BHS in Eastgate Street, for works to get it ready for occupation. This is the first priority since the Kings Walk shopping centre, including this building, was sold last year to a partnership of the City Council and Reef Estates. Improvements to the covered mall and car park are next on the agenda.

2018 promises to be just as exciting

2018 promises to be just as exciting, as some of these projects come to fruition or move on to later phases – and the next generation of developments come on stream. It’s a big year of anniversaries too, with the 1100th anniversary of the death of Aethelflaed and her burial at St Oswald’s Priory, and it’s 375 years since the Siege of Gloucester – a defining moment in Gloucester’s and England’s history.

I hope 2017 has been a good year for you too. I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas and everything you hope for in 2018.