Westgate Street has always been my favourite city centre street. Not only is it the gateway to Gloucester Cathedral, but it also contains some wonderful buildings itself – from the Fleece Hotel with its 12th century undercroft, to the 16th century merchants house at number 26 (now the Antiques Centre) and the iconic portico of Shire Hall.

It also tells some great stories, from the Tailor of Gloucester, to Colonel Massey’s defence of the city during the Siege of Gloucester, Dick Whittington and the miserly banker Wood, believed to be the inspiration for Dickens’ character of Ebenezer Scrooge.

But it’s also fair to say that it needs some care and attention to be the gem we know it can be. It does suffer from lower footfall than the other gate streets – I’m told because, unlike the other gate streets, it doesn’t lead anywhere.

£1.9 million funding to make it the gem we know it can be

So I was delighted when our bid for High Street Heritage Action Zone status for Westgate Street was successful. What this means is that £1.9 million of government money is available over four years, starting in April next year, to assist property owners with grants, improve the public realm and make a contribution to bringing The Fleece site back into use. The City Council will also be contributing a significant amount on top of this and property owners will be expected to make a contribution too.

It comes on top of the news that Dowdeswell Estates, who have delivered some impressive restoration projects elsewhere in the county, are our preferred development partner for The Fleece – a site which has been derelict for almost 20 years. This will be formalised by a report to Cabinet in November and put on a proper legal footing thereafter.

The City Council has recently moved into Shire Hall, enabling our former Docks offices to be marketed for a new use, and transferred its customer service reception to 92-96 Westgate Street (known as The Gateway). The Cathedral has also announced plans for a Phase II of Project Pilgrim, building on the great success of the new public square and other improvements delivered as part of Phase I.

So Westgate Street’s future looks much brighter now and its place as my favourite city centre street seems assured!