Opposition councillors have called for more action to prevent Gloucester city centre from becoming a “ghost town”.
Liberal Democrat group leader Jeremy Hilton proposed a motion calling on Gloucester City Council to do more to encourage city centre living.
He wants this to be achieved through the conversion of redundant commercial and office buildings and also by developing brownfield land near the city centre.
“We know that city and town centres are changing quite a lot. Retail has been affected negatively by coronavirus and online shopping,” he said.
“We’ve seen the effect it’s had on the city centre itself. We have got to make sure that our city centre does not become a ghost town.
“We’ve made quite a lot of progress in the last few years in increasing the number of people who live in the city centre.
“But I do think we need to do more to increase the opportunities for people and to have a more continental feel about our city centre.”
He said the council needed to do a site search and report back with an action plan.
However, planning and housing strategy cabinet member Andrew Gravells, who proposed a successful amendment to the motion, said the council was already working hard to get more homes in the city centre.
He said the council is working to a confidential list of sites that need redeveloping.
“We are putting city centre living at the heart of our flagship city centre regeneration,” he said.
“Including affordable homes to rent. Our record and determination speak for itself.
“This administration continues to make good progress on the regeneration of our city centre area.
“Included in that is progress in some key city centre sites which we believe can help us provide more homes here in Gloucester.”
He also thanked officers for the tireless way they have worked to help the city move ahead during the pandemic.
Councillor Hilton said he could not support the amendment because it congratulated the cabinet member.
The amended motion was approved.
