Gloucester MP questions what help £107m The Forum project will bring for ‘struggling families’
The Kings Quarter development is expected to be completed later this year.
Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre has questioned what benefits the city’s £107m the Forum project will bring to struggling working class families in the city.
The Kings Quarter development is expected to be completed later this year as part of the project.
Once open, it will offer premium offices, residential apartments, retail space and restaurants, and a boutique hotel complete with rooftop bar.
It was also awarded Levelling Up funding by the last Government to go towards The Forge, a new digital business centre, cyber proofed as an incubator for tech and digital start ups and enterprises.
The recently-elected Labour MP has praised Gloucester City Council’s flagship project and says it is a great addition to the city centre.
But he believes the city should broaden its horizon and “not just be content with being Cheltenham’s poorer brother”.
And has questioned what tangible benefits it will bring to struggling households across Gloucester.
He said: “Somebody sold the Forum to me as ‘well, when we’ve got the hotel we can have overflow from Cheltenham races’.
“We are not an overflow for Cheltenham. We’ve got a longer history, a prouder history and we shouldn’t be seeing ourselves that way.
“The Forum is great, it’s nice to see it, it’s a great addition to the city centre but what benefits does that bring to a family in Matson, who are struggling to pay their bills and are worried about what their kids are going to do going forward.
“What is that going to do for reducing poverty in the city and reducing health inequalities and making sure the schools have the resources they need – it’s doing nothing.”
He said former Prime Minister Boris Johnson rightly identified a feeling across the country of communities being left behind.
And while Levelling UP projects were meant to address that, he believes it has just led to big city and town centre projects which have not improved the day to day lives of many struggling households.
“Opportunity is such a big word,” Mr McIntyre said.
“I genuinely believed as a kid growing up in a working class home in Yorkshire, if I worked hard I could do pretty much anything.
“The reason I’m sat here today is proof that it worked. There was mobility, there was opportunity. That has dried up now, families like mine say there is nothing for my kids, what are they going to do?
“Levelling Up was meant to address some of that and what it ended up being was big projects in city and town centres. What I see as Levelling Up is, we’ve got to build opportunities and give control of skills back to local councils.”
Mr McIntyre believes the city should foster economic growth in industrial and energy jobs rather than focussing on cyber.
“I have reservations about doing stuff because Cheltenham is doing it already. We’ve got a proud history of our own particularly on the industrial side.
“We’ve got some brilliant manufacturers. We’ve got lots of links into the energy sector – there are loads for those two to be combined.
“If cyber companies want to come here as well, we’re not going to say no to people coming and investing in Gloucester. I think we have to broaden our horizons a bit and not just be content with being Cheltenham’s poorer brother.”