There are hopes the refurbishment of a closed city-centre pub would help put Gloucester on the map as a destination for a night out. Rich Palmer, 42, who was born and grew up in the city has returned home after a decade working in the night-time economy in Cardiff.

He is among those who have put a bid to Gloucester City Council for the lease of The Chambers pub in Kings Square. And he says his ambition is to reinvigorate the city as a destination for a night out in the county.

The investment in regenerating Gloucester inspired him to make the move back and try and make his vision a reality. Venues such as the Food Dock and the new crazy golf and sushi venue Putt Putt Noodle have proved popular and Mr Palmer says he wants to add to that with a great new venue in the heart of the city.

“I had the opportunity to start something down in South Wales but knowing my vision, I thought it’s so much more achievable here and so perfect for this place,” he said. “Now is the time to come home, Gloucester has got to the point where all that investment has been done but it just needs that little bit of spark to kick start everything together.”

Mr Palmer says he is hoping to create a venue which would provide a platform for local producers and companies such as Gloucester Brewery. He hopes the venue will boost tourism by redefining Gloucester's identity for the future and create a dynaimc safe space for women.

"We are building links between Gloucester businesses, products, venues and brands. Looking to create a commercial platform for Gloucester culture and offering facilities and support to engage and support interest groups and events," he said.

“Part of it is about bringing in a supply chain from Gloucester Brewery, have a food court here with Gloucestershire focussed produce. A local doughnut brand wants to have concession space. It’s about getting Gloucester suppliers in where possible and offering them a platform.

“It’s so that Gloucester is seen as an interesting place to host an event or product launches. If there are historical events, body art events, or anything, we can publicise it and get it seen.”

He believes the council will not make an announcement about who the successful bidder is until after next week’s council elections. “We’ve submitted an offer for the full lease.

"No concessions, the full asking price. But I think the council are nervous and want a safe bet such as a pub.”

But Mr Palmer remains optimistic as he has also been told the council wants to move in a different direction. “And that’s what we’re offering. There are so many people with ideas for gigs, outdoor events in Kings Square.

“With the university at the old Debenhams you’ve got 3,000 potentially coming into the city centre all the time. You’ve got young people who are not necessarily interested in the traditional pub culture like they used to be so we’ve got to think to the future about how we are going to offer engagement.

“These are things that happen in Bristol and Cardiff." But he believes now is the time for such a venue in Gloucester.

Mr Palmer said he wants to involve organisations like the University of Gloucestershire and Hartpury University and Hartpury College.

“I want it so people can go out in Gloucester and to give young people another option which until recently has been pretty one dimensional - pubs or nothing.

“I don’t drink anymore, but I used to. I’ve got other interests.

"And we want to facilitate a venue for people to socialise with games and other interests. Instead of just having a bare pub or cafe we want a location where people can engage in their interests meaningfully.

“You might be into Manga, or something like that, and you want to meet people with similar interests. It's about getting a place where like minded people can gather.

"I hope the council listens.”

The names of councillors guilty of misconduct in Gloucestershire are being kept hidden from the public. Thirteen concerns were raised against Gloucestershire County Councillors over the last year.

But the identities and specific details about complaints where holders of public office have fallen short of the conduct expected of them are not being revealed. Shire Hall bosses say councillors are entitled to confidentiality unless and until a complaint progresses to a formal hearing.

Despite the rise in complaints - none has reached the stage of a public hearing but some of the complaints listed in a report presented to the audit and governance committee suggests councillors have breached the code of conduct.

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One of the cases mentioned in the report involved a complaint from a council officer that a councillor had made offensive comments in a staff meeting. The unnamed councillor apologised according to the report. But no other details about who this is or what they said is made public.

Another complaint suggests a councillor was making excessive demands of a council officer - the report simply says this information was noted and held on file and “management action taken”. The report also says a complaint from a member of the public against a county councillor over alleged insulting comments on social media was not looked into further because the matter was related to a Gloucester City Council issue.

An unnamed councillor complained over insulting and inappropriate comments made by another councillor but this was dismissed as “tit for tat”. Monitoring officer Rob Ayliffe told the committee on April 25 he hoped the report would give councillors a “flavour of the complaints and how they are being dealt with”.

“The council’s practice, in line with every other council I’m aware of, is that complaints are treated as confidential unless or until they progress to a hearings panel.

“If they get to that stage, then that hearings panel is in public. But up until that point, complaints are dealt with confidentially which is why I can’t disclose any more details than I have done.”

However, neighbouring Herefordshire Council publishes all decision notices relating to councillors who have breached the code of conduct - whether the complaint reaches a public hearing stage or not. Chairman John Bloxsom (L, Rodborough) asked at what stage, if ever, are any upheld complaints against councillors published.

“I think you said that would happen if anything goes to the panel,” he said. “As far as I know, in the life of the current council there hasn’t been anything that has gone to panel.

“And there are a number of cases which are referred to as being subject to informal resolution.”

Cllr Bloxsom said he believes some of those are already in the public domain but are not reported internally by the council. “I just wonder whether we are comfortable with that,” he said.

“The issue has been raised with me that there are other authorities where names do appear in the public domain as a result of the investigations but we aren’t doing that.”

Mr Ayliffe said he had decided not to disclose any code of conduct complaints that do not reach a public hearing because it was a “far easier line to take”. “The difficulty with that is once you break that practice, it then becomes a matter of discretion as to whether you disclose something when you get a press enquiry which I sometimes do,” he said.

“The trouble then is if you choose not to disclose something there’s a possibility for the media to interpret an outcome from that non-disclosure. The far easier line to take is we don’t discuss this which is why I have adopted that line.”

He expressed concerns that as a result, the committee has very limited oversight of what is happening in detail. But he said the independent persons exist to give councillors an assurance there are others looking at the cases.

Councillor Chloe Turner (G, Minchinhampton) said the council seemed to have a lot of complaints and more than previous years. “It’s quite a depressing lineup of school child behaviour. If you were to read it as a member of the public, it doesn’t come across well.”

She asked if code of conduct training is needed. Mr Ayliffe said it is important and is looking at training being offered in June and July to focus on the protocol between councillors and officers.

“Overbearing, bleak and depressing” warehouses at a Gloucester business park will soon be built despite opposition from dozens of neighbours. Plans to develop plots 3, 4 and 5 at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth have been approved by Borough planners.

However, dozens of people had objected to Gloucester BP Developments Ltd’s scheme due to the increased traffic it would lead to on nearby roads such as Lobleys Drive. Some 30 people raised concerns which included the loss of light and overbearing nature of the proposals and that there would not be much of a buffer for wildlife, noise and pollution.

Oscar Smith, a Cooper’s Edge resident, spoke against both schemes at Tewkesbury Borough Council’s planning committee meeting today (April 23). He told councillors the revised plans had failed to address the concerns raised by residents over the units’ location, height and use as warehouses.

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“Not to mention the associated effects of traffic noise and the utilitarian overbearing design,” he said. “The proposed largest building has a height of 14.87 metres, a footprint of 6,700 square metres and is composed of generic utilitarian materials.”

He said the total area of the plots was 16,000 square metres offering a “bleak and depressing outlook” with the “complete oppression of the skyline apart from a slither of space between units”.

Grace Brocklehurst, the agent for the applicant, called on the committee to follow the officer’s recommendation to approve the proposals for plots 3 and 4. She said the developer had reviewed the application to address comments raised at a recent site visit.

The applicant has reduced the proposed height of the buildings by up to two metres. “It is considered this development will not lead to unreasonable loss of light to the principle rooms of the adjacent dwellings,” she said.

“The separation distance is also in excess of the buffer required at the outline permission granted for Cooper’s Edge.” She also said the site would create hundreds of jobs.

The committee voted to grant delegated permission for both the reserved matters applications for plots 3 and 4 and the separate application for plot 5.

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Following a disastrous campaign this season with relegation to the seventh tier, Gloucester City have announced a new board for next season with co-owners Alex Petheram and Eamonn McGurk taking a step back.

Colin Taylor will take on the role as chairman with Jay Marriott becoming the vice-chairman of the Tigers. Previously the two had been involved in the board of directors which was put in place in December.

Alex Petheram and the club issued a statement on Thursday morning, with new chairman Taylor giving his first thoughts on his appointment.

“It’s an honour to accept the role of chairman and the confidence that ownership have in our boards vision moving forward. In order for us to become successful on and off the pitch it will take a collective much bigger than myself and I’m looking forward to a collaboration of staff, volunteers, players and most importantly you the fans. I don’t take this stewardship lightly and our board intend to give their all," he said.

Taylor’s role will entail the focus on internal matters with structures, roles and responsibilities, while Marriott will be working externally on media, communications and partnerships.

The board will be rounded out by successful businessmen Richard Lewis and Chris Freeman, with Freeman’s focus being on building relationships with the Supporters Trust and T-End Originals.

Co-owner Petheram began a statement which explains the difficulties of this season. “When I was asked to write this note wrapping up the 2023/24 season and introducing the chairman, at first, I declined, he said.

"I didn’t think I earned the right, as frankly this season I’ve not been around. I didn’t go to any away games at all and only managed around five home games."

Petheram then went into the appointment of previous Gloucester boss Tim Flowers in which he labelled it as a ‘mistake’ and a ‘mistake that meant relegation’.

Petheram also spoke on the short tenure of the Chambers ownership: “The former chairman (Patrick Chambers) left the club in December 2023 and the club was in a lot of trouble on and off the pitch. The club had legal and contractual disputes with the exiting management teams. Following support from our legal team, the ombudsman, the league and FA, these issues are now very nearly resolved. This will allow the new 2024/25 season to start afresh.”

Petheram made it clear that stories revolving around the ‘debt’ when he departed at the end of the 22/23 season is unreviewable. Stating the club has always been used for the ‘benefit of the city, the community and the Youth’.

Formerly a part of the ‘board of directors’, Colin (Taylor) and Richard Lewis will see a new board come in for the 2024/25 season in which Petheram stated himself and Eamonn McGurk ‘will not be on’.

Petheram detailed Taylor’s involvement with the club in previous years and how he’s the right fit for the club in this difficult time.

“Colin has been around the club since our return to Meadow Park and is a great bloke! I first met him when he volunteered to coach within the youth. Without Colin and Rich, this season would have been even worse.”

Petheram ended the statement with an emotionally written goodbye: “My message to Colin is simple, love the club and it will love your back. Thanks for the memories, I’m signing out for the final time with a tear in my eye, as man this club is close to my heart.”

The new board made it clear they had the full backing of Gloucester manager Mike Cook and his coaching team.

Cook spoke to Gloucestershire Live on Tuesday night: “We’ve worked really well together so far. As you can see, we need to make changes. I’m sure we’ll have a successful season next year.”

The board are making sure sustainability is their main focus with the future of the club being their youth, whilst Chris Hill and his staff have expanded the women’s and girl’s teams this year in which they have some exciting news coming soon.

The statement ended with this new look board looking ahead to a rebuild next season.

“With much to do over the close season, we are looking forward to sharing news with you on the club structure, roles, further partnerships and sponsorships.

“The unwavering support from our fans has been truly remarkable, and we’ll need your continued support as we strive to bounce back.”

Gloucester City boss Mike Cook was left ‘disappointed’ despite his side winning the Gloucestershire FA Senior Challenge Cup final against Bishop’s Cleeve on penalties.

A first half opener from Theo Robinson gave the Tigers the lead at half-time, with the Mitres fighting back through goals by Ross Langworthy 70 minutes in and Jay Malshanskyj seven minutes later.

Robinson netted his second late on, sending the game to penalties, where it came down to club captain Spencer Hamilton to win the county cup after a 31-year wait.

“We had a lack of intensity," Cook said. "They made it difficult for us and the one good thing we had was the resilience at the end to come back.

“We were struggling with numbers today but there’s still no excuses. I’m disappointed with the performance, I’m chuffed to win the competition, but I don’t think we played well.”

A youthful Gloucester side saw out the game until penalties, with 16-year-old Jamie Creed even stepping up to take one, which was dispatched brilliantly.

“They’ve got to experience these games," Cook said "I thought they did quite well and Jamie wanted to take one, he was brave enough to, so we let him do it.

“I can’t believe the club got rid of the Under-18s. They’ve got to bring that back in and be a feeder for us at this level.

“You look at Bishop’s Cleeve with their standard, they’ve got a great set up and we want to be inclusive to all the community and want to make sure we’re serving everyone we can, including the women’s team."

Cook gave an update on the squad, with the future up in the air for a lot of the players.

“We’ve got a retain and release list which will be coming out in the next week," he said. "Then we just start to rebuild from there, from my point of view I can’t wait for that to happen.”

After a difficult season, Cook is adamant on having a successful campaign next season with the backing of the board.

“We’ve had a lot of support from Colin Taylor and Richard Lewis. Eamonn (McGurk) has been fantastic as the club owner, he wants what’s best for the club so we’re really grateful for them,” he said.

“It’s disappointing to have a relegation season but I don’t want to be in charge of a team that goes out of existence. For us to get through the last two or three months was a real grind and it’s a lot of credit to the people I’ve mentioned for their contribution to the club.

“If I get in my players, I think we’ll have a great season. We’re never going to guarantee winning the league, but I’d like to think we’ll come close.”

Gloucester City (4-4-2): Thompson, Lake, Hamilton, Duffus; Rowe, Barlow, Hanks (Creed 46) , Durrell, Smalley (Hundt 71); Wright, Robinson. Subs not used: Dennis.

Bishop’s Cleeve (4-3-3): Clayton, Davies, Turner, Haskayne, Nelmes; Sunley, McLean, Holland, Dunbar (Chambers 65), Langworthy, Malshanskyj (Scott 90+9). Subs not used: Soule, Selman, Pearce.

Attendance: 456.