Our vision and ambitions for recovery

Covid-19 has tested Cheltenham’s communities and economy over the last twelve months. As a council, we have recognised in our Covid-19 recovery strategy and medium-term financial plan that rebuilding the strength of our town will require innovation, ambition and a bold vision.

Our vision is grounded in the belief that Cheltenham should be a place in which everyone can thrive. In order that we can lead the economic recovery of our town, we will continue to use our assets for the benefit of our residents, businesses, staff and communities, stimulating a positive environment for inward investment in our place and people.

We recognise that in order to do this we need to work closely with our partners across the town as well as engaging with the One Public Estate programme which supports locally led partnerships of public sector bodies to collaborate around estate needs. The programme helps support the re-purpose of surplus public estate for housing, regeneration and other local uses.

Our corporate plan sets out five clear corporate priorities:

  1. Making Cheltenham the Cyber Capital of the UK
  2. Revitalisation and improvement of the town centre and public spaces
  3. For the council and the borough to be carbon net zero by 2030
  4. Increasing the supply of housing and investing to build resilient communities
  5. Delivering services to meet the needs of our residents and communities

The council’s Covid-19 Recovery Plan re-emphasised and highlighted the importance of these key objectives. This strategy takes a refreshed approach to future asset management decisions and the management of our portfolio which balances social value, sustainability, regeneration, commercial and housing needs at a strategic level to ensure a positive direction of travel to economic recovery continues.

The council’s assets and the way in which they are managed have the potential to both contribute to and detract from elements of these ambitions.

The purpose of this strategy is to:

  • set out the approach we will take to review the strategic purpose of our asset portfolio and ensure we are allocating available resources to land and property which best help support our Corporate Plan and th e wider vision and ambition for Cheltenham;
  • establish a framework to monitor the continuous performance of our asset portfolio against our priorities test whether it remains fit for purpose and better plan for a future that looks through a broader sustainable lens; and
  • outline the governance arrangements on which asset rationalisation, development, investment and construction decisions can be consistently based