Work set to start on Far Gosford Street in Coventry

Work to finish the restoration of one of the few Coventry city streets to escape World War Two bombing and post-war redevelopment is expected to start.



Far Gosford Street is described by the council as "one of the city's most important historic streets".

In April, £1m of Heritage Lottery funding was given towards a programme of restoring shop fronts.

The street has 14 Grade-II listed buildings, including a number with medieval timber frames.

The project is organised by a partnership between Coventry City Council and Complex Development Projects (CDP).

Chris Patrick, the council's conservation and archaeology officer, said the first phase of the scheme in 2012, which cost £2.7m, had seen the repair of two timber-framed buildings and a 19th Century weaver, among other projects.

The council hopes that by restoring the rest of the street, they will be able to turn it into a "bohemian quarter for the city".

Mr Patrick said: "Many of these historic buildings look a bit sad. We want to rescue them from a world of fried chicken and general grot."

He added the final phase would start in early 2014.

Councillor Lynnette Kelly said: "Far Gosford Street is one of Coventry's gems, a great survivor from the past.

"The regeneration that has taken place over the last few years has reversed decades of decline. But it remains a job half-done and this funding allows us to complete the job, tackling buildings that missed out in the first phase."

• Far Gosford Street was the main route out of medieval Coventry towards Leicester and London.
  
• The street was crammed with a variety of traders in medieval times. Metalworkers and locksmiths dominated in the 13th Century, with weavers and drapers taking over in the 14th and 15th Centuries.
  
• During this period, the surrounding area was the site of several historic events, such as the duel between Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and the execution of the brother and father of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth.
  
• During the Civil War, houses adjacent to Gosford Gate were demolished to give Coventry's Parliamentarians a clear line of fire from the town walls.
  
• The street, which largely avoided the devastating air raids of World War Two, while post-war redevelopment passed it by.

The council hopes...

That really is funny!

Far Gosford Street: Council loan 'will complete restoration'



A council has given developers a £1.36m loan for a city heritage project.

Work on the second phase of restoring Coventry's historic Far Gosford Street was due to start in early 2014.

However, Complex Development Projects (CDP), which is overseeing the work, said it had struggled to find finance for the scheme.

The street has 14 Grade-II listed buildings, including a number with medieval timber frames.

The street has already been partially restored in a £2.7m scheme that was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and European grants.

Ian Harrabin, managing director of CDP, said partial funding for the second phase - which will cost £3.6m - had been secured from the European Regional Development Fund, but it depended on the project being finished by June 2015.

"We hadn't been able to get bank funding for the project so the council's funding was a life-saver," he said.

"It allows us to get cracking this summer."

The council hopes that restoring the rest of the street will help to turn it into a "bohemian quarter for the city".

Coun Lynette Kelly denied the council was directing money away from services, or that the loan was a risk.

"We set up a fund specifically for loaning out money to companies who can't get finance from banks for projects we think are really sensible," she said.

"A few years ago they would easily have been able to get the money for the banks.

"This is a project we know will bring in business rates for the council and we think it is something that really needs to happen."

£5m FarGo project set for September public opening date



The long-awaited official opening of an ambitious £5million regeneration project in Coventry will take place within months.

FarGo Village – billed Coventry’s ‘Camden Lockstyle’ creative quarter – will be unveiled to the public on September 27 and 28.

Organisers of the scheme, which is the last stage of the city’s multi-million pound Far Gosford Street development, say they have an ‘action-packed’ opening party planned – although the full details are being kept firmly under wraps.

Throughout the summer, the FarGo team will be out and about at a number of local events, offering a taste of what’s to come at the village.

There will be a sneak preview at The Godiva Festival next month and FarGo will also be joining in with this year’s Coventry University Fresher’s Fair as headline sponsor.

The project is set to be the anchor for the long running street wide regeneration initiative managed by Coventry City Council and developers CDP/Mazing.

Coun Kevin Maton, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for business, enterprise and employment, said: “It is very exciting that we are now getting close to the launch of FarGo Village which will add a whole new dimension to Far Gosford Street and to the city.

“It’s going to be a place full of life and fun – with something for everyone to enjoy.

“It’s central to the regeneration of the Far Gosford Street area and builds on the work that has already taken place in this unique and historic street.

“When work started to transform Far Gosford street a decade ago it seemed hugely ambitious.

“Now it’s hard to remember how run down it was and how much has changed.

“Regeneration like this is gradual, it’s organic and it has local people at the heart of it. It really is a success story.”

Ian Harrabin, of developer CDP/Mazing, added: “FarGo Village is going to be something special for Coventry – there will be nothing like it in the Midlands.

“The team are working really hard to make the launch a very special weekend. Put it in your diaries now.”

The project – which is supported by the European Regeneration Development Fund – will feature a range of outlets including a multi-purpose venue, bars, cafes and creative spaces.

The entire initiative involves £30m of public and private investment in over 55 properties over a period of ten years.

Spon Street was the arts and crafts centre of Coventry at one time. Look at it now, all takeaways and hairdressers

Shipping containers to be used as shops and offices at Coventry's FarGo Village



A new trend in alternative buildings has arrived at Coventry’s FarGo Village .

The city’s new creative quarter has taken delivery of the first of 12 recycled shipping containers this week - and they’re set to be transformed into offices and shops for new start-up businesses.

In recent years the humble but adaptable container has been creatively re-used around the world as offices, flats and shops. And now the industrial chic containers can be found in Far Gosford Street as part of the city’s £5million regeneration project which officially opens next month.

FarGo Village - which is billed as Coventry’s answer to Camden Lock - will use the shipping containers to provide affordable spaces for start-up creative businesses from fashion designers to graphic agencies.

Each business owner will be given a bare container to paint and adapt to their own unique designs in time for the grand launch on September 27.

All of the units have been snapped up by businesses including Rootz, which supplies ethnic and multi-cultural gifts, art gallery Deadbeat Art and media company Clan Media.

FarGo Village is a joint project between Coventry City Council and development partner Mazing Ltd and is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Ian Harrabin, managing director of CDP/Mazing, said: “Coventry has a thriving creative community but for too long it has been hidden – Fargo Village will bring them out of their shell. The containers have been hugely popular, there’s just something about them that gets people’s creative juices flowing.

“There’s been a huge change over the past decade in the UK with innovative businesses at the forefront of economic growth moving back into city centres.

“Creative people want a creative environment to work in and most of the cutting edge ideas these days come from working collectively in the local coffee shop. Business parks and suits are out, beards and urban cool are in. If the city is to capitalise on its great universities, then it needs a creative quarter.”

Coun Kevin Maton, cabinet member for business, enterprise and employment, added: “It is great to see so many new businesses starting up at Fargo Village.

“The shipping containers are a fantastic way for people to trial new businesses at low cost and provide something very different to anything else in the region. We are all looking forward to the launch on September 27.”