THE FOREST Council are officially the owners of the former Gloucestershire College site at Five Acres after the sale was completed for £1.

It means that a £9 million redevelopment project to transform the site into a "destination" leisure and education facility can now go ahead.

The agreement with former owners Homes England brings three years of negotiations to a close.

Cabinet Member for Communities and lead member on the Five Acres project, Councillor Paul Hiett (Bream, Independent Alliance) said: "Completing the purchase and beginning works at the Five Acres site is a major step forward and a huge moment for us in moving ahead with our exciting plans for the area. 

"We’ve not wanted to rush into any decisions around Five Acres and we have worked hard to ensure that any future option for the site was of maximum benefit to our communities, that it is sustainable and will be affordable."

The redevelopment is part of the successful, district-wide £20 million Levelling Up funding that the council was awarded by the government in October.

Work has started to clear some trees and maintain and a contractor has been appointed to demolish the current buildings and clear the site.

As the demolition work will be on the site no disruption to the local area is expected.

Cllr Hiett continued:“We are now in a position to start work on site, beginning with the demolition of existing buildings to make way for the new facilities.

“We are also ready to start the process of formally designing what the wider site will look like and we look forward to working with our land owning partners on the site West Dean Parish Council, local residents, sports clubs, and schools to hear their views to deliver on the proposals in our Levelling Up Fund bid.”

“The Levelling Up funding has allowed us to come up with a solution that will work well for local people and for the wider area, and allow us to consider further options in the future.

“I’d like to personally thank all the staff and partners who have been involved in this project and our successful Levelling Up Fund bid and helped us get to this landmark point for the future of the Forest of Dean.”

Initial plans for Five Acres include the regeneration of the existing Speedwell Building to provide new community space and leisure facilities for local communities along with new business space to help local economic recovery and support local business growth.

Plans also include a range of indoor and outdoor sports facilities and Hartpury University and College will develop an “outreach” education centre to be called the Aspiration Academy.

Discussions about the future of the site have been going on for almost a decade.

In 2012, local people formed campaign group FANS (Five Acres Not for Sale) when a possible move to the Cinderford Northern Quarter was first mooted with the aim of retaining the site for the community.

FANS chairman and now Forest councillor Jamie Elsmore said the purchase of the site was “fantastic news”.

He added: “Without the community’s perseverance and stubbornness and a few dedicated individuals this wouldn’t have been possible.”

The college moved to its current site as the “anchor tenant” of the Northern Quarter in 2018.