Preserving the Heritage of the Chester Station Gateway

22 October 2007

Chester City Council is inviting views on new planning guidelines aimed at protecting the historic buildings around Chester Station.

Earlier this year, the council secured funding under the Heritage Lottery Fund's Townscape Heritage Initiative which, together with private sector investment and money from Cheshire County Council, Chester City Council and the Railway Heritage Trust, provided in the region of £ 1.4 million to repair and enhance historically important buildings that contribute to the character of the area.

In line with Heritage Lottery requirements and Chester's Local Development Scheme, the council has produced planning guidance to ensuring that future developments are appropriate to the nearby buildings.

Councillor Mike Jones, Executive Member for Development explained: “The £10 million Station Gateway project is an important regeneration programme which will enhance a number of listed buildings and create an attractive and welcoming gateway into our city. The city council has produced draft design guidelines and a draft Conservation Management Plan which will be used to determine future planning applications and protect the area's heritage. We are inviting people to comment on these drafts and will use their feedback to finalise a supplementary planning document, which will be considered by the Executive in the New Year.”

The council has written to a range of groups and organisations which may have interests in the station area including developers, residents and local businesses. The draft documents are available from the 2nd floor reception in the council's Forum offices (Mon-Fri 8.30am – 4.45pm), at all public libraries and on the council's website at www.chester.gov.uk. The deadline for comments is Monday 19th November.

City council executive member for development, Councillor Mike Jones, said: “This is a positive step for Chester, however, to achieve our vision of Chester being a must see European destination we need to be in the top five for the UK so we have a great deal to do. Working closely with the business community I am sure we will make significant improvement to Chester in the future.”

The £10 million regeneration programme covering Chester Station, Brook Street, Station Road and part of City Road is being delivered by the Gateway Partnership which includes Arriva Trains Wales, Cheshire County Council, Chester City Council, Merseyrail, Merseytravel, Network Rail, North West Development Agency, Railway Heritage Trust, Virgin Trains and Visit Chester & Cheshire.

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