Cheshire West to debate 'urgent need' to revamp town centres

Cllr Charles Fifield, Conservative member for Weaver and Cuddington on Cheshire West and Chester Council, wants to see councillors from across the borough share their ideas on how to help the high street flourish.

It comes in a year which has seen major stores close across the country – including House of Fraser, which has pulled out of CWAC’s Northgate development in Chester.

Meanwhile, the council is continuing to look for retailers to open at Barons Quay, in Northwich, and is currently consulting the public on its vision for Weaver Square.

Cllr Fifield’s motion, which will be debated at full council on Thursday, says: “This council believes ensuring the successful future of town and city centres requires us all to work together.

“To respond to the structural shifts in retail and the now urgent need to reimagine our town and city centres, this council commits to re-establish the town and city centre working group that was originally established in 2013 and reported in 2014.

“It’s aim will be to review and update its report in light of ongoing changes in retailing in the UK and local concerns with the various masterplans for key centres within the borough.”

Cllr Fifield wants to revive the working group he led five years ago, which called for town centres to determine their own visions and be seen not just as shopping destinations.

He is calling for five councillors to represent Northwich, Winsford, Chester, Ellesmere Port and rural areas.

“I think some of the issues that we need to consider are convenience of access in terms of car parking,” the director at Fifield Glyn added.

“There’s also the issue of encouraging more people to live and work in town centres. If you look at cities like Liverpool and Manchester, part of the reason they still work well is that there are large numbers of people who live and work in those centres.

“It is different in smaller towns but those are the sort of things that need to be taken into consideration.

“I very much hope that this will get cross-party support because I think there are some issues like this which are far more important than party politics and we need everybody to work together to find a potential solution.”

The motion has been seconded by Cllr Michael Baynham, Conservative member for Winsford Over and Verdin – nearby to where CWAC recently bought Winsford Cross for regeneration.

“It’s not necessarily the case that what will be done in Chester will be done in Winsford,” he said.

“It might be that we are doing something in Chester that we are not aware of in Winsford and we are missing an opportunity.

“It might be that ideas won’t work in Winsford, but if we are not aware of them then we won’t know about them.”

But Cllr Brian Clarke, cabinet member for economic development and infrastructure, insists the work Cllrs Fifield and Baynham are calling for is already being done – while the ongoing Weaver Square masterplan is giving residents and traders the chance to shape Northwich’s future.

“We’ve got several of those groups working already,” the Labour member for Winsford Wharton said.

“They are very business-orientated, we find out what they want and what they need, and we organise ourselves according to what they say.

“It seems a bizarre ask when we are already doing it but we will listen to Cllr Fifield and we will consider it.”