A NEW outdoor space at the site of Northwich outdoor market could host events and al-fresco businesses for three or four years.

That is the ambition of Cllr Sam Naylor, the town centre's representative on Cheshire West and Chester Council.

He hopes the new space could become a much-loved asset in town over the next few years until Weaver Square's regeneration takes place.

Cllr Naylor told the Guardian: "We want it to be easy to maintain, easy to access and functional.

"The idea is that if people want to use it for events, or the businesses surrounding it want it for al-fresco purposes, they can – places like Vinnies, or Abda, or Salty Dog, let them use it to enable their businesses to prosper.

"I have already heard from people want to do events on it. We are just looking forward to the end of Covid so we can get some really good events on there."

CWAC submitted plans to transform the site this month, with the hope of starting work in January – 12 months on from the fire that ravaged the outdoor market – and completing it next April.

Cllr Naylor added: "I have been disappointed about the time spent on it – I was hoping we could have it ready by Christmas, the market has been demolished a while now.

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"But I have got over my disappointment now, with the fact there is probably not going to be any Christmas activities anyway thanks to Covid.

"Obviously there are plans for the whole Weaver Square area that we are still taking on, but this will be a big improvement to the public realm for three or four years first."

To see the council's plans for the space, search '20/04213/FUL’ on CWAC's planning website.