IDEAS of how to develop Northwich's Weaver Square shopping Centre are set to be discussed.

Town councillors will be sitting down with officers from Cheshire West and Chester Council’s (CWAC) planning department on Monday, October 10, to talk about potential options for the site.

A public meeting about the future of Weaver Square will be held at a later date.   

No new plans have emerged since the collapse of a proposal to build a new health facility to replace the Victoria Infirmary Northwich, due to spiralling costs. 

A Northwich town councillor, Lee Siddall of Winnington and Castle Ward, has in the past raised concerns about CWAC’s intentions for the site.

He said: “This seems to be the first step of a new consultation.

“It’s not a public meeting - it’s for town councillors to meet with Cheshire West and Chester representatives to find out what they’re looking to do with Weaver Square, and an opportunity for town councillors to put their ideas across.

“I’ve been liaising with Cheshire West councillors Karen Shore and Richard Beacham and I am really pleased that it looks like they are going to be listening to us.

“My concern was that CWAC would have an out-of-date idea of what Northwich wants, and that they would run with findings from the 2016 consultation.

“A lot has happened since then, such as the pandemic and last winter’s floods.

“The way people use the town has changed – there is a lot more shopping online, even since 2020.

“It may be that a residential development is more appropriate, possible for young professionals who want to live in a town centre.

“What we certainly don’t want is more over-50s flats that don’t sell, like the ones over the road from Apple Market Place. Apparently only two of those have sold so far.

CWAC has engaged design consultancy Planit-IE to help develop new proposals for the site at a cost of £50,000.

According to Planit-IE’s bid document, they aim to ‘provide a practical toolkit for CWAC and future developers and investors as they take forward regeneration proposals within the town, ensuring that investment decisions in Northwich town centre are not progressed in isolation’.