A coherent cultural offer

3a & 3b. The city‘s cultural centre pieces need to be easy to access, easy to find, linked together and easy to interact with.

Too much of what makes the city special is hidden away from public view, is underutilised and is not easily accessible –this has a negative impact on the city’s experiential offer. The City Centre should celebrate, preserve and enhance its heritage through the re-appropriation of characterful spaces. Future development should respond sensitively to this unique attribute of the City.

Visitors and residents should feel comfortable doing as much or as little as they want in the city centre and shouldn’t ever feel like they have run out of options for entertainment - in reality this means putting in place a series of different leisure opportunities and events within different parts of the city that continually change and keep interest. To make this authentic, it should be linked where possible to existing high-profile leisure activities associated with Chester (Chester Zoo, Storyhouse, Deva Roman Discovery Centre etc.)

3c & 3d. Building on Council initiatives with the Forum and Northgate Phase 1, small businesses, creatives and producers should be encouraged to test out ideas and products within the City. Northgate

Phase I is the logical breeding ground for such an offer, with the Council offering opportunities for follow-on growth space if appropriate. Innovative “turnover” rental agreements should be utilised to provide an ecosystem whereby start-ups can thrive.

The city should try to be more “playful” and should seek to engage visitors and residents at every juncture. Public spaces should be given over to an active and varied programme of events. Putting on an event should be straightforward. Full support should be given to the work being undertaken by Destination Chester through a dedicated Councilside resource. This resource should support Destination Chester in:

Advising on re-appropriation of public spaces to facilitate pop up events and performances

Identifying spaces (both public and private) that can be given over to events and performances

Programming and scheduling events within the city

Linking in with existing events and performance venues to help grow the offer

Liaising with the licencing team to assist others in putting on outdoor events and exhibitions.

3e. A strong labour market will by extension generate business tourism as meetings, exhibitions, and conferences arise from the sharing of ideas and launching of new ventures. It is vital that flexible facilities and infrastructure is available to maximise and accommodate these business activities.