The Questions

The following five questions were agreed by a group of 50 key community stakeholders ahead of the panel’s visit.

1.What is Chester trying to be?

2.How can Chester be a distinct City and an active part of the sub region?

3.What can be done in the near future to improve the resident experience of Chester and retain an engaged community for the longer term?

4.What should Chester’s city positioning/tourism strategy/goals be for visitor experience?

5.How can Chester position itself to attract and retain the business community and encourage inward investment?

As the panel were not asked directly about specific plans for the Cathedral Quarter or the Northgate development site, there is minimal reference to either project in this report. However, it is clear that both are of significant importance to the continued success and revitalization of Chester’s town centre. The panel wish to emphasise their view that no major discussions or decisions for the city centre’s future should be taken without considering these two critical projects in context. The panellists also expressed some concern that the very detailed proposals already prepared for both sites were not well integrated, if at all, with any wider vision, or related plans for the city centre. This issue is highlighted as a recurring weakness in many areas. Given the challenges of the current economic situation the panellists felt that a fresh review of plans for both the Cathedral and the Northgate site, which took economic factors and a more holistic view of the city centre’s future plans, would be worthwhile. Any review should engage the full range of stakeholders involved in this panel process to ensure any revised plans have the full support of the community.