Heritage site 'delivering value to the community'

Chester House Estate was bought in 2004 by Northamptonshire County Council

A heritage site has delivered "huge value to the community" since its opening four years ago, a report said.

Chester House Estate opened in 2021, 17 years after it was bought by the now-defunct Northamptonshire County Council, which spent £14.5m turning it into a visitor attraction.

North Northamptonshire Council said more than 15,000 children had visited the estate since its opening, with its museum welcoming more than 75,000 people in total.

Martin Griffiths, the leader of the Reform UK-controlled council, said Chester House "continues to go from strength to strength".

"This is about so much more than a report, though. It's about the need to secure the long-term sustainability of a well loved visitor attraction and hub."

The report also found that about two thirds of the estate's expenditure was with Northamptonshire-based businesses, and over the past three years it had seen a 288% increase in income.

Greg Wilcox, the executive member for communities on North Northamptonshire Council, said: "The Chester House Estate is delivering huge value to the community and we're proud of how far it has come.

"This report shows a strong track record of this impact on residents, visitors, schools, community groups and the wider tourism economy and helps to set out a confident vision for the future."

The authority added that a governance review was under way to assess how Chester House Estate should operate over the long-term.

The site has evidence of human activity from more than 10,000 years ago and Iron Age and Roman settlements.