Chester redevelopment: New hotel and fewer shops in £300m plans

A planned department store will move to "a more prominent location"

Plans to overhaul part of Chester city centre will now include a new hotel and fewer shops.

A department store will be built on the site of the existing Crowne Plaza, with the hotel being rebuilt nearby.

There will also be a "slight" reduction in the overall number of shops and a "small element" of housing.

Cheshire West and Chester Council said the £300m updated plans represented an "important step in shaping the future vision for the city".

An official report warned that without major new investment the city's retail economy "would experience continuing decline".

'Financially unviable'

Plans to redevelop the areas behind and adjacent to the city's town hall were originally put forward by the former Chester City Council in 2000.

They were dropped in 2008 when the recession made them "financially unviable".

The 1980s Crowne Plaza hotel will be demolished and relocated to make way for the department store

The city's main library will be relocated and replaced with bars and restaurants.

Amended plans have now been drawn up by development advisors Rivington Land, who hope to submit a formal planning application early next year.

Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Samantha Dixon said: "The delivery of Chester Northgate has been a longstanding aspiration and one on which there has been consensus across party political lines."

The authority says relocating the planned department store on the hotel site will give it "a more prominent location" with direct visibility from the city's inner ring road.

A replacement 168-bed hotel and spa with conference facilities will be built on nearby land between Hunter Street and Princess Street.

The proposals will go before the council's cabinet on 2 September.