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ReRpeoprot rt GVA 81 Fountain Street Manchester M2 2EE Chester One City Plan Appendix 1: The City of Now Subtitle March 2011 gva.co.uk Cheshire West & Chester Council Appendix 1: The City of Now Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 2. The Strategic Context ................................................................................................ 6 3. People & Culture ...................................................................................................... 13 4. Education & Learning .............................................................................................. 23 5. Community Safety & Perceptions .......................................................................... 41 6. Community Health & Care ..................................................................................... 56 7. Business & Investment ............................................................................................. 74 8. Neighbourhoods, Planning & Housing ................................................................ 102 9. Living City ............................................................................................................... 142 10. Creating A Competitive City - Retail .................................................................. 152 11. Leisure & the Visitor Economy .............................................................................. 156 12. Movement & Accessibility .................................................................................... 169 Appendices Appendix I Movement & Accessibility Diagrams Prep ared By Matthew Spilsbury ........... Status . Senior Consultant .. Date March 2011 ..................... Revi ewed By Iain Jenkinson ................... Status . Director ................... Date March 2011 ..................... For and on behalf of GVA Grimley Ltd Cheshire West & Chester Council Appendix 1: The City of Now Cheshire West & Chester Council Appendix 1: The City of Now Executive Summary A multidisciplinary team led by GVA, in partnership with RHWL, AECOM, Donald Insall Associates, and PPS was appointed by Cheshire West and Chester Council (‘the Council’) and Chester Renaissance (CR) in October 2010 to produce a Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) for Chester – the ‘One City Plan’. The One City Plan considers and follows the analysis undertaken by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) within Chester in November 2010 and has reflected upon the ULI recommendations report subsequently published in March 2011. The Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) economy is forecast to return to growth and, under the strategic economic leadership of the newly-formed Cheshire-Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Chester has the potential to be well placed to respond to this. The City contains many enviable assets including its Cathedral, Roman Walls and Amphitheatre, and medieval Castle all within its historic centre. There are highly successful visitor attractions including Chester Racecourse and Chester Zoo, the higher and further education (HE/FE) institutions of the University of Chester and West Cheshire College, and the waterfronts of the River Dee and Shropshire Union Canal. The City could be seen as a ‘mosaic’ of opportunity – each with positive effect in isolation, but when considered comprehensively as a whole, with the potential to become a locally distinctive, unique and cohesive success on a much greater scale. This report sets out the findings of Stage 1 of the One City Plan commission by firstly considering Chester’s ‘baseline’ position related to a range of key thematic indicators to assess and identify the future drivers to which the One City Plan must respond and further develop. The following thematic sub-sections summarise the current issues affecting the City to which the One City Plan objectives and solutions must respond. People & Culture • An Ageing Population - The age structure of Cheshire West and Chester is projected to alter dramatically over the next 15 years. A significant growth in older residents is likely to have multiple impacts on both the housing requirements and economy of the City of Chester. Most pertinently, the fall in the absolute number and proportion of working-age residents has the potential to act as a labour-force supply-side restraint on economic recovery and growth across the area. In addition, the growth in an older population will require additional social, healthcare and housing, support services to be planned for and provided, as well as a range of housing that meets the needs of an ageing population. Cheshire West & Chester Council Appendix 1: The City of Now • Household Growth Ambitions - The Council’s ambition for sustained economic and housing growth is set out in Cheshire & Warrington’s ‘Unleashing the Potential’ ambitious sub-regional growth strategy as well as being reflected in its Growth Point status. This will increase pressure on existing housing stock and the supply of development land in Chester. The scale of growth will be tested within the planning framework through the Local Development Framework (LDF) Core Strategy process. • Celebrating Chester’s Culture & Heritage: Chester has a long and interesting past that has shaped its current cultural offer. Much of its physical history remains intact and is a big draw for tourists and residents alike. However, the quality of cultural provision – particularly its evening offer – and the maximisation of the City’s assets, is questionable – with investment required to fully celebrate the City and continue to drive investment into the economy as a preferential place to live. Education & Learning • Supporting Life-long Learning: Chester exhibits concentrations of communities with low skills levels, limited qualifications and high incidence of child poverty in the suburban Blacon and Lache neighbourhoods. This sits at odds with the strengths Chester holds in its Higher, and Further education offer – suggesting a local disconnect. The University of Chester has aspirations to place itself at the heart of a ‘University City’, and is proceeding to take active steps towards this – building relationships with local businesses and communities, encouraging entrepreneurialism and drawing the University into the City centre to strengthen its physical ties and presence. It will be important for a greater targeting of skills, learning and social support towards these neighbourhoods to enable them to benefit from, the educational and economic potential of the City. Community Safety & Perceptions • Negativity of Night Time Economy: Chester City centre has an elevated crime rate, compared to the borough average, which is influenced at least in part by the City’s night time economy. The City has become synonymous with a drinking culture at night with heightened levels of alcohol-induced criminal activity including violence and anti-social behaviour compared to the rest of the CWaC. However, Police intelligence, supported by the latest crime statistics, indicate that Chester’s reputation for criminal activity associated with the evening economy is much worse than the reality. As a result, changing this perception will play a key part encouraging a wider demographic and footfall into the City centre during twilight and evening hours. Cheshire West & Chester Council Appendix 1: The City of Now • An ‘Unsafe’ City after Dark: The Police have implemented an effective Night Time Strategy to combat crime and improve presence, which has had a significant impact in reducing crime rates. However, the City centre offers limited cultural amenity and activity in the early evening. When coupled with the presence of groups of drinkers results in local perceptions of a lack of safety, rowdiness and anti-social behaviour, which discourages many from entering the City during the evening. • Maintain & Enhance Safety: Potential exists to relocate the Police Station from the Town Hall basement in 2012 to enable a full refurbishment of the Town Hall for civic benefit and to provide revenue generating services. It will, however, be vital that the Police are retained in a location within the City centre to facilitate more effective joint-working with partner agencies, minimize response times and maximize their presence for the benefit of community safety and to improve resident and visitor perceptions of the City. Community Health & Care • Chester demonstrates health inequalities for several key health indicators, including a high mortality rate from cancers, and at the neighbourhood scale there are a number of health challenges, notably around mental health and lifestyle issues. • The Western Cheshire PCT Strategy, Transforming Health and Health Care: Getting it Right (2010), has established a targeted action-led approach to tackling health inequalities. The PCT are adopting a more integrated approach to the provision of primary and community care, working with other public service agencies. • Examples are: Two new priority facilities are planned in Chester – working under the model of Integrated Resource Centres. These will operate within a ‘one-stop shop’ framework, on a multi-agency basis, providing a range of different services in one locality including primary, secondary, voluntary sector and social care. • Working closely with Cheshire West and Chester Council, a preferred site has been identified by the PCT within the Chester Northgate area. The Delamere Street site is proposed,