New Council Offices

CHESTER CITY COUNCIL HQ SCHEME WINS APPROVAL

The planning go ahead has been given for a landmark building that will revitalise the Gorse Stacks area of Chester and ease the way for redevelopment of the Northgate.

City council's planning board voted nine to three in favour of the plans, which will create modern city council headquarters to replace the Forum offices, which have to be demolished as part of the Northgate development.

Northgate Limited Partnership gained detailed planning consent for the Ian Simpson designed 8,500 sq m (91,494 sq ft) council building proposed for the Gorse Stacks site, just outside Chester's city walls.

The decision on the scheme, which is fully funded by the developer, was announced this afternoon (31 March) following a full Chester City Council planning board meeting.

The building will provide all the council's functions in a single and accessible location while acting as a prominent new landmark. The details include a meeting room on each floor and public restaurant at street level.

Councillor John Price, deputy leader of Chester City Council, said: "This is great news. It's a truly positive step for the city. The journey to continuing prosperity now begins. Without this building the city's future would have been in doubt. As it is, we can now look forward to the proper revitalisation and regeneration of Chester."

Ian Simpson, Director of Ian Simpson Architects commented: "I am delighted that we have achieved planning permission for what will be a ground-breaking project. Chester is a city that has a respect for its historic buildings and skyline, but also has a desire to be seen as a city with a future, and a commitment to the 21st Century."

Ben Rainford, joint Managing Director of ING Real Estate Development UK said: "We are looking forward to starting work on rejuvenating the site to transform it into a first class public facility for all Chester residents."

The Gorse Stacks area is currently an open-air car park. The new building will provide a more attractive gateway to the city and will have public parking at basement level.

The building is part of the £283 million Northgate development that will be situated in part on the council's existing 1970s offices in the Forum shopping centre. The Northgate scheme, due for completion in 2008, also includes 41,000 sq m (440,000 sq ft) of new shopping and leisure facilities, a new performing arts centre, library, market hall, public transport interchange, several civic squares, as well as residential apartments. The scheme will replace the existing Forum shopping centre and Gateway theatre, and move the library and market hall.

You can find out more about the scheme by visiting the Gorse Stacks Offices Website (external link)

For further information, please contact:

Communications Team
CHESTER CITY COUNCIL
Tel: 01244 402362
Email: communications@chester.gov.uk.