A public exhibition will be held in the Palatine Room, Chester Town Hall on Tuesday 25 October, 3pm – 8pm giving an opportunity to find out more about plans for the proposed Chester Community Watersports Centre.
The existing Queens Park School boathouse, to the south of the River Dee, off Lower Park Road in Chester, is to be redeveloped to provide a new watersports facility which will be used by schools and people interested in taking up watersports as well as the existing users. The scheme will provide a five-bay boatshed for rowing, canoeing and dragon boat use, along with a training room and associated facilities.
The exhibition will provide the opportunity for residents to view the latest plans, talk to the architects and project team and provide important feedback ahead of a planning application, expected to be submitted this autumn.
Said Councillor Louise Gittins, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure & Wellbeing: “This is a great opportunity for residents to find out more about our plans for an exciting new watersports centre.
“All feedback received will be considered before a planning application is submitted, so it is important that we gather as many views as possible. Our aim is to deliver a new facility which will maximise the benefit of the River Dee for local communities and enhance access to one of the best rivers in the country for watersports”.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is developing the Community Watersports Centre plans in association with partners including Queens Park High School, Deva Canoe Club, Riverside Canoe Club, Cheshire Scouts, Royal Chester Rowing Club, Chester Growth Partnership, Active Cheshire, British Rowing and British Canoeing.
The pre-planning consultation runs until the end of day on Friday 28 October 2016. There also be an opportunity to comment on the proposals during the formal consultation process following submission of the planning application in a few weeks. It is anticipated that the proposal will be presented to Planning Committee in March 2017.
If you are unable to attend the exhibition, the plans will be available for you to view and comment on by visiting the dedicated website for the scheme at https://chestercommunitywatersportshub.wordpress.com/