Comments for The Chester Civic Trust

Comment on Location of New Theatre for Chester by Audrey Hodgkinson

Audrey Hodgkinson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:32:55 +0000

The Gaumont building would be so suitable for a theatre, a stage for ballet and concerts.
I well remember the spacious surroundings which added the performances of all these events, back in the late 50′s.
Please consider this before work begins on the Odeon site. Perhaps the Bingo could be moved to the Odeon, as the Gaumont seems such a huge building to play Bingo in?

Audrey Hodgkinson

Comment on Location of New Theatre for Chester by Peter Moore Dutton

Peter Moore Dutton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:06:21 +0000

Why spend large sums of money on a theatre or altering the Odeon, especially when it is proposed that they should only hold 800 seats, hardly big enough for a touring production when the Gaumont/Mecca Bingo building used to hold almost 2000 seats and had a large stage and restaurant? It has parking nearby, it is near the station, on the ring road, attractively situated near the canal, close to housing developments and hotels. A few years ago it was suggested by Mecca, I was told by Gordon Vickers and confirmed by Andrew Donaldson of Big Storage, that the Bingo could move to the the former Chronicle print works on Sealand Road. Here we have a purpose built building which has twice the capacity of the theatres which have been proposed, conveniently placed and could be readily converted back to a theatre, after finding a suitable site to move the Bingo to (even the Odeon), without waiting for the Odeon conversion to actually happen.
Peter Moore Dutton.

Comment on Cathedral Public Realm by Liz and Bill Hardman

Liz and Bill Hardman — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:47:01 +0000

We endorse your comments on this bleak and bland, dull and impractical, inappropriate and unpopular proposal, which seems to pay no regard whatsoever to either the public or professional comments and objections on the last application or to the character, charm and scale of Chester and its Conservation Area or to the fact that there is a highway running through it.
We trust that you have seen Phil Hunt’s green alternative (on the council’s website) for the south west part of the site. This is far more appropriate for our city and retains the green space which has always been a major attraction to tourists and visitors, not only because it is a beautiful and natural setting for the building, as capitalised upon by both amateur and professional photographers, but also because the garden is such an attractive, peaceful and safe place in which individuals and families can relax and picnic.
The proposals do not give us confidence that the design team have properly studied or understand the characteristics that make our city a unique special place, the Conservation Area, the site and its sacred and community significance, and they don’t seem to have listened or gained knowledge from the comments of local people and professionals.
As a result, this latest application has all the serious defects and flaws of the last one, indicating to us a continuing and uncaring failure to grasp the fundamental point that the public deserves and demands the skillful and imaginitive long term ‘preservation and enhancement,’ of its Conservation Area and cathedral setting, and does not wish to see the insensitive wholesale demolition and desecration of it that would be the consequence of the implementation of their bland, unsafe and windswept wasteland of a proposal that would inevitably attract misuse, anti-social behaviour, vandalism, and tree planting failure, as is the case on the same design team’s similar scheme in Manchester, photographs of which were shown to us at the recent demonstration.

Comment on Cathedral Public Realm by Gordon Emery

Gordon Emery — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:50:54 +0000

Objections to the Church of England Fabrics Commission should go to allie.nickell@churchofengland.org

Comment on Cathedral Public Realm by Judy Davies

Judy Davies — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:14:01 +0000

I wholeheartedly endorse all the findings of the Chester Civic Trust. I have sent a second letter of objection to the scheme to the planning Committee and urge you to send your objection, if you have not already done so, to the Cathedral Fabrics Commission for England, for the attention of Annie Nickell. I do not have an email contact for her but it should be on their website. Also Frank Field MP is a good person to send it to at the House of Commons. Good luck, we must fight this appalling plan. Judy Davies