Renaissance boss to get £100,000 pa

Jun 13 2008 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

CHESTER council taxpayers will pay half the salary of a £100,000 director being appointed to oversee the rebirth of the city.

The Chester Renaissance boss must ensure targets are delivered in re-energising Chester against the background of a global credit crunch, which has already caused the £400m Northgate Development to stall.

He or she will be tasked with attracting more premier retail sites, affordable housing, luxury accommodation and top class restaurants.

Appointed on a three-year contract, the director’s £100,000 per annum salary will be funded equally between Chester City Council and the North West Development Agency (NWDA).

Senior city council manager Cliff Mallows said: “The salary has to be at a reasonably significant level to attract the calibre of person we want to see involved in the process.”

The director would be accountable to the renaissance board – a public- private sector partnership – chaired by former MBNA chief executive Shane Flynn who lives in America but will be working remotely and visiting Chester up to five times a year. Mr Flynn’s role is unpaid but he will receive expenses on “a confidential basis”.

Mr Mallows added: “We have to set ourselves targets and objectives and need to try and get the right people in the right places. The importance of the director is pretty crucial towards that and they will be a key player in acting as the eyes and ears of Shane Flynn.”

A more focused approach, which aims to make Chester a must-see European destination by 2015, will lead to council staff working on the North- gate Development, other regeneration projects and in city centre management being housed under one roof at Chester Visitor Centre.

Other projects stamped with the Chester Renaissance label are the £10m Gateway project to upgrade Chester Railway Station, the £50m HQ development to provide a hotel, office space and restaurants on the site of the former Cheshire police headquarters and the £34m redevelopment of the former Delamere bus station site with new homes, offices, retail opportunities and public car park.

Mr Mallows hopes that a more self-confident Chester Plc will attract greater inward investment in spite of difficult market conditions.