Chester historian says market plans would be illegal.

Jan 20 2011 by Carmella de Lucia, Chester Chronicle

PLANS for a new £8 million market hall would be illegal, claims a Chester historian.

Gordon Emery, 57, says historical documents prove the proposed location at the Frodsham Street car park cannot be built on.

Mr Emery, of Gladstone Road, has produced council minutes from 1894, which confirm the area to be public open space.

Despite being a car park, Mr Emery, the author of historical books about Chester, says the land still fits that category, and features trees and greenery.

He said: “The council aren't historians. They seem to have forgotten that this is a public space and I think people have a right to know this.”

Mr Emery has viewed handwritten documents which show the council’s predecessors, the City of Chester Corporation, was unable to build the Chester Electric Lighting Station on the plot in 1894, because the Local Government Act prevented any development.

Mr Emery, who will object on legal grounds to any planning application, said: “By putting the market there we will lose all the mature trees in the car park, not to mention the views of the cathedral and City Walls.”

Laura Johnson, spokeswoman for Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “We are fully aware that the site on Frodsham Street, currently used as a car park, is classed as a public open space – but this does not limit its use to this one facility.”

Carmella da Lucia