A REPAIRED section of the city walls has reopened but there is controversy over a concrete retaining wall proposed for an adjacent unstable stretch.

Painstaking work has now been completed on the affected 25m section alongside Chester Grosvenor hotel, which collapsed in April 2008.

But Chester Civic Trust is objecting to plans to replace temporary steel shoring next to the problem area with what it refers to as ‘a naked concrete buttress’, but which Chester Renaissance says is English Heritage’s preferred option.

John Herson, chairman of Chester Civic Trust New Works committee, said: “We suspect it has been chosen as the simplest and cheapest engineering solution to the problem, justified presumably on the grounds that it will not easily be visible from St John Street.

“It sets a dangerous precedent for works that may be needed elsewhere. It is said the works will preserve the site’s archaeological remains, particularly those of the Roman wall that underlie the proposed concrete raft in the Cruise nightclub yard. Whilst this may technically be true, these remains will be sterilised for an unknown period into the future.”

Mr Herson added: “We feel the rationale of this particular design solution needs closer examination in relation to other possible proposals that would avoid an incongruous modern structural addition, in unsympathetic materials, to the wall.”

Magnus Theobald, of Chester Renaissance, had wanted to deal with the problem by dismantling and rebuilding the section of Roman wall but the concrete reinforcement was the preferred option of English Heritage and the archaeologists.

He said it would only cover the bottom 2m of the Roman wall. “When you are walking along the wall you will not be able to see it,” he added.