BUILDING a park and ride site in the Green Belt near Hoole Village is a controversial aspect of a vision document guiding Chester’s future development.

The One City Plan resurrects an idea first mooted when Cheshire County Council proposed a guided busway connecting a park and ride site at the end of the M53 with the city centre using a disused railway line.

Campaigners opposed to the busway were against building a giant car park in the greenbelt with other concerns it would unlock adjacent land owned by Tesco, to open a supermarket. The land has since been bought by developers on a speculative basis for a possible residential scheme.

The One City Plan, currently under public consultation, envisages a car park strategy aimed at reducing congestion by ‘capturing’ drivers at various stages on approach roads based on choice and convenience.

The plan says: “The outer level will be provided by park and ride with an additional site proposed for the A56 Hoole Road corridor.

“The second level will occur on the edge of the city centre at sites such as the rail station, on the Liverpool Road and Boughton Road corridors, at the racecourse and at Little Roodee.”

The bus strategy would see a central interchange at a location like Gorse Stacks with strong links to the rail station plus ‘hubs’ at key locations such as Foregate Street and within the Northgate development area.