A PROPERTY company is working up plans to build a large supermarket on the Greyhound Retail Park.
The name of the potential operator is unknown although it is common knowledge Asda has been seeking a site in Chester for many years.
News that a major food store could locate at the retail park came to light after Cheshire West and Chester Council agreed to sell a plot of land next to Cineworld for £5.77m subject to planning permission.
Council spokesman Ian Callister confirmed talks were ongoing with park owner Land Securities over the sale and quashed rumours it was proposing to sell off Chester’s only cinema as part of the deal, insisting the council does not own the site.
A confidential report to councillors says the receipt from the sale of the eight-acre plot within the next two to three years would support ongoing capital plans.
And consultant DTZ, working for the council, has been investigating the potential for the Greyhound Retail Park to revert to a fashion park ‘based on the potential for a major food store by Land Securities’.
Blacon Labour councillor Reg Jones believes a major supermarket such as Asda would bring benefits to the area but says insufficient details are being shared by the Tory administration.
He said: “We have been trying to get information from the council but they continue to be secretive about the details concerning the sale.
“We cannot establish whether there is value for money in the sale and we don’t know what the implications are, bearing in mind the area surrounding this piece of land is in the flood plain.”
Recent flash floods had shown the local drainage system sometimes struggled to cope.
Land Securities spokesman Donal McCabe declined to comment.
