PART of a masterplan for the future of a Chester garden centre will be considered by city councillors next month.

Established more than 30 years ago, the Grosvenor Garden Centre on Wrexham Road has put forward plans for improvements, alterations and extensions to ensure its long-term viability and continued success.

Architects on behalf of the centre told the city council: `Garden centres are coming under increased market pressure and competition from DIY stores, supermarkets and other retailers who are including garden centre products within their range of goods for sale.'

They point out that supermarkets are face lifting their buildings and DIY stores are expanding their selections of plants in addition to selling materials for patios and the like.

`The locations of the stores tend to be more convenient for customers, often in retail parks near housing areas.

`The contrast for the garden centre industry is often a collection of older buildings developed in an ad hoc manner in various states of repair,' point out the architects.

The Grosvenor Garden Centre has already invested `substantial amounts of money' into parts of its site to maintain its position, they told the council.

But several of the buildings at the garden centre are in `a poor state of repair' and customers have to go outside to get from the main retail area to the cafe.

The warehouse at the garden centre is also said to be `quite dilapidated.'

The architects say that overall, although the retail area at the garden centre will reduce slightly, employment is expected to increase by between 10 and 20 full and part-time staff.

The changes, which would involve bringing part of the outside retail area under cover, would be hardly visible from outside the site, according to the architects.

The garden centre is in open countryside in Chester's Green Belt in an area of special county value, planning officer Richard Gore told councillors in a report.

There is also the possibility of great crested newts, a protected European species, nearby.

Recommending an outline application should be approved, Mr Gore said the changes would not have a significantly greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the existing garden centre.

Principal planning officer Mark Ca-wood told the City's planning board there was an issue about the range of goods to be sold at the garden centre and concern about competition with city centre retailers.

This aspect would be raised further, he said.

The City's planning board agreed on a 13-0 vote that the outline application should be recommended to the full city council for permission after Cllr Barbara Roberts (Con, Tarvin) moved it should be approved.

If the scheme is accepted by the council next month it would then be referred to the Government Office for the North West for comment.