Cheshire West and Chester explained

Cheshire West and Chester
Settlement Type:Unitary authority area and borough
Coordinates:53.213°N -2.902°W
Subdivision Type:Sovereign state
Subdivision Name:United Kingdom
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:England
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:North West
Subdivision Type3:Ceremonial county
Subdivision Name3:Cheshire
Established Title:Incorporated
Established Date:1 April 2009
Seat Type:Administrative HQ
Seat:The Portal, Ellesmere Port
Government Footnotes:[1]
Government Type:Unitary authority
Governing Body:Cheshire West and Chester Council
Leader Title:Executive
Leader Name:Leader and cabinet
Leader Title1:Control
Leader Title2:Leader
Leader Name2:Louise Gittins (Lab)
Leader Title3:Chairman
Leader Name3:Robert Bisset (Lab)
Leader Title4:MPs
Area Total Km2:941
Area Rank:
Population Rank:
Demographics Type1:Ethnicity (2021)
Demographics1 Title1:Ethnic groups
Demographics Type2:Religion (2021)
Demographics2 Title1:Religion
Timezone1:GMT
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:BST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+1
Postal Code Type:Postcode areas
Area Code Type:Dialling codes
Iso Code:GB-CHW
Blank1 Name:GSS code
Blank1 Info:E06000050

Cheshire West and Chester is a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 local government changes, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.[2] It superseded the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and the City of Chester; its council is a unitary authority, having also assumed the functions and responsibilities of the former Cheshire County Council within its area. The remainder of ceremonial Cheshire is composed of Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington. Cheshire West and Chester has three key urban areas: Chester, Ellesmere Port and Northwich/Winsford.

The decision to create the Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007 following a consultation period, in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.[3]

Governance

See main article: Cheshire West and Chester Council. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. Full council meetings are held at Wyvern House in Winsford and the council has its main offices at The Portal in Ellesmere Port.[4] [5]

Subdivisions

The borough is divided into forty-six wards,[6] [7] listed below in alphabetical order.

There are ninety-seven parish councils in the borough,[8] [9] despite there being a total of 166 civil parishes before a community governance review was undertaken by the borough council in 2014[10] under section 82 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.[11]

Notes

Members of Parliament

See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cheshire.

Demography

Ethnicity

In line with nearly every local government district in England and Wales, the majority of the population describe themselves as 'white'. The exact figure – 95.3% – is comparable with metropolitan counties such as Merseyside, non-metropolitan counties such as Cumbria and principal areas throughout Wales. This would suggest that the figure is not a significant outlier nationwide.

The next largest ethnic group in the borough is Asian, who along with other ethnic minorities are supported by the Cheshire Asian & Minority Communities Council, a registered charity headquartered in Chester.

Religion

The main religion in Cheshire West and Chester is Christianity, with a percentage figure above the average for England (46.3%, 2021). The single largest church is the Church of England, with the borough being served by the Chester Archdeaconry, with six deaneries and an average of twenty parish churches in each deanery. Roman Catholicism also has a significant presence across the borough, with all its churches located in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.

Methodist churches in the borough form groups averaging ten, known as 'circuits' (the four in Cheshire West and Chester are all part of the Chester and Stoke-on-Trent District). More marginal churches include Assemblies of God, Baptist Union, Elim Pentecostal, United Reformed and the English Presbyterian Church of Wales in Chester.

Aside from churches, there are two mosques in Cheshire West and Chester – one each in Chester and Ellesmere Port – which were subjected to property theft[14] and racially aggravated disorder[15] respectively in 2014.

Geography

Neighbouring council areas!Local authority!In relation to the district
City of LiverpoolNorth (over the river)
HaltonNorth
WarringtonNorth east
Cheshire EastEast
Newcastle-under-LymeSouth
South west
FlintshireWest
WirralNorth west

Local nature reserves

Cheshire West and Chester Council maintains six Local Nature Reserves: Burton Mill Wood, Helsby Quarry, Marshall's Arm, Rivacre Valley, Stanney Wood, and Whitby Park.[16]

Transport

Air

There are no passenger airports in the borough; only a grass airfield exists in Little Budworth, with the nearest being Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport.

Airbus's fleet of A300-600ST Beluga transporter aircraft are based at Hawarden Airport in neighbouring Flintshire, adjacent to their wing manufacturing facility.

Cycling

National routes which pass through the borough include NCR5, NCR45 (Mercian Way), NCR56, NCR562, NCR563, NCR568 and NCR573. Regional routes include 70 (Cheshire Cycleway) and 71.

Three disused railways in the borough have been converted to off-road cycleways, including:

Contains sections of NCR56 and the Wirral Circular Trail and is now called Wirral Way.

Contains a section of NCR5 and is now called Chester Millennium Greenway.

Contains a section of regional route 71 and is now called Whitegate Way.

The Shropshire Union Canal towpath between Waverton and the National Waterways Museum is paved with asphalt; it is a shared-use route between cyclists and pedestrians for a distance of 12.5miles.

In 2009, Chester was awarded the status of Cycling Town by Cycling England. To reflect this, a series of colour-coded signposted routes around the city were devised in 2012.[17] The total length of new signposted routes created by the project was 38miles, bringing the overall total in the borough to 312.5miles. The total funding received from the cycling town project, which ended in 2011 when Cycling England was disbanded, was £4.4 million.[18] A similar network of over 30miles of cycle routes branded the Ellesmere Port Grenway has been proposed by the town's development board.[19]

Park and Ride

Chester has four park and ride sites located adjacent to radial routes on the city's outskirts: Boughton Heath, Sealand Road, Upton and Wrexham Road; they run on two lines which intersect at Chester Bus Interchange. A fifth site is proposed near Hoole Village.

RouteTerminusIntermediate stopChester city centreIntermediate stopTerminus
Blue (PR1)Upton (Zoo)Countess of Chester HospitalDelamere StreetChester Bus InterchangeForegate StreetPepper StreetGrosvenor RoadWrexham Road
Green (PR2)Sealand RoadSealand Road (Greyhound Park)Canal StreetBoughtonBoughton Heath

Hooton station is designated as a park and ride facility for railway services on the Wirral Line; it contains a 418-space car park.[20]

Railway

Chester railway station is the hub of the railway network in the borough, with around 4.7 million passengers annually.[21] Passenger numbers doubled to this figure in the ten years to 2015, making the station the eighth-busiest in North West England.[22]

Railway lines, and their associated train operating companies in the borough, include:

Current and proposed improvements

The sections of railway between Chester–Stockport and Chester–Warrington Bank Quay are proposed for electrification during the period 2019–2024.[23]

The Crewe North Rolling Stock Depot, serving High Speed Two, is proposed to be built in the civil parish of Stanthorne and Wimboldsley. The line itself enters the borough in that location and leaves it again near the A556/A559 junction at Lostock Gralam.[24]

Road

Motorways and primary routes in the borough which are maintained by National Highways (trunk roads de jure) include the M6, M53, M56, A55, A483, A494, A550 and a short section of the A41 in Hooton. Other primary routes which are maintained by the council (principal roads de jure) include the A41, A49, A51, A54, A56, A483, A530, A533, A534, A556, A5115, A5116, A5117 and A5268.

Chester and Ellesmere Port – both primary route destinations – form the hub of the road network in Cheshire West and Chester, with routes of national importance carrying traffic in all directions to locations including Flintshire, Halton, Wirral and Wrexham.

European Route E05 is routed via the M6, carrying international traffic between Scotland, North West England, the West Midlands and France via Southampton. European route E22 is routed via the A494 and M56, carrying international traffic between Ireland (the route in fact begins at the Port of Holyhead), North Wales, North West England, Yorkshire and the Netherlands. Both routes meet at Lymm Interchange, which lies in neighbouring Cheshire East.

Three Roman roads exist in Cheshire West and Chester:

The section of the A51 between its western terminus and the B5132 was named as one of the most congested roads in the United Kingdom by INRIX in August 2015.[25]

Three local MPs – Graham Evans, Justin Madders and Chris Matheson – raised safety concerns about the M56 between J12 and J14 in parliament after more than 160 incidents were recorded since 2011. In response, Andrew Jones, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, confirmed that an upgrade to smart motorway will only take place after 2020.[26] [27]

Water

Navigable waterways in the borough include the Manchester Ship Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal and the Weaver Navigation. The latter two are connected together by the Anderton Boat Lift, near Northwich; this is the only caisson lift lock in the United Kingdom.

Places of interest

Tourist attractions

Media

Television

The area is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada with television signals received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.[28]

Radio

Radio stations for the area are:[29]

Sport

Football

Chester FC are the highest ranked club in the area and compete in the National League North (the sixth tier of English football. Northwich has four semi-professional teams – Barnton, Northwich Victoria, Witton Albion and 1874 Northwich – all of whom play in regional leagues. Winsford is also represented in the non-league pyramid by Winsford United, and Ellesmere Port by Vauxhall Motors FC – the former works team of the Vauxhall Ellesmere Port assembly plant.

Below level ten of the English pyramid are county-wide amateur leagues, with two covering the geographic area of the borough – the Cheshire Association Football League and West Cheshire Association Football League. Although several clubs are members of the former, many more compete in the latter. Below that is the Chester & Wirral Football League, and also the Mid-Cheshire district leagues who cater for the areas of knutsford, Northwich, Middlewich and Winsford where teams representing neighbourhoods/villages and/or pubs/social clubs ('pub teams') compete.

The largest football stadium in Cheshire West and Chester is the Deva Stadium, home to Chester FC, although the ground famously straddles the England-Wales border.

Twin towns

Whilst the borough per se does not have any twinning agreements, several of its settlements have agreements predating its creation in 2009, listed below:

Settlement(s)Twin town(s)
Barrow
Littleton		 Aubignan
Chester Sens
Lörrach
Senigallia
Ellesmere Port Reutlingen
Malpas Questembert
Northwich Dole
Carlow
Tarporley Bohars
Upton-by-Chester Arradon
Winsford Deuil-la-Barre

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Councillors and committees . Cheshire West and Chester Council . 15 December 2023.
  2. Web site: The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 – Article 4. legislation.gov.uk. Legislation.gov.uk. 15 January 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110103195800/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/634/article/4/made. 3 January 2011. live.
  3. News: County split into two authorities . . 25 July 2007 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090107084113/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/6916055.stm . 7 January 2009 . 25 July 2007.
  4. Web site: Caldendar . Cheshire West and Chester Council . 9 May 2024.
  5. Web site: Registered office address . Cheshire West and Chester Council . 9 May 2024.
  6. Web site: Election 2011 Live Results. cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 5 May 2011. 5 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150511042915/http://online.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/electiondashboard/. 11 May 2015. live.
  7. Web site: Your Councillors by Ward. cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 5 September 2015.
  8. Web site: Town and parish councils. cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 31 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150522200748/http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your_council/councillors_and_committees/town_and_parish_councils/parish_councils.aspx. 22 May 2015. live.
  9. Web site: Parish and Town Councils in Cheshire. chalc.org.uk. Cheshire Association of Local Councils. 30 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150531054545/http://www.chalc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Cheshire-parishes-_Sept-2013.pdf. 31 May 2015. dead.
  10. Web site: Community governance arrangements. cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150507084436/http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your%20council/voting%20and%20elections/community%20governance.aspx. 7 May 2015. live.
  11. Web site: Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – Section 82. legislation.gov.uk. Legislation.gov.uk. 6 June 2015.
  12. Web site: Register of Geographic Codes (November 2020) for the United Kingdom . geoportal.statistics.gov.uk . . 21 December 2020 . 26 November 2020.
  13. Web site: Cheshire West and Chester unitary district . citypopulation.de . City Population . 21 December 2020 . 27 June 2020.
  14. News: Flint. Rachel. Heartless thieves steal plants from mosque during Ramadan. Chester Chronicle. 28 July 2014. 28 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222402/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/chester-mosque-targeted-in-ramadan-7520568. 23 September 2015. live.
  15. News: Flint. Rachel. Ellesmere Port man arrested after pig's head placed outside Islamic centre. Chester Chronicle. 23 October 2014. 28 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222751/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ellesmere-port-man-arrested-after-7985814. 23 September 2015. live.
  16. Web site: Statutory Sites. Cheshire West and Chester council. 28 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110103164522/http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/planning/specialist_environmental_servs/natural_environment/biodiversity/nature_conservation_sites/statutory_sites.aspx. 3 January 2011. dead.
  17. Web site: Complete Library of Free Chester Cycle Route Maps. chestercyclecity.org. Chester Cycling Campaign. 29 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150529154607/http://www.chestercyclecity.org/?p=623. 29 May 2015. live.
  18. Web site: Cheshire West and Chester Council Cycling Strategy. cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 19 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170320051847/https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/documents/parking-roads-and-travel/cycling/documents-2016/cycling-strategy.pdf. 20 March 2017. dead.
  19. Web site: Ellesmere Port Greenway. ellesmereportdevelopment.co.uk. Invest in Ellesmere Port. 19 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170819190936/http://www.ellesmereportdevelopment.co.uk/?page_id=393. 19 August 2017. live.
  20. Web site: Hooton. merseyrail.org. Merseyrail. 25 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170825231946/https://www.merseyrail.org/plan-your-journey/stations/hooton.aspx. 25 August 2017. live.
  21. Web site: Estimates of station usage Office of Rail and Road. orr.gov.uk. 17 May 2019.
  22. Web site: Chester Railway Station sees passenger numbers double in 10 years. chesterchronicle.co.uk. Chester Chronicle. 29 January 2016. 30 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160130004302/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/chester-railway-station-sees-passenger-10810360. 30 January 2016. live.
  23. Web site: Electrification Task Force Final Report Revealed. railnorth.org. Rail North. 5 March 2015. 29 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20170614071233/http://www.railnorth.org/news/electrification-task-force-final-report-revealed/. 14 June 2017. dead.
  24. Web site: High Speed Two property schemes, July 2017, phase 2B: Crewe to Manchester, Volume 1: Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester key plan. www.gov.uk. High Speed Two (HS2) Limited. 17 July 2017. 20 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170821010317/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629596/Manchester_Leg_Property_Compensation_July_2017_Vol1_wm.pdf. 21 August 2017. live.
  25. Web site: Chester Road one of most congested outside London. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202623/http://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/151865/chester-road-one-of-most-congested-outside-london.aspx. dead. 23 September 2015. The Standard. 25 August 2015. 3 September 2015.
  26. Web site: Weaver Vale MP raises M56 issues in House of Commons. chesterchronicle.co.uk. Chester Chronicle. 18 November 2015. 5 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151124004007/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/weaver-vale-mp-raises-m56-10459378. 24 November 2015. live.
  27. Web site: M56 Smart Motorway won't happen. chesterchronicle.co.uk. Chester Chronicle. 21 November 2015. 5 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208161216/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/m56-smart-motorway-wont-happen-10475727. 8 December 2015. live.
  28. Web site: Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter . May 2004 . UK Free TV . 20 May 2024.
  29. Web site: Radio Stations. Cheshire West and Chester Council. 20 May 2024.

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