For a suburban area so close to the City Centre, Handbridge is fortunate to have extensive and varied green spaces within and adjacent to its boundaries. These green spaces are greatly valued by the residents of Handbridge and by residents of and visitors to Chester as a whole. The green spaces include areas for formal and informal recreation, agricultural land, areas of importance for nature conservation and wildlife and sites of historic importance.
The most significant green spaces are:
The Meadows and adjacent fields.
The banks of the River Dee and River Lane Green space.
Dukes Drive and adjacent woodland and fields.
Overleigh Cemetery.
Edgar’s Field.
Beeston View allotments.
School playing fields at Queen’s Park and Eaton Road.
Old Wrexham Playing Fields.
Amenity spaces at Allington Place, Prenton Place and Watling Crescent.
All of these green spaces are subject to one or more policies in the Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan. These policies provide Handbridge’s green spaces with a high degree of protection against inappropriate development. They include policies relating to:
The Green Belt.
Open space, sport and recreation.
Strategic open space.
Protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
Registered parks and gardens.
Conservation areas.
Biodiversity and geodiversity.
Flood risk and water management.
Within the Neighbourhood Plan there is the opportunity to identify and designate green spaces valued by the community as Local Green Space, which should be protected from inappropriate development.
Questions that could be considered during the development of the Handbridge Neighbourhood Plan include:
Do the green spaces that are already subject to policies within the Local Plan have sufficient protection from development?
Would any of these green spaces benefit from additional protection by being designated as Local Green Space?
Are there any green spaces within Handbridge not covered by Local Plan policies that should be designated as Local Green Spaces?
Are there any green spaces within Handbridge that could be suitable for appropriate development that would be of benefit to the community?
What do you think?
Handbridge Neighbourhood Plan 