The “Lock in the Chester Mill Race plan”
Dear IWA Member,
For a number of years the Chester and Merseyside Branch of IWA, along with the Chester Civic Trust, has been working on plans to revive Chester’s waterways and develop their full potential for the city and West Cheshire. Much has been achieved, but we need more people to be involved in our exciting proposals.
The fundamental issue is that the local waterways have ceased to be a joined-up system but have become a number of isolated bits – the Shropshire Union Canal, the semi-derelict Dee Branch, the almost disused tidal Dee and the non-tidal Dee cut off above the Chester Weir.
Two things are needed to join up the system and return Chester to the true “waterway City” it once was. They are shown on the plan below. They are:
1. A lock in the old and derelict Mill Race on the Handbridge side of the river.
2. Restoration of the Dee Branch from the Shropshire Union Canal and the lock into the River Dee.
A Feasibility Study has already been carried out which demonstrates that the Lock in the Mill Race is eminently feasible. In 2021 Chester was designated a “Heritage Port” in recognition of its historical value. We have now produced a YouTube video covering the heritage, challenges and potential of Chester’s waterways. You can find it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUcvng4La94
We are now seeking to scale up and promote these proposals. To do this we need to expand efforts by:-
- Work to promote Chester as a ‘waterway city’ as part of its tourism and inward investment offer.
- Work on firm costings for the Mill Race scheme (some work begun, but more needed).
- Market research on the likely usage of the lock and the upper river if the scheme were to be implemented.
- Cost and social benefit analyses of waterway regeneration and development in Chester.
- Positive engagement with the key politicians and officers of CWAC, building on the limited links already made.
- Work to get buy-in from other stakeholders and interests i.e. CRT, Historic England, Natural Resources Wales, Environment Agency, Marketing Cheshire etc.
This is an ambitious agenda. If you would like to contribute in any way to making these plans a reality, please contact:
Either: Jim Forkin, Chair, IWA, Chester and Merseyside Branch
jim.forkin@team.waterways.org.uk
or: John Herson, Committee Member, IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch
john.herson@waterways.org.uk
Best wishes,
Jim Forkin and John Herson
IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch
Please email membership@waterways.org.uk with any change to your email address or if you do not wish to continue receiving such information by email.