Major new regeneration plans for Crewe town centre

A long-term vision to transform Crewe town centre has been unveiled by Cheshire East Council – with plans to partner with a developer on a housing-led regeneration scheme.

The proposal is to redevelop key council-owned sites in the heart of Crewe town centre, including the undeveloped part of the Royal Arcade site, Chester Street Car Park, and Delamere Street Car Park.

It would include more than 300 high-quality new homes, commercial space for shops and businesses and better public spaces – helping to attract more people into the town centre and make it a livelier and more attractive place.

The council’s economy and growth committee has agreed to develop a business case.

Cllr Michael Gorman, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council and chair of the economy and growth committee, said: “Crewe has faced its fair share of challenges, but we remain ambitious and confident about its future.

“Our ambition for Crewe is for it to become the ‘Best Small City’ in Europe by 2050, with the ‘Crewe360 hub’ at the core of this vision – a transformed railway station gateway designed to anchor long-term growth. We have also been delivering a range of transformative regeneration projects for Crewe.”

The council has already delivered a number of impactful projects that have helped bring more people into the town centre and offer a wider range of things for them to do, including the Market Hall, Lifestyle Centre, and Lyceum Square event space, known as Ly².

Cllr Gorman added: “We have long held plans to redevelop some of our town centre car parks, and that work started with the closure of the Oak Street and Civic Centre car parks.

“Now the multi-storey car park has opened, we can meet future parking demand in Crewe, including from new residents in the town centre, and are in a position to move to the next stages of our plans.”

To move the plans forward, the council has engaged with a well-known developer of residential-led mixed use schemes in places with similar economic challenges as Crewe.

The developer has proposed a phased development for the town centre that includes a mix of housing types and active ground-floor uses, such as retail, restaurants, cafes or offices.

The council is seeking to enter into a pre-development agreement with them and to fund early-stage planning and technical work.

While the longer-term plans progress, the council is continuing work to open up the undeveloped part of the Royal Arcade site as a ‘meanwhile space’ with new seating, lighting, picnic areas and space for events and activities to take place.

It hopes to open the site next spring.