Development plans submitted for Crewe’s Royal Arcade

Cheshire East Council has submitted plans which will see redevelopment at Crewe’s Royal Arcade site.

The empty space, next to the town’s bus station and multi-storey car park, has presented an opportunity for ‘meanwhile uses’ – temporary plans that create the opportunity for active use by people visiting the town centre. 

Council proposals have been met positively during two months of engagement and consultation with local residents, ward members and stakeholder organisations. Planning consent, if granted, will be undertaken in two phases. 

Works for phase one, which do not require planning consent, will start this month with repairs and minor improvements to the site perimeter, including paving reinstatement and wooden fencing. 

If planning permission is granted for the second phase, work will start later this summer and include new landscaping, recreation facilities, seating and lighting.

The feedback to the public engagement favoured having innovative loop arc seating installed – a type of modular curved seating particularly suitable for outdoor public spaces. If these plans are approved, the layout of the site will include this feature with back-rests on some units. Picnic tables are also proposed. 

Public feedback also showed a clear preference for a swing seat – so a five-way swing, arranged in a circle, has been incorporated into the design. The swing includes varying seat heights to allow people of different ages and group sizes to use it together. 

Councillor Michael Gorman, chair of Cheshire East Council’s economy and growth committee, said:

“It is important that we start to see visual improvements to the Royal Arcade site and these plans, if accepted, will certainly do that. 

“These ‘meanwhile uses’ are funded entirely from a government grant. They will ensure that the space can be used over the next few years, prior to further plans being agreed for the longer-term usage of Royal Arcade, which we are continuing to actively pursue.”