Cheshire
Main towns: Cheshire mainly refers to the area administered by Cheshire County Council, but also includes the unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington. The county’s main towns are Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, Wilmslow and the city of Chester. However, in 2007 Hazel Blears announced plans to split Cheshire into two unitary authorities, Cheshire West & Chester, and Cheshire East.
Demographics: The county ranked 100th out of 150 on a government index of the most deprived areas in the country. 9% of the county’s population lives in the most deprived areas in the country.
Life expectancy, teenage pregnancy and infant mortality rates are all better than the regional national averages but there are ‘significant variations’ across the county.
The largest concentration of deprivation can be found in West Chester, Central Ellesmere Port, West Crewe and parts of Winsford and Northwich. Parts of the community are also classed a suffering from rural deprivation, with 6% of residents unable to access key services.
Crime levels in the county are low but quality of life surveys show that fear of crime is high.
The county council has been conservative run since 2001.
Cheshire is described as an ‘ageing’ county. 17.3% of Cheshire’s population is aged over 65, compared to the national average of 16.1%. 3.7% of the population describes itself as belonging to an ethnic group other than ‘white British’. The ethnic population comes from a wide spectrum of backgrounds but the county is seeing growing numbers of Eastern European migrant workers settling in its towns.
The main sources of employment in the county are chemical, pharmaceutical, vehicle, financial services and IT industries. Many Cheshire workers commute outside the county to work. Unemployment figures in the county are consistently below average. I January 2006 the figure stood at 1.7% compared to the national average of 2.6%.
Population: Cheshire has an estimated population of just over a 1million people. Outside of the unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington, 60% of the population live in the county’s smallest towns, such as Macclesfield in the east, Chester in the west and Crewe in the south.
Places of Interest: A largely rural county, Cheshire offers sprawling, picturesque countryside landscapes. However, it is also home to the busy city of Chester, offering a mixture of country and city life. For the outdoors-minded, the county is home to a number of famous walkways, canals and golf courses. The network of canals makes Chester and ideal county for water or boat lovers, with over 90 lochs. The county boasts a number of historical landmarks including Beeston Castle and Chester Cathedral.
House/Flat Prices: As a result of ‘local prosperity’ house prices are consistently above the national average. The average property price in Cheshire today, including houses and flats, is £260,000. Five years ago, in February 2004, was £195,000.
Planning issues: The south east quadrant of Crewe is currently undergoing major regeneration. Planned and ongoing works include the redevelopment of Crewe Railway Station, the building of Crewe Business Park at Crewe Green and regeneration of the Manchester Metropolitan University’s Crewe campus.
Northwich is also the subject of a planned regeneration project. Plans are in place to help reposition Northwich as a key town within Cheshire and the North West, based around a powerful combination of a high quality marketing town offering quality shopping and public services and waterside visitor, leisure and residential developments.”