Chester Residents Associations Group (CRAG) inaugural conference

Last Thursday, 5th October, saw Chester Residents’ Associations’ Group host its inaugural conference ‘Chester: The Big Conversation’ at Chester Racecourse.

The event attracted over 150 attendees – all of whom were local residents representing over 30 communities from in, and around, the city.

Hosted and sponsored by Chester Race Company (CRC) the first of its kind event was kicked-off by CEO, Louise Stewart who welcomed delegates to the County Long Room at the venue.

The conference was designed to open up the conversation to a wider Chester audience to come together to exchange knowledge and establish connections with fellow delegates and local stakeholders.

CRAG pulled together an impressive line-up of speakers and panellists. The topical programme opened with the morning session seeing City of Chester MP, Samantha Dixon, MBE deliver a thought-provoking keynote speech: My Vision and Aspirations for Chester, followed by three informative panel discussions and Q&A sessions – the first of which – Chester: One City Plan (OCP) she chaired.

The OCP panel included: Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) Councillor Nathan Pardoe, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Regeneration and Digital Transformation; Una Meehan from the University of Chester; independent urban planner Andy Farrall and chair of the OCP ‘Making Chester group’. And from CWaC, senior manager for Communities and Engagement, Jane Makin. Councillor Richard Beacham addressed the conference by video link.

The first afternoon session Chester: A Safe Place to Live was chaired by John Walker, CRAG vice-chair, who introduced John Dwyer, Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire and newly appointed Chief Inspector Paul Fegan the divisional commander for Chester.  CWaC was represented by city-centre manager, Paul Fielder and Jamie Morris, senior manager for Community Safety.

The conference drew to a close with a well received final session Chester: Our City, Our Future which was chaired by recently elected Councillor Katrina Kerr, representing City of Chester and Garden Quarter ward. Panel members included Carl Critchlow from Chester BID; Bense Burnett from private-sector think-and-do tank Chester Great and Small (GAS); Colin Potts who’s the programme leader for international tourism management at UoC and chair of the OCP ‘Destination Chester group’ and finally, Dr Niall MacFadyen who is chair of CHASE a community interest company which is behind the city’s Hydro-Hub and GreenExpo projects.

Mike Hogg, chair of CRAG said:

“This ‘open house’ conference was an opportunity to connect, educate and empower residents, as well as showcase the existing breadth of the positive partnership working across the city. It was good to see so many members from across the wider Chester community and our external partners joining in. We were delighted how well the event went on the day, and the positive feedback from both delegates and speakers. This couldn’t have happened without those who led and participated in the panel sessions and the team who worked behind the scenes to make it a success, so a huge thank you to everyone who participated.”

Councillor Nathan Pardoe, Cheshire West & Chester Council Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Regeneration and Inclusive Growth commented: 

“Today’s gathering exemplifies the power of collaboration – demonstrating co-operation, debate and consensus from residents with great contributions through the audience Q&A. The impressive turnout reflected the importance of the topics on the agenda, keen interest in the One City Plan and a genuine enthusiasm amongst the Chester community to work more closely with CRAG and the city’s other stakeholders. I hope the conference returns in future years.” 

CRAG – Chester Residents’ Associations Group:  

Formed in 2019 as an umbrella organisation, CRAG comprises over 20 residents’ groups from within – and nearby – the city walls, with the singular mission to make Chester an even better place to live, work, play and learn. CRAG works with a number of local stakeholders such as Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire West and Cheshire Council – as well as Chester BID and local businesses – to develop strategies and proposals to help address the issues identified by its members.

https://www.crag.uk/