Chester Rows
Rows Consent Scheme
Chester’s historic Rows have been used as spaces for socialising, trading and conducting business since the 13th Century.
Businesses working on the Rows are encouraged to fully utilise the Rows stalls to increase their presence in the city and increase their visibility to customers both old and new.
The Rows consent scheme looks to the past for inspiration and to the future for opportunities to grow and strengthen business.
Chester Rows Vision
As part of our vision for the Rows, businesses and residents are invited to reinvigorate their Stall area. Historically the Stalls were used for trading goods and socialising. The Rows consent scheme encourages the use of the stalls bringing life back to the Rows and providing businesses a further area to trade from (goods or hospitality services).
Stall items
To ensure safety to all stall users and visitors to the Rows certain items will not be permitted.
All items are to be removed and stored when the premises are closed and not operating, unless prior consent has been attained from Cheshire West and Chester Council.
- Good quality tables and chairs for consumption of food and drink. They should be:
- good, solid construction
- made from metal or other fire-retardant materials
- not be made from plastic
- Tables for display purposes should be robust and weight-bearing.
- Shelves and units for display purposes
- Shelving units should be weighted and potentially retained (dependent on the options) to prevent tipping hazards.
- Planters
- Planters should not be plastic. They should either be weighted and dressed with artificial planting or filled with compost (which should be kept well-watered) and planted accordingly.
- Additional battery powered mood lighting
External lighting is permitted providing it is low intensity and will not cause nuisance the residents. These are to be turned off when the premises are closed and not operating.
- Gas or electric heaters
- Plastic furniture
- Candles/naked flames
- Fabric coverings or tented structures
- Fixings into the Rows architecture
- A Boards, banners and additional signage
- Chaining to prevent public access
Apply for consent to utilise the stall
If businesses have ideas to utilise the stalls in a way that is not mentioned on this page, please let us know.
For further details, questions or to apply to utilise a stall please contact us.
Please be aware that in some instances, using your Rows stall may require the levelling of the stall itself. This will require additional planning permission and listed building consent. Some are currently flat and some at an angle.
The guardrails to the stalls protect the public from falls and are historically important so you would need to seek approval for work to be undertaken from Conservation Planning.
