Helsby Parish Council have chosen to postpone a public consultation on a proposed conservation area around Helsby Hill.

At an extraordinary meeting of the Parish Council on 19 January, Councillors agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic would make it impossible to achieve a sufficient level of public engagement with the plans, and that the consultation should be delayed by at least six months.

This decision came after considerable opposition to the original consultation dates from local residents, who pointed out that it would be impossible to safely carry out meetings or document inspections during lockdown.

At the end of the postponement, the Council may be able to hold a public meeting or library exhibition, as had been their intention.

In the intervening period, Cllr Chris Ellams suggested that information about the proposal should be uploaded to the Council's website to help inform residents about the implications of conservation area status.

Helsby Parish Council will return to the matter at their July meeting, where they will consider whether the coronavirus situation allows for the consultation process to be carried out safely and productively.

What would conservation area status mean?

Cheshire West and Chester Council and Helsby Parish Council believe that the Helsby Hill area is of special architectural and historic interest, and that it merits protection from the Local Planning Authority.

The proposed conservation area would encompass the village's Hill and Quarry, as well as its Victorian housing, some of which is historic worker accommodation.

It would also contain around a dozen listed buildings, including St Paul's Church, Helsby War Memorial and the 'Spite Houses' on Robin Hood Lane.

Within a conservation area, works that might otherwise be classed as permitted development would require planning permission if they were believed to diverge from the overall character of the existing buildings.

Residents wishing to fell or prune any trees considered 'important for the amenity of the area' would also need to seek permission.

At the Parish Council meeting, a member of the public expressed his concerns that the creation of a conservation area might attract parking issues on Alvanley Road, an issue that he felt had been overlooked within the draft proposal document.