Cheshire West and Chester council wants to sell £200m of property in the next decade, including council offices and business and retail parks.

The council’s leader Mike Jones told Public Property UK he wanted to sell a “whole range” of the assets that the council inherited when it was established in April last year when the council was established.

It replaced councils at Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal, Chester District Council and part of the former Cheshire County Council.

Jones said the council plans to dispose of some of its retail holdings when the market recovers, in a bid to raise money for its £500m capital investment plan.

In three weeks’ time, it is due to complete the £11m sale of County Hall (pictured) to the University of Chester as part of its ongoing office rationalisation scheme.

Jones said: “Property is going to be a key enabler in the investment plan that we will put forward in the summer to pay for road maintenance and new sports facilities.

“We want to reduce costs for the council by selling retail, farms, business parks retail parks and office space.

“We expect a lot of these disposals to happen when the market recovers in the latter part of the decade.”

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