How Crewe aims to go from devastation to become the best small city in Europe
The local authority has ambitious plans to transform the fortunes of its poorest town, bounce back from the blow of missing out on HS2, and put past false dawns to bed.
It is almost two years since the Conservatives announced the cancellation of HS2 beyond Birmingham. It was a decision that dismayed the North, not least Cheshire East Council.
Crewe had stood to be one of the main beneficiaries of HS2, with plans for a new hub station worked up. The regenerative ripples that would cause amounted to an estimated £750m economic opportunity.
The decision to cancel HS2 was described by the council as a “direct and devastating blow” to the future of Crewe.
As the second anniversary of that fateful day approaches, the mood within the local authority is much more upbeat. The pain of losing out on HS2 is now more of a dull ache and an alternative plan to reverse Crewe’s fortunes is in the works.
‘A national scandal’
Naturally, given Crewe’s history as a railway town and its enviable rail connectivity, any plan for the town’s future should include the train station at its heart.
Most people who are not from Crewe know it best for its station, which welcomes three million passengers annually.
However, only a fraction of those venture beyond the station’s platforms and concourses, with most passing through on their way somewhere else.
Crewe is England’s interchange, which does little to benefit a town in the grip of decline.
At the heart of Cheshire East Council’s regeneration plan is an ambition to give people a reason to venture beyond the confines of the station and make Crewe somewhere people want to visit rather than a place they pass through.
The vision is split into two distinct elements. The first, Crewe360, focuses on the train station and the surrounding area.
“Our challenge is to get investment into that that station campus because there’s been no active investment there for a generation,” said the council’s deputy leader Michael Gorman.
“It is a national scandal that there’s no investment there.”
Crewe’s HS2 hopes were dashed almost two years ago. Credit: via Cheshire East
There is still hope HS2 may arrive at some point. There have been repeated calls from politicians and rail industry giants to reverse the cancellation of HS2 and build out the line from Birmingham to Crewe.
At the same time, Cheshire East wants the town to be factored into plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Whether high speed trains ultimately pull into Crewe station or not, investment in the town’s most famous asset is long overdue.
“We want to change the narrative from Crewe the rail town that missed out on HS2,” Gorman said.
“If you can tell me a place in the UK that’s got better opportunity for investment than Crewe, let me know.”
Gorman, an independent councillor, is bullish about the town’s future and is dreaming big about what could be delivered within the scope of Crewe360.
“There’s a whole audience there to make Crewe not just somewhere you change trains but a destination for a conference centre,” he said.
“There is also lots of work [to be done] around a suitable cultural offer. I look at Bilbao and the effect the Guggenheim had. We could do a similar thing down the track in Crewe. It’s a fantastic location for a national cultural offer.
“We’ve got to have that ambition.”
Town centre focus
Away from the station – about a 20-minute walk – is Crewe town centre, which is also in council’s regeneration crosshairs.
Cheshire East recognises the need to address Crewe’s reputation as an island of depravation in a borough that boasts some of the country’s richest settlements.
Luckily, there are fundamentals that Crewe can boast right now that make it an attractive place to live and invest.
Aside from enviable access to the rest of the country via the rail network, Crewe benefits from having Bentley as one of its largest employers and the council is doing some early lobbying to government for a manufacturing enterprise zone with the carmaker at its heart.
A proposed multi-billion-pound new health campus at Leighton Hospital could create thousands of jobs and be an exemplar for medical settings nationally, while there is a long-held ambition to develop a centre for degree-level qualifications within the borough that Crewe could find a landing spot in Crewe.
While Gorman has a clear idea of what a new-look Crewe should contain, Cllr Nick Mannion the Leader of Cheshire East Council, is keen to point out what it should not be.
“It cannot be a Runcorn or a Skelmersdale,” he said, referencing what many regard as failures of the maligned New Towns programme of the 1960s.
“It could be something a lot greener, a lot softer, and a lot more about community.”
It is unsurprising then that there are plans for 1,000 homes to be delivered in the heart of the town over the next five years to house Bentley’s engineers, the hospital’s clinicians, and anyone else the council can entice.
An early indication of how the Royal Arcade site could be broken up. Credit: via Font Comms
Capital&Centric sees the appeal
Around half of the 1,000 homes will be delivered by Capital&Centric, a developer whose schemes make it attractive to local authorities and whose social media output has helped it penetrate the mainstream.
Co-founder Tim Heatley regularly gets messages from people in Crewe pleading with him to help. Their prayers have been answered.
The council’s executive director for place Phil Cresswell said the decision to work with Capital&Centric in Crewe was inspired by the firm’s “track record of social impact regeneration”.
Cresswell and Heatley also worked together on the latter’s Goods Yard scheme in Stoke when the former worked for the city council.
Heatley said that project, which is not dissimilar in scope to what he hopes to achieve in Crewe, is “completed and doing phenomenally well”.
Consultation is due to begin soon on plans for a £100m high-density housing scheme featuring up to 500 homes of all types, slap bang in the centre of Crewe.
The council hopes that the developer’s debut Cheshire scheme, which will require grant funding, can raise values in the town and make subsequent developments more viable.
It is also hoped that the people who live in Capital&Centric’s Crewe development, whether natives or newcomers, will breathe life back into the town, which, like almost everywhere else, has suffered decline alongside that of high street retail.
To do so in an inclusive way requires a fine balancing act and the council and the developer are wary of Crewe’s need to remain competitively priced.
“The propensity for gentrification is rapid here because of the affluent hinterland around it,” Heatley said.
“Our collective theory is around making sure that it’s for everybody and it doesn’t just become exclusive.
“We are considering how we ensure that it remains affordable, that [it doesn’t] become a big Alderley Edge or a Wilmslow.”
Crewe suffers from a struggling high street like many Northern towns. Credit: PNW
A Gen-Z city?
Through the regeneration of the station and surrounding land plus the residential-led redevelopment of the ailing town centre, the council’s ultimate aim is to transform Crewe into “the best small city in Europe”.
“There’s a chance here to create a new Gen Z city,” Gorman said, trying to define what the best small city in Europe actually means. “We’ve got baby boomer cities all over the damn place.
“This is a Gen Z city where that generation will have the kind of small city they want.”
The idea of a Gen Z city is unlikely to go down well with some of Crewe’s electorate.
In the 2024 general election, Reform placed third in the Crewe and Nantwich electoral race; narrowly behind the Conservatives who were distant second to Labour, which secured 10,000 more votes than the Tories.
Reform’s rising tide, which coincides with Labour’s dwindling popularity and the Conservative’s continued demise, is as likely to touch Cheshire East as it is anywhere else.
However, the prospect of Reform’s growing influence should not deter the council, according to Gorman.
“I don’t want to waste breath and energy thinking about Reform, because they could be here this year and next year gone,” he said.
“This is a 30-year, serious regeneration project on behalf of the people of Cheshire and Crewe, that’s what we need to focus on.”
Regardless at what may or may not happen at future mayoral and local elections, it is incumbent on the current administration to convince residents that their plan for Crewe is the right one.
Mannion concedes there is likely to be push back from residents, although not necessarily due to political leanings.
False development dawns have eroded trust in the council’s ability to deliver. The Royal Arcade site, one of the ones Capital&Centric plans to redevelop, is a case in point.
Plans to redevelop it have cropped up at regular intervals over the last three decades, but none have come to fruition.
“Crewe has had a couple of missteps in the past [and] there’s a level of cynicism amongst many residents,” Mannion said. “[But] this is our big chance. This is our opportunity.”
Mannion is adamant that the days of false dawns are over. With a new development and regen team installed, a reputable developer on board, a clear vision, and the prospect of enhanced powers through devolution, he might be right.
What should be noted is Crewe’s enhanced leisure offering in the town centre. Not many towns Crewe size can boast the facilities Crewe has:
– Lyceum Theatre with national productions
– Escape room and axe throwing centre, opened 2025
– Market Hall foodhall, opened 2020 in Grade II Listed Building
– Sports Lounge, opened 2025
– Crewe Creates upsizing to a unit 3x the size in late 2025 featuring an art gallery
– Archive & History Centre, opening 2026
– Lifestyle Centre
If Capital&Centric can entice a boutique cinema into its development, then the town centre really has the potential to captivate the local catchment, increase dwell time and spend, and offer facilities which cannot be done online.
Hopefully external parties including retailers, leisure operators and restaurants see the opportunity in Crewe and take it
By Anonymous
The tough thing for Crewe is you can live somewhere pretty nice and still access that station in about 20mins, and not live in Crewe. HS2 would have been transformational because you suspect you’d have seen high value employment begin to cluster around the station, and it would have brought higher income segments into the town. Without that it’s the hard yards of creating places that people who have options want to be.
By Rich X
I suggest Cheshire East plans no further than 2030. I hold out zero hope for these ideas, as they can’t even fix the pothole problems and are almost bankrupt. Absolute joke of an organisation
By Rob
This article has a negative tone throughout it which is disappointing. Written by someone who has exited the station for a hour took some pictures and then headed back up the track to Manchester. CEC are massively at fault for the continued decline of the town centre following their failed giddy game of monopoly, after watching too many episodes of Homes Under The Hammer, resulting in its demolition and prior to that unsustainable retail and leisure dominated schemes. Two cinemas within 300m of each other?!? Yes Crewe has its deprived areas but any big town does – Stockport is no different, just closer to Manchester. This is plenty of money knocking around in many suburbs and the surrounding areas – give the people somewhere to come and spend it! Residential led development is the way forward but it needs well thought out retail and leisure included within it! Everything crossed CEC can do a decent job for once!
By CAFC
Best of luck with this. No-one’s going to travel to Crewe for fun and the town centre being a decent schlep from the station means you’re only going to get a few more locals to go there rather than wherever South Cestrians go instead. People change at Crewe without spending time in Crewe not because Nantwich Road is a dump (though it is), but because they’re changing trains. How many people plan to wait much more than 30-40mins for their connection? Get off the train. Use the toilets. Maybe grab a drink and an overpriced butty. Grumble about not having a decent connection of your phone. Take the first opportunity to get out of there.
You can maybe build some decent homes, but they’ll be for people getting on trains to work in better places than Crewe…
By Viaduct Viewer
Cheshire East have not got a clue on how to develop anything.
£11 million car park that wasn’t needed and that no one uses except council staff for free, the rest of the area around it is still a bomb site.
A cycle path at a cost of £2 million and nearly two years in the building, that is still not open to the public which has cut off easy access for wheelchair users and families with prams.
We were the largest town locally, the largest employer and one of the biggest railway junctions in the country?
Look at us now!
Cheshire east haven’t got a clue!
By Peter
Crewe has the same problem that many other small industrial towns in the UK have – the industry has gone ! Crewe existed for the railway works; that’s largely dead and buried, and they’re building cheap houses on the former factory land. Without some reason for the town to exist, it will just rot like so many others (cf. Blackpool, Wolverhampton, Camborne). The best idea would be to give the people stuck there the ability (and reason) to move somewhere else, then knock down the housing stock to encourage the place to shrink to a self-supporting population level. Naturally Cheshire East seem hellbent on turning the whole area into one giant West Mids sprawl.
By John Smith
Please include in your future plans more doctors, schools and dentists establishments.
By Anonymous
Go for it, I live in Crewe and love it. So , go for it.
By Ann Norton
Crewe’s difficulty now is traffic movement, because ironically of the railway lines. A series of narrow bridges makes crossing from E to W or N to S a long dragged out pain. Even more building without making driving, and don’t suggest walking for 40 minutes carrying a load of shopping to be an off putting prospect.
By Anonymous
High density housing = maximum council tax per square metre, which is all Cheshire East Council care about and none of the residents of Crewe will ever see the benefits of that extra income.
By IG
While it would be nice to have Crewe become a more modern town, too much housing in the area is not likely to enhance the environment. I thought we were all supposed to be thinking of how to save our planet nor just thinking of ourselves and making money! The roads around here are shocking at times a d our country lanes are nor made for the heavy traffic it takes.
Poor people in the area might need 1 or 2 bedroomed properties but they never get them, where is the humanity, not enough money for the builders!
By Mrs Brenda Lee
Firing the council & replacing them with people that care about the town & want an actual town centre not just some more flats/houses that one previous evidence would stay half built for a decade or so would be a good start. Maybe its just me but a town centre should have shops & maybe some leisure options, hmm that plan sounds familiar somehow
By Anonymous
Some insightful comment under the article. Perhaps the main reason for the semi-developed bomb-site appearance of the town centre is the retail park not even a mile away which sucks in the shoppers. If the planners imagined the big shops might set up the retail park while the town centre would be filled with the smaller boutique they’d forgotten we had Nantwich right next door to us.
By clive_candy
When is Cheshire east selling b&q site they brought for 23m in covid
By John nutting
@ September 23, 2025 at 8:31 am
By John Smith
Crewe has Bentley. No, what Crewe should do is become a centre for excellent for advanced manufacturing. Perhaps a future enterprise zone. Demolishing lots of housing is downright foolish and retrogressive.
By Rye
I have continually asked for Crewe to have an identity, something marketable to attract tourism and people defecting to other towns and cities for their leisure destinations. Something that also makes sense to local people too. Maybe it’s somewhere with street entertainment, eateries, quirky markets renown quality that people recommend to others. Maybe just make more out of what we already do. How about being known for the largest model railway and railway memorabilia events? A Bentley through the ages or some kind of historical offering connected with the new Archives building.
From your article: “False development dawns have eroded trust in the council’s ability to deliver. The Royal Arcade site, one of the ones Capital&Centric plans to redevelop, is a case in point.” Is possibly the truest statement around in Crewe. Residents have heard it all before, the apathy is intense and widespread. I welcome Capital&Centric as having seen their input in the Stoke area it’s a good sign. Please lead the way, it’s action we need, not talk. Let’s draw in some affluence and much needed income and investment in Crewe
By Simon Bliss
Blaming the Council for the town’s decline is like blaming a surgeon for making you sick. As john Smith notes, the town’s decline – as with virtually every settlement in the North of England – is due to economic change. Councils are the ones left to pick up the pieces, almost always with inadequate tools and imperfect incentives. Any regeneration needs to be grounded in attracting new employers and go from there – otherwise its managed decline time. Masterplans are generally pointless – and the likes of C&C who will build something nice for you if, there’s public grant to be had, aren’t going to change that either.
By Managing that Decline
Town centre!what about a primark etc so people want to go to the town,places to eat etc etc
By Jh
If for one second anyone believes gentrification was that easy loads. Of towns would have done it. What is this negatively tone aimed at wealth and success. Then mention of the successful Bentley factory. One of the world most expensive cars. Guess what that’s what millionaires buy. Yet the article points at them as if it’s wrong to achieve and live in Audley edge or wilmslow. Gentrification is bad but please buy our cars. Building tower blocks in failed town centers has been done in the 70s . Only works if people want to live there. Never worked when it was the cheapest place to live.Drop the business rates and parking charges and the center will come to life.
By Anonymous
So let’s put houses and flats nxt to a multistory car park that no-one uses except for cheshire east workers free of charge . Good old cheshire east more money wasted !!!!
By Anonymous
I think Crewe council are out of touch with Crewe. Who could walk round the half empty car parks and think we need another one? On its side it says “forged in Crewe” but I’m not even sure Crewe has a forge any more. It used to have forges at the railway works and at Midland roll makers – where does it have a forge now? Crewe used to have a “no out of town shopping planning policy ” now we have unconnected supermarkets and retail parks with people driving from one to the other causing traffic congestion and a decaying town centre. It certainly does not seem like anyone is planning it.
By David Highland
Crewe wasn’t always down at heel, it was a bustling thriving town. Who allowed Cheshire East to bulldoze it to the ground without having a clue what to do next. Nothing will happen whilst we have Cheshire East in charge ( see Middlewich byepass as an example)
By Anonymous
The station is pathetic and nothing more than a bottle neck, which only an idiot would put two pelican crossings and a roundabout plus two set of further traffic lights within a hundred an fifty yards. As for the centre of Crewe, it’s a total mess. They wasted money on a carpark. Demolished a vast swathe of the old centre for no good reason, other than total incompetence. Thus showing those on the council are not fit for office and spending tax payers money.
By Mark
The council’s vision for economic regeneration is shambolic. They don’t even know the companies which trade locally. They could not plan a party in a brewery. There needs to be a clear vision and purpose for Crewe and other towns in the area to stop the catastrophic decline in all with the exception of Knutsford. Stockport is showing signs of revitalisation. Time to wake up, and bring an end to inept Council performance. I hope the guys at Capital Centric are able to make a difference.
By Anonymous
Never been to Crewe or have any particular interest in it, but I think this optimism and ambition is what all councils should be showing. Obviously actions will speak louder, but far too often do I see negative comments all over this website from oldies spouting nonsense and constantly moaning. Nothing will ever get done in this country if we don’t take risks and actually try something different. The rise of reform is a terrible shame and I personally blame the conservative and backwards approach of leaders in our country far more than any innocent immigrant for the downfall of the UK. Maybe if we actually started trying to create modern cities and invested in the right areas to catch up with other countries instead of relying on a model that was built for the Victorian era, we might see some growth in this country. Full steam ahead – say no to the NIMBYs trying to keep the UK and the North in this pit of despair!
By Anonymous
Crewe is located perfectly for any growing business as you can be anywhere in record time. Without the HS2 you can still be in London within an hour and 20.
My ideal is to relook at bottle neck areas where the railway bridges create zones. This can be used as a positive when managed better.
I would definitely make the centre of Crewe, Crewe village where affordable houses as hot desk work areas are encouraged which would bring back the newsagents and village shops. I would build on the retail area where parking is still free and large shops still have a personal touch. I would build on the entertainment area near the cinema which would be in walking distance to the new Crewe village ( old town)
I am a local resident who is excited to see the rebirth of a fantastic town which just needs good PR
By Erica Mellor
Crewe history has given the town an unusual arrangement of the Town centre being some distance from the station, better planning should have been used to redevelop former railway estate to either move or improve the connection between the two.
By Michael Hitchen
To those numerous naysayers on social media who demand shops be built in the town centre I say maybe we should ensure the existing empty units are filled first. Folk are quick to blame the council for the wasteland next to the multistorey car park but they never cancelled HS2.
By Richard M
Alderley Edge please get it right…p.s why keep on bringing Stockport into it?? Its not Cheshire
By Anonymous
Moving to Crewe has been a disaster. Derelict town centre, too many vape shops, barbers, fast food outlets. Nice having Crewe Lyceum here but no proper restaurants, nowhere to go for a nice sit down meal. Market Hall a good idea but basically fast food. The Royal Arcade housing development is the death knell. For one thing, a developer is only interested in building houses and flats and as many as possible in a small space. They are not interested in space for leisure and retail. Most house owners and flat owners have a car, many with two cars. How is all this extra traffic going to get in and out of town? Middlewich Street, Mill Street, Nantwich Road? All very busy roads. It is just a recipe for disaster. These new residents will not stay in town for work or entertainment. The meanwhile use for the site sounds okay, at least it will be a patch of green among the desolation. It is no coincidence that cafes and outdoor seatings are around green spaces. Would not be surprised if some opened when we have a green space. No new retail opportunities will come unless we make Crewe look more inviting with the right type of shops. Sandbach is only a small place but has many cafes and restaurants, and small shops because of it’s environment. Crewe need not being the dirty old man of Cheshire East.
By Anonymous
David Highland
“Crewe wasn’t always down at heel, it was a bustling thriving town. Who allowed Cheshire East to bulldoze it to the ground without having a clue what to do next.”
I lived close to Crewe and will never forget the mountain of rubble as the shops were demolished. Quality shops previously like M&S, BHS, just gone in an unprecedented act of sheer vandalism by Cheshire East. Sam Corcoran and his grandiose ideas with no money whatsoever to pay for replacement. I chatted to someone local recently and they said it was just the same.
By Anonymous 3
@ September 27, 2025 at 10:09 am
By Anonymous
Capital & Centric are renowned for threading lots of lush greenery into their developments. I think they’ll be a good fit for here.
Crewe relied too much on multiply chains. There needs to be an offer of distinction for the town.
By Rye
Pop-up markets & street food zones: Invite local traders, craft stalls, and food vans — similar to how Altrincham and Stockport revitalised their centres.
• Community art installations: Let local artists and schools use hoardings and walls for murals about Crewe’s railway heritage and future identity.
• Outdoor cinema or events space: Use modular staging and lighting for concerts, film nights, or festivals. Even a “Crewe Summer Park” made with turf, benches, and planters could work.
If the multi-storey car park is underused:
• Convert upper levels into rooftop events or viewing decks — evening food markets, music sessions, or seasonal fairs.
By Nicola Farr