The council's 14 alley gating orders lapse in October. Ten cover streets in Ellesmere Port, three in Chester and one in Winsford. Comment closes 30 September.

Every alley gate the council has put up under a Public Spaces Protection Order runs out of legal backing next month. All 14 orders expire in October 2026, and Cheshire West and Chester has opened a consultation on whether each should be kept, changed or scrapped.

It runs from 2 September to 30 September 2026.

The geography is lopsided. Ten of the 14 orders cover alleyways in Ellesmere Port. Three are in Chester and one is in Winsford. No other town in the borough has an alley gating order at all.

The 14 orders, street by street

In Chester:

  • Hazel Road, the alleyways between Hazel Road and Downfield Road, and Hazel Road and Poplar Road
  • Thurston Road, the alleyway between Thurston Road and Green Lane
  • Westminster Road, the alleyway between Westminster Road and Hamilton Street

In Ellesmere Port, about nine miles north of Chester:

  • Alexandra Street, the alleyway between Alexandra Street, Edward Street and Grace Road
  • Beechfield Road, the alleyways between Enfield Road, Beechfield Road, Briarfield Road and Priestfield Road
  • Crossley Avenue, the alleyway between Crossley Avenue and the service area of Himalayan Birch Close
  • Heathfield Road, the alleyway between Heathfield Road, Flatt Lane and School Road
  • Holly Road, the alleyways between Holly Road, Kingsley Road, Cromwell Road and Cambridge Road
  • King Street, the alleyway between King Street and the garage area of Westminster Road
  • Livingstone Road, the alleyways between Grafton Road, Livingstone Road and Grace Road
  • Romiley Road, the alleyway between Overpool Road and Christleton Drive
  • Victoria Road, the alleyways between Victoria Road, Enfield Road, Highfield Road, Ashfield Road and Woodfield Road
  • Woodfield Road, the alleyway between Woodfield Road and the service area of Victoria Road

In Winsford, about 20 miles east of Chester:

  • Pinewood Road, the alleyway between Pinewood Road and Whitby’s Lane

Chart showing the 14 Cheshire West alley gating Public Spaces Protection Orders split by town: 10 in Ellesmere Port, three in Chester and one in Winsford

Why the review has to happen now

A Public Spaces Protection Order is a power councils were given by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It lets a council restrict what people can do in a named public place where the behaviour there is damaging the quality of local life. Alley gating uses it to lock the gates at the ends of a back entry.

An order can run for no more than three years before it has to be looked at again. The council says it is “required to review these Orders and consult with affected residents and stakeholders before considering whether each Order should be extended, varied or discharged”.

That is the whole of the decision in front of it: extend, vary or discharge. Each of the 14 is judged separately, so the outcome need not be the same across the borough.

The council is careful about how the gates got there in the first place. Its statement says alley gating orders “are only introduced where all other reasonable measures to prevent and reduce ASB have been exhausted”, and that gates are weighed alongside other work rather than used first.

Councillor Stuart Bingham, cabinet member for community safety and neighbourhood pride, said: “The views of residents are important in helping us review these 14 alley gating Public Spaces Protection Orders. We want to understand the impact that alley gates have had on reducing anti-social behaviour and crime, and the feedback received will help ensure that any future decisions are informed by those most directly affected.”

That is the question the survey is really asking. The council is not consulting on whether anti-social behaviour exists. It is asking whether locking the alley made a difference.

How to have your say

Four routes are open until 30 September:

  • the online survey on the council’s Participate Now platform
  • email to community.safety@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
  • telephone 01244 973708, quoting “alley gating PSPO Consultation”
  • post to Cheshire West and Chester Council, Alley Gating PSPO consultation, Public Protection Service, Community Safety, The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BA

Paper and easy read versions are available on request from the same contacts.

What it means for you

  • If you live on one of the 14 streets, this is the only formal chance to say whether the gate has worked before the council decides what to do with the order.
  • If your alley is not on the list, this consultation cannot add it. New orders need their own evidence and their own consultation.
  • If you want the gate gone, say so and say why. The council is asking about impact in both directions, and “vary” is on the table as well as extend or discharge.
  • If you miss the deadline, 30 September is the end of it. The orders expire the following month.

The council points people to the West Cheshire Community Safety Partnership for the full list of orders in force across the borough. That site would not load for us on 5 September, returning a challenge page rather than the register, so the news release remains the only readable public list of the 14.

More local records on this site: Chester planning news, roadworks and travel, where the council’s moving traffic enforcement consultation also closes in September, and council tax bands.

Sources