Chester Zoo Natural Vision Plans

Are the plans for the African Savannah included here, and if so are they an 'outlined' or 'detailed.'

Were there any mentions of species bought into later phases?

Personally (since work has to begin within five years) do you think the biodome will go ahead, or will they struggle to get funding in that time?

Is there any idea of when construction on any of the Natural Vision phases is likely to begin? And have plans for the conservation college been approved?

Sorry for so many questions :p
 
You can see all the detailed plans - entrance zone, Heart of Africa, access roads - in the case file, almost everything else is outline: Case File

No species were mentioned, that's not an aspect for the planning committee's consideration (it'd be a bit like them questioning whether you're going to keep a goldfish in your new extension).

Nothing goes ahead until the Secretary of State's office grants green belt approval.

I personally don't expect to see Heart of Africa within the next five years, but there are many variables to consider, and don't think that the five year deadline is an absolute cut-off point, it could be subject to amendments and (time) extensions. You or I could win the European lottery and give them the money tomorrow.
 
SMR said:
You can see all the detailed plans - entrance zone, Heart of Africa, access roads - in the case file, almost everything else is outline: Case File

No species were mentioned, that's not an aspect for the planning committee's consideration (it'd be a bit like them questioning whether you're going to keep a goldfish in your new extension).

Nothing goes ahead until the Secretary of State's office grants green belt approval.

I personally don't expect to see Heart of Africa within the next five years, but there are many variables to consider, and don't think that the five year deadline is an absolute cut-off point, it could be subject to amendments and (time) extensions. You or I could win the European lottery and give them the money tomorrow.
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Ahhh cool :). No offence to Chester, but if I won the Euro-millions I'd set up my own zoo and have all the say :p. Seriously though, if I was rich enough I would donate the funds to see it happen.

As for the species, I didn't know if it were different for exotics (danger of escapes etc [I seem to remember an Animal Park episode stating there were objections about Longleat becomming a safari park due to fears that the lions would escape]). Also, didn't know if they'd be mentioned as enclosures that needed planning.

Thanks for answering :)
 
Glad it's got the thumbs up and now I guess it's money issue????.

If this does go ahead I may set a new standed for other zoos to follow.
 
I guess it certainly will be able to make the claim of being Britain's leading zoo.:cool:
 
Planning permission means nothing (just that you can do it if you have the funding) these days ask Dudley it's the funding that counts.
On many occassions the planners will eventually reverse the decision after a certain length of time.
I for one would love to see Chester achieve thier targets but unfortunatly in todays world the amount stated will rise every 6 months due to material costs and labour.
I think a more realistic target would be to do the smaller things first and use the cash raised from these to try and set up a fund to raise the rest a.s.a.p
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I may have missed this elsewhere (so do not crucify me if it has ...
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Couldn't find the seven hundred word summary of the meeting on the previous page then?! Where are my nails. ;)

The £225 figure is incorrect. Many of the press reports are in fact inaccurate, Chester's local paper for example, even managed to get the day of the approval wrong.
 
Minutes and documents from the Strategic Planning Committee and the recommendations from the planning office re: Heart of Africa and its outline inclusions are on-line:

Strategic Planning Committee - Thursday, 16th September

If you only read one, the most detailed and relevant document is the planner's report, which was given to those who attended and the committee as a hard copy.

Zoo Final Report (A12) (PDF file, 14MB)
 
This makes interesting reading, not least this bit:
"The one objection in this category has been submitted on behalf of Merlin Entertainments Group, who operate a number of attractions in the UK and Europe, including Alton Towers, Legoland, Chessington World of Adventure, Madam Tussauds, Thorpe Park and Sea Life Sanctuaries. Their grounds of objection can be summarised as follows:
That the development is inappropriate within the Green Belt; That the applicant has not provided very special circumstances for the development;
That the economic case presented is not compelling; That permission should not be granted for a development that has no realistic prospect of coming forward during the time period during which the permission must be implemented; That there is no guarantee of funding, as funding a proportion of the scheme through the NWDA may contravene European State Aid laws; That the proposed funding has not been declared to the European Commission and has yet to be declared legal; That the proposed funding would distort competition and harm the objector’s business;
That there has been no analysis of the alternatives to the proposed development."

All may well be fair in love, war and business, but I hope that any who are connected with Chessington "Zoo" and those ridiculous Sealife places feels ashamed of this action.
 
sooty mangabey said:
All may well be fair in love, war and business, but I hope that any who are connected with Chessington "Zoo" and those ridiculous Sealife places feels ashamed of this action.
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It does rather ring of sour grapes, doesn't it? And not a little churlish - with their empire of high-attendance attractions I don't think Chester will be troubling them too much.
 
Maguari said:
It does rather ring of sour grapes, doesn't it? And not a little churlish - with their empire of high-attendance attractions I don't think Chester will be troubling them too much.
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Meanwhile, Welsh Mountain Zoo - which presumably would be hit by increased attendance at Chester - lends its support. Good on them! Slightly Not Very Good zoo, maybe, but they have a good attitude here.
 
sooty mangabey said:
Meanwhile, Welsh Mountain Zoo - which presumably would be hit by increased attendance at Chester - lends its support. Good on them! Slightly Not Very Good zoo, maybe, but they have a good attitude here.
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I suppose it is unavoidable, but it saddens me when zoos make rivals of each other for attendance (especially to this degree). Good on WMZ as you have said.

All too often sour grapes like this hinder conservation efforts, like when certain zoos refuse to send/recieve species from their 'rivals,' just because they are bitter towards one another :(. Sorry, a little off-topic with that second paragraph.
 
Chester Zoo did oppose the use of public (EU I think) money when the Blue Planet Aquarium was first proposed, although I don't think it objected to the aquarium per se.
 
This is indeed excellent news, and as we suspected, he respected the decision of the local planning officers and council.

Hopefully this will also put an end to ridiculous letters from people with nothing better to do than complain appearing in the local press.
 
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