It’s not often I’m perplexed but proposals for the South Macclesfield Development Area have me bewildered.
Everyone agrees that Macclesfield town centre needs renovation.
The local authority and its chosen developers have been pratting around with half-baked ideas for years. Meanwhile, two bright decisive local ladies introduced Treacle Market and made it the most successful town centre initiative in decades. (The idea was instantly repeated by Wilmslow’s Artisan Market with the same success).
It didn’t require an army of expensive consultants; all it needed was commitment and bright-eyed observation to deliver an instant success. Compare that to the ill-conceived Lyme Green retail park where units stood empty for years and even Burger King failed.
Meanwhile, Macclesfield Borough Council, despite a huge public petition, rejected an application for a multiplex cinema, the one damn thing residents did want. And what do we have now at Lyme Green? A hotch-potch of motor dealers, warehouses, retailers, a bowling alley plus an abandoned fast-food outlet. Brilliant.
So, with the town centre crying out for sensitive renovation befitting its heritage here we are again with another half-assed idea for destroying Dane Moss and replacing it with ‘houses, a supermarket and a 7,000-seater stadium for a football club that attracts fewer then 2,000.
Anyone familiar with Dane Moss knows it attracts hundreds of walkers every day enjoying the wildlife in the last undeveloped space in town.
Before we concrete over it can we strip out the self-interest groups and ask what benefits there will be for residents?
We already have supermarkets, sports fields and a stadium in Macclesfield but Dane Moss is unique. It’s the last remaining nature reserve.
Would you swap that for another supermarket and half-empty stadium?
