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Dukes Court sale is 'going nowhere'

Ben Turner
24/ 9/2008

THE PURCHASE of the Dukes Court site by town centre developers Wilson Bowden is "going nowhere", according to its current owners.

The land is crucial to Wilson Bowden Developments’ (WBD) plans for the £200million transformation of the town centre – and the company’s long-awaited planning application to Macclesfield Borough Council is due any week now.

But Cathco, which owns the popular Macclesfield shopping arcade and a portion of the adjacent car park, says "absolutely nothing" has happened to advance the sale in recent months.

Cathco property director Nigel Dick – who believes the development could be doomed because of the economic downturn – told the Express that negotiations to sell Dukes Court were not currently advancing. "We have tried to negotiate to dispose of our interest to Wilson Bowden and they haven’t done anything about it," he said.

"We aren’t wanting to stand in their way. Discussions have taken place and gone nowhere."

Bollinbrook councillor Ainsley Arnold said: "It is a concern, but I would be much more concerned if Cathco no longer wanted to sell or talks had broken down irrevocably."

But he remains concerned about the lack of answers from WBD.

"There seems to be this catch-all about commercial secrecy, but there is a need to be publicly accountable," he said.

"At some time they are going to have to put their cards on the table."

Cathco was one of the original bidders for the retail scheme turned down by MBC in favour of Wilson Bowden back in 2005.

Mr Dick said: "In the current market place, one wonders whether it will ever now go ahead. Is it still viable?

"I would personally be nervous if I was a developer now in Wilson Bowden’s position. If it is to happen, it needs to go ahead as soon as it can."

Jeff Coghlan, director of Matmi New Media Designs, based in Dukes Court, said: "The plans for Dukes Court are wrong. Wilson Bowden seem to be pushing things ahead without considering what the people of Macclesfield want."

A spokesman for Barratt Developments, which owns WBD, said the company already had "land interests" on the site, adding: "We are in dialogue with a number of different stakeholders who have interests in the site as a whole.

"It is still a £200m project. There has been no change in its scale or square footage."

The planning application for the scheme is due next month.

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