Council chiefs are proposing to create two new residential neighbourhoods in the town centre.

The first site, known as Northside, involves an area north of Hibel Road and includes Macclesfield magistrates’ court, the Toyota garage and various other businesses.

The second, known as Whalley Hayes, involves land west of the job centre towards the car park and includes the former Blockbusters building and two former pubs.

Cheshire East Council wants to create Local Development Orders (LDOs), a planning tool which speeds up the process to allow brownfield sites to be redeveloped.

A public consultation has started and will run until September 13. It will include two drop-in events at Macclesfield Town Hall on August 10 and September 6.

Council documents also show two other areas earmarked for future residential developments including Macclesfield police station and Whalley Hayes car park.

Macclesfield Local Development Order areas: Whalley Hayes (including the Job Centre)

Councillor Ainsley Arnold, cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to redevelop specific areas of Macclesfield and at the same time meet a housing need.

“I must emphasise we are in the very early stages of this process and we will require the support of a number of property owners and stakeholders in order to progress this.

“LDOs are an expedient method for streamlining concepts and turning them into reality for the benefit of residents and businesses. While they enable the planning process to be speeded up, all the customary due diligence, checks and balances remain in place.”

In 2015 the council secured £100,000 in funding to create the LDOs in Macclesfield and started discussions with property owners and developers through its agent AECOM.

Since then there have been a number of changes to the boundaries after some landowners said they were not interested in their property forming part of one of the LDOs.

In a council report Frank Jordan, the executive director of Economic Growth and Prosperity, said: “Bringing these sites forward for development would reduce the need for development on greenfield land and support the regeneration of our towns.”

It is not known the number or type of housing that will be built on the two sites, but it is expected to be a mixture of houses and apartments.

To have your say visit www.cheshireeast.gov.uk .