A government watchdog has ordered Cheshire East Council to publish its contract with developers Wilson Bowden to build the controversial £90m Silk Street scheme.

In a 20-page report, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) criticised the council over its refusal to release several documents requested by campaign group Wake Up Macclesfield.

It concluded that the public interest in greater council transparency was ‘very strong’ in light of the Lyme Green scandal.

When contacted by the Express, Cheshire East declined to comment.

Wake Up Macc had asked to see the most recent contract signed with developers Wilson Bowden, as well details about what information cabinet members had prior to making key decisions, and details of the scheme’s risk assessments.

The council refused, arguing that the information breached commercial confidentiality and interfered in the course of justice.

But Wake Up Macclesfield successfully appealed the decision through the ICO.

The council now has until June 11 to publish the information or appeal against the decision.

It is a fresh blow for the council, which was told to release a report to the public in February on the £6.5m BeWILDerwood scheme at Tatton Park. 

The commission report concluded: “There are strong arguments in favour of disclosure, not least the scale of the project, the extent to which council and hence publicly owned land is being used, the number of residents affected and the significant local opposition to the scheme.

“In the light of the Lyme Green report, the public interest in transparency, in facilitating scrutiny of the council’s decision-making, and providing reassurance the council has improved its governance arrangements are very strong.”

Beverley Moore, from Wake Up Macc, said: “We are extremely pleased the Information Commissioner has recognised that the interests of local people, in being able to scrutinise the arrangements made, come before any defence of commercial confidentiality.

“We hope that Cheshire East will now do the right thing and release the information.”

The dispute between the council and Wake Up Macc over the release of the information dates back to last September.

Until now, the council has only provided campaigners with copies of documents with part of the information blacked out.

The council has argued that disclosure of the information would ‘significantly harm’ its future ability to do business with third parties and engage in negotiations on this and other projects.

The commissioner dismissed this as ‘highly speculative’ and concluded that the council failed to explain the nature of the harm which disclosure of the information would cause.