Macclesfield Hospitality Action group launches survey to combat Sunday and evening parking changes
By Alex Greensmith
8th Sep 2024 | Local News
A group of like-minded members of our town's local economy, has launched their own consultation, in response to controversial parking changes
Macclesfield Hospitality Action has created their own survey to rethink plans on Cheshire East Council introducing Sunday and evening parking changes.
Last week, Cheshire East Council launched a consultation extend charges at its car parks to 10pm on weekdays and a Saturday, and to charge on Sundays – the tariffs for which would be in line with the rates for the rest of the week.
Currently, paid Cheshire East Council car parks only charge for you to park there from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.
However, the Council now seek to change the time you need to pay and display from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday.
The consultation can be viewed at this link, and responded to by [email protected], with the subject 'Variation 12'.
Four extra hours every evening means 24 extra hours of paid car parking in Macclesfield from Monday to Sunday, and an extra ten hours on Sunday where parking was previously (and is currently until any consultation is approved - or indeed disapproved) free.
In total, this would be period of an extra 34 hours of paid parking each week, for which Cheshire East Council would be able to generate parking revenue from.
Becky Thompson, of Macclesfield Hospitality Group (est. June 2020), and also co-organiser of the Treacle Market, has launched a survey asking the public for thoughts on these parking plans.
"We have decided to do this because we think it would effectively 'kill' the town centre if it were to go as it is," she said.
"Hospitality and retail are struggling already, particular Monday to Thursday the footfall is already very low in the evenings.
"This will further discourage people from coming in, and on Sundays.
"Footfall is between 15 and 19 thousand visitors during the Treacle Market and we do not wish to see a drop in these figures - it's not just our business that would suffer, but that of our traders, and all the town centre shops, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, and other service providers, that all benefit from this high footfall."
So far, there has been over 200 respondents to the poll.
Questions asked in this alternative survey include 'How long they currently park in the evenings and Sundays', and the maximum someone would pay for all-day parking on Sunday, in Cheshire East Council-owned Macclesfield carparks.
"Thinking about it realistically, we don't believe that this plan will be dropped altogether," revealed Becky.
"Perhaps we could come to an agreement on a flat fee, which we have detailed in the poll.
"From anything from 50p to £2, £1 in my view would be feasible."
Members of Macclesfield Hospitality Action Group run our town's nightlife economy, like bars and restaurants.
The campaigners have a Facebook page titled Macclesfield Hospitality Action Group Parking Charges. The page has 72 followers and can be followed on this link.
"We have been not been active publicly as a Hospitality Group in the years since COVID, but we felt this was worth getting back in action for," Becky explained.
"We formed Macclesfield Hospitality Group to champion our hospitality economy.
"It is not just going to impact Treacle Market Sunday's. [Which Becky also runs].
"We really want to focus on the impact of the other Sundays of the week, and the evening as well.
"And it is not just businesses. It will affect St. Michael's Church, especially on service morning on Sunday.
"Another thing we feel strongly about of the impact of this, is the cost impact of people who work in the nightlife economy.
"We know our friends locally that work in the hospitality industry are panicking. If you are working in hospitality and have to pay four, five pounds to park, that doesn't stack up.
"There is also the impact on residents, as people could be driven out, of the carparks and into the residential streets.
"We will close the survey on October 1."
The new survey, which launched on Monday, can be filled in on THIS LINK.
Cheshire East Council was been contacted for comment, and confirmed they had nothing to say on this matter.
Parking will be on the agenda at Cheshire East Council meetings this month.
Meanwhile, Macclesfield Town Council will be debating Parking Charges at its Full Council meeting on Monday September 9 at 7.00pm (Old Town Hall). Everyone is welcome to attend.
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