The potential for our Town Centre is there - collaboration and consensus is the key to unlocking it.
By Nub News guest writer
30th Dec 2023 | Opinion
This opinion piece was nubbed to Macclesfield Nub News by Macclesfield Town Councillor James Barber. You too can write your own news and comment by clicking the red 'Send Story' button on our homepage.
There can be no denying that the Town Centre debate is one that causes strong debate. Just take a look in the comments section of any one of the endless Facebook posts of 'what do you want to see in our town centre' - there's hundreds of the posts and even more answers. The problem? Nobody can agree on what exactly the town centre needs or what will revive it. It's become a source of great negativity. But there is hope…
After 4yrs on Cheshire East Council, I was elected as a Macclesfield Town Councillor in May of this year for Central ward (which covers the Town Centre). And I have to say, it's been a breathe of fresh air sitting on a much more positive, resident-facing Council. I'd like to firstly say some of the things we are doing:
- Regular FREE events such as the recent Twilight Market
- Winning Gold at Britain in Bloom awards for our work to improve the aesthetics of parts of our town centre (the Ian Curtis Pocket Park next to the bus station for example)
- Providing Town Rangers who work tirelessly to clean up our town and make it nicer
- Offering local businesses the chance to improve their shopfront with a Glow-Up Grant
- Supporting local charities and businesses with grants, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Silk Heritage Trust
- Delivering the new public toilets in the Indoor Market
These are just some of the things we do, and if you have any more ideas please just get in touch!
Naturally though, we as a Town Council can't 'revive' the town centre on our own. We are part of the Town Centre Recovery Working Group and they're working to build the case for investment etc. We fully support brilliant initiatives like Totally Locally Macclesfield and Make it Macc - bringing together local independent traders. It's initiatives like these that are going to be at the heart of our towns future.
Speaking personally, I've recently been voted to become a co-opted Trustee for the Silk Heritage Trust, and I want to support in positioning the Trust as a key centre-piece of our mission to give Macclesfield the Town Centre it deserves. Because in order to build for the future, it's vital that we all know and understand our past. Macclesfield is the 'Silktown'. It's where our fantastic football club gets its nickname. It's our history and we should embrace it. With Paradise Mill reopening in the New Year, and ambitious plans take the Trust forward, I hope all of our town will visit local museums and work with them to build our future.
Transport: my career path and one of my main passions. And also one of the key issues. Transport is more than just getting from A-B. It's a catalyst and an enabler for connecting people and places with services and opportunities. I work as the Public Affairs and Engagement Officer for the North's statutory transport body, and I've brought my experience working to improve Northern transport onto the Town Council through my role as Chair of our Community Transport Sub-Committee. And already we are working to deliver:
- 2 free bus days (16th and 23rd December), paid for by the Town Council
- Looking into an E-Bike loan scheme
- Scrutinising Cheshire East services such as FlexiLink
- Looking into the accessibility of public transport in our town
- Commissioning a Macclesfield-wide survey to understand better what our town wants and needs
Again, please get in touch with more ideas!
The next big point for me is Young People. As Cheshire East's Champion for Young People, I led our youth engagement for the Council and saw just how little there is for them to do. I now do this role on Macclesfield Town Council and the problem remains. Proposals for a Youth Hub on the Fermain Academy site remain ongoing and I watch with great interest. But for our town centre, the retail offer for young people isn't what it should be, and there's not enough activities for them either. I've commissioned our first town-wide Youth Council and hopefully in the New Year we will be able to finalise this, and through this we can hopefully get the views of young people heard better.
As a 23-year-old, I allegedly still remain classed as a 'young person', and have to admit that I feel there's not much for my age range, let along teenagers etc. Our Nightlife has also died down significantly since COVID, with the closure of a number of places including the local Zinc Popworld (for all its problems, it seems to be missed!). As Sacha Lord (Nighttime Economy Advisor in Manchester) says, a thriving nighttime economy is vital to a towns survival.
But of course, we aren't Manchester. And this is what brings me to my final point: the wider retail offer of our town centre. Many call out for a big centrepiece shop such as Primark. And that's a totally valid wish. But it's never going to happen. Primark wouldn't even think twice about coming here as there's not enough custom for it in a town of our size. And besides, if people want big retail, they'll go to Manchester or Stockport. They'll shop online. Adding a big shop into our town centre won't change much. As demonstrated by the unrealistic and flawed plans to effectively knock down the entire town centre and rebuild from scratch with Debenhams etc, this isn't what the town needs (in my view). The last thing our town centre needs is to become a carbon copy of a city high street, becomes this is completely unsustainable for a town of our size and demographics. There would be a short term boost, sure. But in the long term, it wouldn't solve anything.
Shopping behaviours have changed. Online shopping is the norm now. You can even get your Sainsburys shopping delivered by UberEats now according to their app! Out of town retail parks have damaged Crewe Town Centre and threaten to kill ours. But it doesn't need to. Look at Chestergate: a thriving street of independent business. They're part of what makes Macclesfield great. But they need your support. 'Use them or lose them' may sound like a cliche, but it's absolutely true. And if you're off to M&S out of town, how about you hop on a bus into town? Get a coffee from a local independent coffee shop (there's plenty of them!), take a look around the other independent shops and the indoor market and then go and do your shop at Barracks Mill. Make a day of embracing our town!
To go back to my first point, the town centre debate is a passionate one that brings out strong views. Many will disagree with what I've said here, and that's great! We all have different views and we need to embrace this. Because as a town, we all need to buy-in to our town centre to support it. And just bear in mind, whilst our town centre is undeniably struggling, it's in a far better place than many.
It needs far more than just a better retail offering to ensure we have a thriving town centre again, and I hope that by improving transport, embracing our heritage and attracting more investment, we can bring about a transformed area that delivers for Macclesfield. The Town Council are working hard to do this, but we need Cheshire East to get the support it needs to deliver the wider transformative projects we need. But above all, we all need to show our town centre some love. Because whilst we may all have different views and priorities, its bringing these priorities together and pooling our expertise that will allow us to transform our town centre and pioneer the future of what a sustainable and inclusive town centre is; acting as a model of best practice nationally.
Please do contact me if ever you have ideas or want to discuss the town centre, my email is [email protected]
Cllr James Barber
Macclesfield Town Councillor for Central ward.
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