Cafe full of beans for Italian job
A TEAM of baristas might need some strong coffee to power them through an upcoming cycling challenge for charity.
The staff members at Caffe Nero, on Market Place, are cycling hundreds of miles from Macclesfield to Milan to raise money for cancer.
But they won’t leave the coffee shop for their challenge – as they will be taking it in turns to notch up miles on a static exercise bike in store.
Staff will start cycling on Monday, March 6, and aim to ride 738 miles – the distance from Macclesfield to Milan, home of the espresso, before the end of the week.
Money raised from sponsorship is in aid of Macmillan cancer support.
Terence Thornton, the staff member who has organised the event, said: “The whole team will join in with the cycling and we will be collecting sponsors from anyone who wishes to donate.
“I’ve organised a raffle and some of our regular customers have donated items to support our event. I originally aimed to raise a minimum of £500 but I think we could double this.
“We hope people get behind us in aid of Macmillan.” of the plan, with more detail about what will be built, named the Site Allocations and Development Policies (SADP).
As part of this phase, the council has put out a call for developers to suggest land to be built on – and this could include new areas of land not yet included in the strategy document.
This may concern residents who raised objections to the land already included in the plan, as they fight to protect the town’s green belt and its wildlife.
Tim Whiteley, from Save Macclesfield Green Belt, said: “SMGB is concerned yet more green belt is to be destroyed in this latest ‘phase 2’ of Cheshire East’s plan. Any site capable of being developed with between 11 and 150 houses will now be considered on top of those already allocated, whether it is in the green belt or not. In layman’s terms CEC has had the big sites – now they are after the smaller ones. These will be around villages such as Bollington and Prestbury. In fact, the only places that are safe are the ones that have been allocated already.
“Building on the green belt will stop town centre regeneration in Macclesfield. And still the derelict brownfield eyesore sites exist for all to see.”
The council started a sixweek consultation on the SADP on Monday, which runs until April 10.
Landowners and developers with suitable sites are being asked to put them forward during the consultation process.
Coun Ainsley Arnold, Cheshire East cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “Now that the Local Plan strategy is nearing completion we want to press on and complete the second, more detailed stage of the plan.
“This will provide our towns and villages with a greater depth of policies and proposals.
“It’s very much early days in this process so we are encouraging all who have an interest in development and who care about the future of our borough to get involved in the consultation.”
The first phase of the Local Plan has been agreed by a government planning inspector, subject to some changes and a final consultation.