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ANGER over car park fees rise plan. Cheshire East Council wants to raise charges by up to 20p an hour (Express, September 27 and website) Jo Maitland: Let’s kill off town centres once and for all. Are these people actually in touch with the real world? They should be removing charges to encourage shoppers in. Wendy Bracegirdle: Extra 20p to go look at opticians, books shops, and a couple of very small high street shops? Pfft. Stockport it is then. This town is like a ghost town. Andy Ellis: Dear council, please learn from the same mistake made in other towns, increased parking charges drive business out of town. Fact. If you need to raise money, please find a method that doesn’t starve the town centre of its lifeblood - shoppers. Chris Stairmand: Yet parking remains free in Congleton and other towns. It wasn’t a year ago where there was talk of parking becoming cheaper in Macclesfield, even free. Paula Rathmill: Take the tree lights down at Park Green that will save thousands of pounds then there will be no need to charge extortion parking fees. I rarely use the town centre these days as there’s nothing to see and would rather travel into Manchester for a proper days shopping! Simon Leah: Good way to further clog up the streets with cars dumped all day. Fence Avenue is a perfect example. The number of cars parked is crazy - it is NOT to do with the school. You only have to drive along there in August.... of course when parents come to pick up their children there is nowhere for them to stop due to all the commuters, so it ends in gridlock. If parking costs increase it is only going to get worse. Sian Hussey: I don’t drive and know parking in Macclesfield is expensive to say the least. Have they ever been to these towns and actually seen the damage they are doing? Or in particular our town. What a waste of money the redevelopment will be if they increase parking prices. Suzy Firkin: Charging for car parking in Congleton town centre definitely reduced footfall. Whereas, at West Heath precinct, where parking is free, it is heaving. Just about to introduce car parking charges at the station too to bring it in line with Macclesfield and Kidsgrove I guess. Alan Stockton: This just reiterates previous post. This government insists on cuttings council spending, the council Tories should be phoning the government for the money not bleeding the Macclesfield people dry. Melanie Butson: So they are selling some car parks and hiking the cost of parking. How will this encourage people to shop in the town centre? What about the people who work in the town centre? With reduced footfall to shops, means jobs cuts and remaining shops closing. Barbara Slater: Wonder what the MP’s opinion is? Where is our money going? I don’t drive to Stockport now because of the parking and prefer Macc. If they bring in parking charges in Poynton there will be a revolt. Sharon Goodier: How to kill the town centre completely! Unbelievable! Tell you what, just get rid of Macc town centre altogether & have no shops at all eh?!? Rob Vernon: What do they think this is going to achieve? They know full well the impact on the town centre. Sooner we get rid of the Conservatives on Cheshire East Council, the better. Susannah Middleton: Putting car parking prices up causes more people to park on side streets. Residents on my street have had enough as we can’t park in the day. David Oliver-Moore: Macc hasn’t changed its mentality for over 30 years.. people just take it from the council and then whine about things.. Christina Webb: When the issue of parking fees came up originally Cheshire East Council justified the larger parking fees for Macclesfield by saying that over time parking fees in all areas would harmonise. Is this another broken promise? Dorothy Fletcher: Carry on it will be cheaper to walk to town and get a taxi back! Or you’ll encourage people to shop elsewhere so shoot yourself in the foot! You get better results with sugar than vinegar, try lowering them and get more customers in shops or put them up and lose out altogether! Eric Waite: Surely CE should be reducing parking charges to encourage shoppers into town. Plain stupid and greedy. The town is already dead. So lets bury it now. Bill Keeling: Well they were voted in by the good people of CE. Even a circus would struggle to match the number of clowns we have on CE council. Maria Wood: Should be reduced by 20p not increased. Greedy nasty CE!! Susan Woodward: That will stop outside people coming to Macclesfield. Barbara Allen: Disgusting, why oh why, are they doing this.