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WOMAN jailed after causing criminal damage to war memorial (see page 10).
KAZ Bask What the hell is wrong with these people? Too bloody entitled these days..... no discipline allowed in schools and homes anymore and no real deterrent from the law side of things either.
JANE Sutcliffe Can’t agree more but what can be done when it’s a woman in her 50s. She should know better and be setting an example.
KAZ Bask What???? I didn’t see that.
She needs to be put in front of some soldiers and explain herself. That is embarrassing.
GEORGINA Moore Disgusting behaviour! I am embarrassed to say I am a female of similar age! How dare you! What would your father or grandfather have to say about this!
KATHLEEN Brocklehurst I went to my Daughter’s grave,to find all her flowers and pots from her grave thrown all over everywhere, not only her’s, but all the other graves around it. Don’t know where the respect is anymore.
AMANDA Pickles I saw but there were others already there from what I could see trying to get her down I was seeing it from a distance and because there were others there I didn’t go over. I thought to myself that who ever it was clearly distressed.
JUDITH Mutter Absolutely disgraceful She should know better. Make her clean it up.
BRIAN Painter It is irrelevant if she was rearranging wreaths, the memorial is a dedication to all service men and women who have sacrificed for this nation of which I am one of many. I consider it desecration when someone can be so disrespectful. I’d gladly have a chat with anyone that thinks anything like this ok.... it’s not ok.
MACCLESFIELD Mothercare store to close next month. The high street brand confirmed the store will close after decades in the town (Express, August 31)
CARRIE Easterby As I’ve said before. If the Local Government looked after and gave local small businesses a chance to thrive in our small town (for example a lot lower business rates!) then we would see this town thrive with unique local businesses. It’s not really rocket science!
HEATHER Bamber I own a small independent shop on Mill Street. Central government in London two years ago reduced business rates. We had to fill in questionnaires about our rent. The business rates are calculated dependent on the rent. The large companies who have the larger shop premises their rents are huge, as owned by big companies.
They are not going to reduce the rent therefore the rateable value with be huge. Hopefully with the rates now minimal for small premises will attract small independents. Wish this had happened 10 years ago, as over the last eight years that I have been opened I have watched many small independents close.
CARRIE Easterby That’s great that they have done that and listened to what the small towns need. I hope your business carries on thriving and that they carry on working towards helping the local communities.
HEATHER Bamber It’s taken the pressure off for us all these last 2 years. I had surgery last year and of course self employed and without the reduced business rates would have been in trouble, so it came at the right time! I do hope that next year it will encourage more independents to open.
I know Chestergate and anywhere from Bon Marche upwards is still huge rent and so huge rates.
ANDY Clayton Sorry to be the purveyor of doom and all that, but Macclesfield as a town centre is finished.
Out of town outlets and the internet have seen to that. McDonalds saw the rot setting in when they pulled out and the rest is like a house of cards.
No matter how many sticking plasters are put over the problem, the rot underneath will still continue - its all far too little, far too late to open a TK Max. As sad as it is, as the older generation slip off the plate, there’s less people who are prepared to go into the town centre. The younger generation have been brought up with internet shopping and do not have the shopping habits of the previous generation.
May as well wrap it up now and just let the charity shops and coffee places take over.
CLAIRE Atkins Charge low rates or non at all, give free parking for 12 months get people into town again. They must be loosing loads with all those empty shops!
CAROL Leighton Another one bites the dust will end up like a ghost town. There’s nothing in the town left no wonder people shop elsewhere feel sorry for the older people were will they shop what is wrong with this town, used to be so good. We have nothing really, it, full of charity shop it, shocking.
CHRIS Heap It’s too late for Macc.... the council needed a plan 10 years ago and it failed. It will be at least another 10 years before it improves.
JAMES Haye What’s better ghost town or “clone” town? At least chain stores bring people into the town centre!
KIERAN Andrew Stockton When you can get the same products for cheaper online what do you expect ... The shops that are closing now haven’t evolved! They are stuck in the 90s and 00s.
ANDY Stott When are the council going to wake up and look out the window at the state of the town they are creating?! Shocking.
SAM Redfern-Perry That’s the problem. The council are looking out of their window at the bustling little market town that is Sandbach. Macclesfield is out of sight out of mind, bring back MBC.
Let’s have a local council run by local people with a vested interest in making our town succeed. Cheshire East have bled us dry to invest in Crewe!
CHARLOTTE Lake More empty shops than anything else in Macclesfield. It’s a disgrace.
JANE Griffin Mothercare stores are closing everywhere, not just this one.
MARK S T Lake Plenty of space for another charity shop/ hairdressers/mobile phone store then.
DAVID Wilkinson It’s marketing evolution that’s all. The town will evolve to fit the needs of the people.
JULIA Williamson Sad spent most of the 90s and Millennium here .
CLAIRE Louise Bannaghan Not surprised. Has it even changed in the last 40 years?
ANDY Hall Another blow to the town centre.
DANNY Longson It will keep happening because everything can be done mobile or online it’s the cheapest option, they’ll just be coffee shops and cafes soon.
RACHEL Corke There is 20pc off the lowest price on everything. Including things that are already in the sale. Got my little girl a swim suit for £3.20!
HEATHER Bamber My shop No Place Like Home is busier than ever. I’ve been on Mill St eight years. I promote artists and support local printers. Crafty Corner opened opposite mine one year ago and is thriving.
VAL Pownall Best shop in Macc Heather !
JON Stockton I’ve bought items from your shop, but as a family there needs to be more in the Centre for us to get essentials. Deputy Labour Group Leader on CEC HOW disappointing to hear the latest plans for regeneration of Macclesfield town centre have again come to nothing.
However it’s not surprising considering the state of the retail market nationally.
At the time of the Wilson Bowden scheme, experts warned against big projects in town centres citing competition from out of town retail and the rise of internet shopping.
Cheshire East went ahead anyway ignoring the advice from retail experts and residents of Macclesfield. Several years later and with nothing to show in the way of regeneration of the town centre, we were presented with the Cinema scheme. This was going to kick start regeneration and was much better, allegedly than the previous plan.
Who is advising the ruling party at Cheshire East Council, do Councillors read the newspapers or listen to the news? Are they completely unaware of the state of the retail market with wellestablished stores closing their doors, or reducing the size of existing outlets?
David Rutley MP has supported both the previous schemes and now has the gall to suggest that he and the leader of CEC, Rachel Bailey, will conduct a round table meeting to kick start the process of developing up to date plans for the town.
Rather than yet another round of consultations, let’s learn from the experience nationally and the views of local people.
Encourage entrepreneurs with fresh ideas in the town and support existing businesses. Rather than empty shops, drop Business rates for two years for newcomers to establish their businesses.
Address the cost of parking –this combined with new machines installed to prevent people passing on their underused ticket and don’t give change all serve to deter shoppers. Talk of high-speed rail services is all well and goodMacclesfield cannot wait that long for regenerationwe need action now.