Our council needs to imagine better future

LOOKS like the headsup I gave you about ‘Big Stores’ moving out of town was on the money as M&S have announced their departure.

I walked through the Grosvenor Centre today and counted 12 unoccupied outlets. That tells its own story.

The new Barracks Mill Retail Park being constructed off Hibel Road will no doubt attract a few more like M&S who will reopen as a Food store.

What did Cheshire East expect to happen? Another retail park with free parking and cheaper rents.

While CEC was ‘restyling’ Castle Street Macclesfield’s anchor store (M&S) was planning to move out of town and their only commercial response is to increase parking charges.

Don’t they get it? Its free parking that has cajoled shoppers to switch to Lyme Green? Why do they think Next moved?

Of course, Macclesfield are not the only town where big retailers are moving out to retail parks and regenerating Macclesfield town centre is going to take some imaginative moves and upping parking charges isn’t one of them.

The pandemic has also driven many shoppers on-line and this needs to be acknowledged. As most councillors probably think Twitter is a bird noise I suggest CEC ask the opinion of John Douglas, Micky Jones and other successful Macclesfield retailers who have their fingers (and livelihood) on the pulse.

I doubt whacking up parking charges will be on their list of suggestions. One thing is for sure CEC need to get this right.

Responding with the same old dull, unimaginative ideas is not going to do it.

This is the post pandemic era and shopping habits have changed. It’s innovate or die.