Silk Street Proposals Will Revitalise Macclesfield

February 13, 2013

Proposals for the regeneration of Macclesfield will boost the town centre’s leisure and cultural offer, greatly enhance its public open spaces and help showcase local heritage.

The Silk Street development would create more than 1,300 jobs. The scheme features a Debenhams department store and 19 larger stores.  But the scheme is about much more than providing vastly-improved shopping.

The £90m proposals include a hi-tech multiplex cinema, restaurants, a new public open space, known as ‘Mulberry Square’, a children’s recreation area off Exchange Street, known as ‘Roe Square’, high-quality streetscape design, as well as new ‘green screen’ multi-storey car parking to help make the town centre more accessible.

The plans are seen as the crucial keystone for the wider regeneration of Macclesfield.

The proposed Silk Street scheme aims to help make the town centre a magnet for local families and visitors from far and wide – not just for shopping at top-brand stores and our diverse quality independent shops, but also to relax and spend the day and evening. As part of this vision, the Council has already allocated £250,000 for public realm improvements, focusing on the traditional heart of the town centre around Market Place, Chestergate and Mill Street.

The Silk Street scheme incorporates improvements to highways and pedestrian routes as well as to the public realm outside the site’s boundary, including houses on Roe Street.
 
Councillor Jamie Macrae, Cabinet member in charge of prosperity and economic regeneration, said: “The Macclesfield Town Centre Vision and the proposed Silk Street scheme have a shared vision and ambition – strengthening the historic market quarter, encouraging a cultural silk quarter, growing a high-quality central retail quarter as well as showcasing and supporting the town’s distinctive heritage assets and open spaces.

“We all want a distinctive and vibrant town centre with an attractive mix of shops, markets, leisure activities and culture. We also want exciting local events – such as the Treacle Market and Barnaby festival – and an attractive town environment to draw in visitors and bring the community together.

“The Silk Street proposals are the keystone for a wider scheme to greatly enhance the town as a visitor destination and unlock its great potential. The public realm is the glue that binds together the old and the new in the town.

“It’s about enhancing the leisure and cultural offer and showcasing our rich local heritage assets – such as the silk Heritage centre and market place – to attract local people and visitors from across the region and beyond.

“Despite having an attractive historic town centre, many independent shops and a relatively-affluent local population, Macclesfield is not fulfilling its potential. And it is losing out to rival centres as a place to visit and spend money.

“In order to thrive in a shifting market, town centres have to provide people with a high-quality environment with an attractive blend of culture, leisure and shops – including a wide variety of independents.

“The Silk Street proposal would be the vital piece in the jigsaw to deliver this vision.”

The design of the proposed new public realm areas will reflect and enhance the existing character of the town centre.

‘Mulberry Square’ has been designed to create a focus for the development to greatly improve the setting of the Heritage Centre. The square would be landscaped to offer a flexible space for both informal gatherings and formal activities.

New retail units would frame the eastern side of the square and a café pavilion would be located on the north side. Enhanced pedestrian links on Exchange Street and the new Shuttle Walk via Roe Square would provide an improved connection to Mill Street.

A new leisure quarter would be created on Water Street car park with a cinema and adjoining family-friendly restaurants on a new terrace. A new terrace of 10 houses at the rear of the cinema would help screen the multiplex and improve the streetscape.

If approved, it is estimated the scheme would boost spending in Macclesfield town centre by an estimated £40m by 2016 and be a catalyst for revitalising the town’s prosperity.

Currently, 94 per cent of the comparison goods retail spending of the Macclesfield catchment area takes place outside the town centre.

Wilson Bowden has submitted revised plans for the Silk Street development – which are now undergoing six weeks of public consultation. The formal consultation period runs until February 22, 2013.

A Cheshire East Council Planning Officer will be available at Macclesfield Town Hall to answer queries on the application from 12.30pm-1.30pm daily during the formal consultation period, by appointment only. To book an appointment, ring 0300 123 5014.

View Detailed plans  Or visit one of the exhibitions in the town at Macclesfield Library, the Senior Citizens’ Hall, the Grosvenor Centre and Macclesfield Leisure Centre.