Worrying about the shops

The news of The Cheshire is a little concerning - and I'm really hoping that we don't end up with yet more empty buildings in the town centre.

But this is the thing that's worrying me....if we can't fill the shops now, why are we going to be able to fill them after the redevelopment?

I can understand an argument that perhaps a town centre reaches a "critical mass": when you've got a certain amount of shops all the other traders want to be in the same place. Perhaps Macc has dropped below this and the redevelopment will push us back above it.

But my concern is that the plans for the redevelopment haven't considered this, and just assume we'll fill them. If this is the case, then given the current commercial climate there is definitely cause for concern.

unsure about news...

It's a bit mixed this one.

Nationwide announce that it's going to "merge" (read: takeover?) Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7603411.stm

Good news on the basis that it means that the Cheshire isn't going to fold completely, but bad news both long and short term for jobs.

I can't see them keeping two branches in Macc, I can't see the brand surviving at all, and then there's the question of what will happen to the head office.

Betjeman on the town centre redevelopment

From "Inexpensive Progress"

"Let no provincial High Street
Which might be your or my street
Look as it used to do,
But let the chain stores place here
Their miles of black glass facia
And traffic thunder through."

It's clear from reading some of Betjeman's work that he would rather we had no progress at all. I'm not to this extreme - but just think we should have progress at an acceptable cost. Too often there's a desire to have progress at any cost - something that's hinted at in the ironic title of this poem.

Macclesfield Town Centre definitely needs a boost - I don't argue with that. But every time I look at the elevation of the new development my eye is drawn to the large, square extension above the flashy ground floor that looks an awful lot to me like a large, concrete, car park.

Who knows. Perhaps the building will look delightful and be a beacon of architectural success in the modern age. But I bet it wont.

There are better ways to rejuvenate the town than this. We are situated on the west coast main line, at the foot of the peaks, and at the start of one of the most (in)famous roads in the country. We are in a perfect position to use tourism to generate wealth and prosperity in Macclesfield.

But we can't do that if we destroy our market town heritage in the name of "progress".

Worrying about parking - part 2

The recent decriminalization of parking in Macclesfield (which sounds counter-intuitive as it has lead to more tickets) as angered some as they feel it's no longer possible to pop into the shops in town.

These people are the minority - the majority that I have spoken to are pleased with the new system. They are pleased that whilst they always parked where they should they saw a small number of lazy, inconsiderate people breaking the rules. Rules that are not put in place to make life difficult, but to keep traffic flowing and make life easier for all.

They are also pleased that there are now more places you can stop if you want to pop into the shops. Short term bays, many of which are free, which used to be full of people parking all day are now available for what they were designed for.

So in the next few years, the outlook for parking in Macclesfield is good.

But what about the medium and long term? I have been digesting the plans for the new town centre and was immediately concerned about the amount of parking available. The new development will be built over three existing car parks and the plans I was sent didn't show a significant number of car spaces. Fortunately, I have been told this was because I wasn't sent plans for all the levels of the car park. I will look forward to ensuring that we end up with more spaces in the new development - because if we want more shops to encourage more visitors, then we certainly need more space.

Cost is another thing that bothers me greatly. I have got confirmation from MBC that the new car park will be run by a private operator. This immediately struck fear into my heart as I thought of a NCP wannabe taking hold of Macclesfield Town centre and bleeding us dry with exorbitant charges. Fortunately again, I have been told I will be proved wrong. The contract and charges will be set the council (which by that point will by Cheshire East, and not MBC) - so we have a chance to do this right.

We should consider this carefully, and if we are serious about competing with the Trafford Centre, where parking is free, then we must offer similar prices.

Short term parking must be free.

There is not much argument in Macclesfield for getting people out of their cars and onto public transport. This is a very rural area and the population is greatly dispersed. It is not possible to have buses to serve every road of every ward - and those that do cannot offer fast, frequent services.

We must not provide a disincentive for visiting our new town centre. Even a small charge will keep people away, so lets have no charge at all.

But my last worry is the biggest of the lot. When you consider that we are building this huge project over three of the car parks in Macclesfield (which are often well used when you visit them) - where are we going to park whilst the development is taking place?

Worrying about parking - part 1

The motor car gave us freedom to travel where and when we wanted, but it's also given us the stress of having to find somewhere to leave our autos whenever we get to our destination. I've always thought that paying for parking was a difficult thing to deal with. It's a great way to promote the use of other transport methods, but it can be seen as just plain fraud when there's no other option.

I traveled recently to nearby Manchester Airport (which is about 100 metres outside the Authority of which I'm a member) to pick up my wife. I was disgusted to find that whilst you could drop passengers off free of charge, in order to collect someone you had to enter the short stay carpark. The cost to drive in and out of this car park (for I didn't even need to stop the engine) was £2. Considering that there's no other option, and public transport from the Airport to Macclesfield is poor, I considered this daylight robbery.

I was even more incensed when I asked a parking attendant why we now had to pay to collect passengers. I was told this was because of terrorism. I can certainly understand the desire to have a collection area aware from the terminal after what happened at Glasgow airport, but it doesn't justify charging for it.

At Geneva airport you must use the short stay car park to collect passengers. Here, they only charge you if you stay longer than a short period (I think it's 15 minutes). At Salt Lake City there is a carpark on the outskirts of the airport where you can wait in your car until your passengers are ready. There are large signs which display when the flights are collecting their luggage, so you can go and collect your friends and relatives. The system works perfectly.

Poor services with shameless money making under a guise of national security is nothing but a national embarrassment.

The lie is so transparent the staff of the airport must surely be embarrassed, but the management is prepared to continue it in order to justify an additional unofficial tax on passengers.

They'll be charging for chairs in the departure lounge next.

£2 is not a significant amount of money, but it's the concept of paying that can be a disincentive. Even when a car park is cheap it is still a barrier from visiting somewhere. This has crystalised some important concepts in my mind for Macclesfield Town centre.

To be continued...