New home for Silkmen part of South Macclesfield blueprint

CHESHIRE East Council is considering a community stadium in Macclesfield as part of a new masterplan to stimulate development on a 63-hectare site.

A report due before the council’s executive next week suggest a series of potential measures to increase the viablility of the South Macclesfield Development Area, including construction of a new link road to the site.

The document states that although the site has been highlighted as an area for employment use, development “has not come forward for the mix of uses previously envisaged despite numerous attempts over the past 15 years”.

Currently, around 22 hectares of the site is earmarked for employment use, and 10 hectares for shopping (including car showrooms).

However, the lack of activity means the council is now rethinking its approach. It now favours a large-scale, leisure-led mixed use scheme containing “a range of first class sporting and leisure facilities”, including a new community sports stadium that would be used by Macclesfield Town FC.

Part of the site could be released for residential development, and, following the recent collapse of the council’s proposed PFI waste deal, a Waste Handling and Waste Transfer facility has also been suggested.

The report states that 26.5 hectares of the 63 hectare site is currently in the council’s own hands, and some of the remainder is registered freehold land but other parts are unregistered.

Among the options being considered include working with the major landowners to help bring development forwards, forming a legal joint venture with them, embarking on a developer-led scheme after appointing a partner through a tender process or a council-led development of the site, which might involve appointing several developers through separate processes.

A new link road between the A535 Congleton Road and the A523 London Road would be required to improve accessibility to the site, and the council might have to issue compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to obtain parts of the site.

However, it states that costs and time associated both with tender and CPO processes “clearly impact on the timetable and financial position” of any likely scheme.

In the first instance, the council envisages spending up to £300,000 developing a masterplan for the site and completing the necessary site investigations and survey work.

Meanwhile, the council has also submitted a proposal to the Highways Agency for a new road layout off junction 16 of the M6 at Crewe aimed at improving access to developer Goodman’s Basford West site.

The £2m works include improved slip roads directly off the M6 and new traffic lights to improve flow from the site. Also, a new road would be built off the A500 dual carriageway at its shavington junction through Basford West, which is a 55-hectare logistics and employment hub to the south of crewe. Goodman gained planning for the scheme in 2008.

Ian Pritchard, development director for Goodman, said: “We welcome the commitment from the council and the Highways Agency to assist us in moving our development plans forward.

“Market conditions continue to be challenging over the period since we received our planning approval back in 2008.

“But, with a planning framework and highways approvals in place, we believe we will be in a position to commit to the highway works over the coming months.”