A local businessman believes he has a site which would make a significant contribution to solving Wilmslow's parking problems but it is being ignored by Cheshire East Council.
Mike Cooksey approached the Council, firstly in August 2017, with his proposal to build a car park on land to the rear of Heald Court on Hawthorn Lane. The site, which is owned by his company, lies within a conservation area and has been vacant for more than 20 years.
The site is currently available and the car park would provide around 80 long stay spaces for the contract market. The access road has already constructed and Mr Cooksey says the car park could be up and running within 6 months of obtaining planning permission, however, "the Council has shown no enthusiasm to enter into dialogue".
Mike Cooksey told wilmslow.co.uk "Should the option of creating a new deck at Broadway Meadow be followed up it will cost £3 m or more. There are no Cheshire East funds for this option and it still goes little way to resolving the issue. The Hawthorn Lane site is available and would be privately funded.
"I am unaware of the reason for the lack of enthusiasm from Cheshire East as indeed is the Town Council. The site meets all the criteria in terms of position and screening. It cannot be seen from a public vantage spot and its presence will surprise many."
Mr Cooksey believes there is no other potential site in the town that can provide a swift part resolution.
Councillor Martin Watkins, Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council said " It is important that all options be included in this survey, particularly his as, at the moment, it is the only 'quick fix' available for long-term parking in Wilmslow.
"Additionally, it comes at no cost to Cheshire East at Mike would fund it. His site is in a conservation area and the wider debate is do conservation areas have car parks. If we say No, then we need to be clear of the consequences of that decision."
In response to the proposal, Richard Hibbert, Head of Transport at Cheshire East Council said "I confirm that I have visited the site at your request where you outlined the prospective opportunity. At that visit, I believe we both agreed that the development must be considered through the statutory planning process. I anticipate that any application will be brought forward by yourself, through discussion with CEC planning. There should be no expectation that the Council will seek the promote a planning application for the site."
He added "At this stage, the Council's review study has focussed only on car parks under CEC management plus on-street parking provision. Therefore, the consultation would be the appropriate time for you to register the option at Hawthorn Lane. I encourage you to participate in the consultation event and your response will be helpful in finalising the strategy.
" The Council's report on parking will be silent on the option, as to do otherwise could be considered to prejudice any consideration at planning. The same applies to any other options for future parking provision in Wilmslow that are dependent on a change-of-use planning consent. My view is that only when there can be reasonable certainty of delivery can the Council's parking strategy take such options into account."
Richard Hibbert continued "As when we met, my best advice is to engage asap with the pre-application process. This will assist you most in determining the prospects for your concept. As members of my team will be engaged in considering any planning application, it is inappropriate for me to indicate any level of support for the ideas at this time."
Mike Cooksey told wilmslow.co.uk "There is, as is well published, a parking crisis in the town. This will not be resolved until long stay parking is provided. The options are very limited.
"Cheshire East carried out a report recently looking at the options but they did not consider privately owned sites. It was not in Richard Hibbert's mandate as his report states. The Town Council and I asked why as clearly there was limited scope to improve the position within Cheshire East ownership.
"They are now acknowledging they have to widen the scope. However, in purely planning terms the grant of consent would be controversial. Who wants a car park on their door step?
"However, the problem will only deteriorate and an inconvenience to the very few will benefit the whole town and allow it to prosper. It is currently being 'strangled'. Hence, without political support resulting from residents and businesses pressure an application would probably fail and Wilmslow town then retains the status quo.
"Cheshire East can make it happen as they have in Handforth, granting themselves consent for a new village on green belt land. There is a need to raise funds and that was their solution. The councillors wanted it and the planners accommodated."
He added "A planning application is expensive and I have no desire to waste money. If the residents were aware of the sites availability then support would follow."
Please share your views about Mr Cooksey's proposal to build a car park to the rear of Heald Court on Hawthorn Lane, which lies within a conservation area, via the comment box below.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
This is designed to be an exchange of ideas concerning parking problems in Wilmslow.
The postponed meeting for members of the public will be confirmed shortly, including location.
Against that backdrop and catalogue of failure's ;Fabricated Air pollution data , failed Local Plan etc .. ( I wont list..not enough space ).... Then All of a sudden Mike Cooksey's idea could well be a viable option worthy of meaningful deliberation..
In reality however, it will never be considered.. as it isn't CEC's own idea... and they will oppose it sitting in green belt !!! Ironic ..
These are the problems we experience on a daily basis.
The solution: i believe it doesn't matter how many car park levels you have 2,4,6,8, if the charges are not priced sensible, the people will not use the facility and still park on the road. I understand moving the problem from one place to another is a concern, but i believe keeping the main roads free of parked cars is a must to prevent serious accidents at frightening speeds, and have a good flow for all cars and emergency service vehicles.
There are plenty of fields around Wilmslow, is it possible to buy up a couple of acres, let people park and provide a park and ride scheme.
I have long suspected that building workers are a significant cause of the parking problem. I am sure this was the case on Alderley Road where they set a precedent that was followed by others.
A suggested solution.
When granting planning permission, write into the permission that all workers' vehicles are to be parked within the site boundaries. No other class of worker has a right to park around the borders of their place of work.
To give this teeth, there should be penalties built in under which a progressive fine is levied for each breach - £100 first time, £200 second time, etc. This would be easy. CEC are rushing headlong into digital reporting. Simply set up a web site unto which interested parties can upload pictures of the offending vehicles.
Of course, this will give the developers problems but they are solveable. They will need to arrange a parking spot where parking is legal and does not cause dangerous obstruction and then bus in the work force. Obviously, this will cost money but if it is done at the outset it can be built into the costings. It will make the developments more expensive but at least the costs will be bourne by the beneficiaries rather than imposing a non financial but significant cost on those whose lives are disrupted during the construction.
Alternatively, businessman with long-standing track record of attempting to cash in on inappropriate development sees an opportunity to use parking issue to circumvent planning law for his personal enrichment.
The best and most viable option for improving the parking situation is to add multi-levels to the Broadway Meadow car park. Its Central, it's already under Council Ownership and it's unlikely to have any real adverse impact to neighbouring residential premises.
Any objection on the grounds of cost is short-sighted as, whilst there will inevitably be a considerable outlay to fund building, there will be a considerable and ongoing return.
But might the timing of such an investment be inopportune?
With electronic and driverless technology just around the corner we will likely see a significant increase in clean, green public transport as well as a big shift in the way we use our cars - a requirement for smart charging points and much less demand for long stay street parking.
Let's hope that when CEC do finally address the parking crisis, they look forward and consider the transport revolution that's coming and the change that it will bring to town and facilities planning.
It's not surprising that the Council has expressed little interest in the proposal. Policy BE3 of the Macclesfield Borough Local Plan seeks to ensure that any development in a Conservation Area preserves or enhances the character and appearance of the area. There is no way that a car park in the middle of the Conservation area could achieve this.
......This land is the back garden of the house that once stood on the site now occupied by the flats "Heald Court".
Mike Cooksey has been trying to develop this back garden for a number of years. Planning applications started off with large houses and eventually down to three eco homes for the elderly. All of which have been rejected due to it being essentially a development in a large back garden and in a conservation area.
This latest scheme is even more ridiculous. The proposal that he will self fund it as some sort of grand gesture to the people of Wilmslow makes me even more wary of his true intentions.....
My response to this comment was. "You took the words right out of my mouth and said it so much more elegantly than I could.
Is your ivory tower in a conservation area? Is it made from Ivory sourced from th illegal Ivory trade?
Planning laws and guidance are there for a reason. And thankfully this time CEC Planning officers seem to be correctly interpreting them.
Wildlife that encroach from The Carrs would be decimated, and for residents it would mean even more pollution that already causes a problem because of heavy traffic in the narrow confines of Hawthorn Lane. At rush hour times the traffic is stopped bumper to bumper in a nightly and morning avalanche of tin!!
There is a parking area for flat residents, and it could be envisaged that motorists thinking of saving the heavy fees this council charges, would slip their vehicle on one of the private bays instead of entering the proposed area. Its just a mad money grabbing scheme.
Finally I would just like to state that although I share the same name as Cooksey, I am very pleased to say he is of no relation to me.
Unless every street in the town has restrictions, who is going to willingly pay to park?
Residents of Wilmslow has also identified two sites just out of the town BUT when we attempted to discuss this with the Council Leader, she simply did not wish to talk about it. We think a cost of approx £1 million would provide one upper floor at Broadway Meadow, can be paid for in just over 3 years (depending on ticket price for long stay) in effect it becomes self funding for CEC BUT it must make on street parking both restrictive & heavily enforced with punitive "fines"
The chair of WTC should look at the history of this site’s many failed planning applications and large scale opposition from residents before signalling he is in favour of this ludicrous idea. It’s a conservation area and any plans that are approved will set a precedent for the development of rear gardens throughout the conservation area.
If he ever got planning permission it would mean the tarmac goes down, nobody uses the car park then the car park is deemed unviable and the solution is to build apartments.
Most of us are not daft enough to fall for this...