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Petition says no to lifestyle centre proposal

By Lisa Reeves - Tuesday, 17th January, 2012 - 20 comments

Chris and the petition

A concerned Wilmslow resident has set up a petition to protest against Cheshire East Council's (CEC) plans to build a new lifestyle centre in the town.

Christine McClory is asking local residents to support her petition which says "No to Life Centre ... Yes to keeping our green spaces."

Christine is requesting that anyone local signs to say they "firmly disagree with CEC's proposal to build a Life Centre in Wilmslow. We do not want to lose our green spaces".

Christine, who has lived in Wilmslow for 59 years, is an educational consultant specialising in dyslexia and Chairman of Wilmslow Green Room's social committee.

She told wilmslow.co.uk "I have set up the petition because, having spoken to many people about the proposal from Cheshire East, I have become aware of the fact that I am not the only person who is adamantly against this. I thought it was time for me to do something rather than just moan about it. A surprising number of people do not appear to know about this. When it is explained, the general response is a rather bemused 'Why?'

"Within the first 3 days we had over 40 people signing in All You Need and Stationery Solutions alone."

The petition is available to sign in several local shops and pubs in the town, including All You Need and Stationery Solutions on Chapel Lane as well as the sandwich shop on Buckingham Road. Christine also intends to take it to the Rifleman's, The Farmer's Arms and the Carter's Arms.

CEC announced plans to build a new lifestyle centre in Wilmslow in February 2011, to bring the leisure centre, library and some social care services under one roof. The centre will host activities, from basketball to PC tuition, water aerobics to poetry reading and badminton to tea dances.

Since the announcement some residents have raised concerns amongst the possible siting of the lifestyle centre, particularly whether the town's green spaces will be protected, and what will happen to the existing leisure centre and library.

Speaking about Rectory Fields, Clive Bassil, who has lived in Wilmslow for 25 years, said "It is my appreciation that the current proposals anticipate that this area will be incorporated into the project, either as car parking or retail store.

"This area in its sylvan setting was inherited by the residents of Wilmslow. Is it not our duty and should it not be our legacy to future generations of Wilmslow to permit them to benefit from this special town centre green space in the future?"

The deadline for signing the petition is February 1st and it is also available to sign online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/wilmslowspeakup/.

Christine added "I would love to have over 3,000 signatures, but my main aim is to ensure that as many people as possible know about the proposal and are able to air their views."

CEC has yet to confirm a location for the new Wilmslow lifestyle centre but we understand a public consultation will be held in the near future. As soon as the date and further details are confirmed these will be published on wilmslow.co.uk.

I

20 Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Jon Lacey Wednesday, 18th Jan, 2012 12:55 pm
I think the plans for the Lifestyle centre are fantastic news for Wilmslow. Christine needs to open her mind a little. Something like this can only be a good thing for the town.
Alison Warburton Wednesday, 18th Jan, 2012 3:42 pm
Wilmslow has a library and leisure centre - why not invest to improve these rather than have them as potentially vacant buildings? Also I would definately agree to keeping green spaces - they are disappearing far far too quickly. Christine, have you consider being at the artisan market on Saturday - lots of potential signatories?
Christine McClory Thursday, 19th Jan, 2012 10:27 pm
So Jon has seen the plans. Excellent. Can he share them with us?
Christine McClory Thursday, 19th Jan, 2012 10:30 pm
Thanks, Alison. Unfortunately I have to work in Bradford over this weekend. I'd be delighted if someone would like to volunteer to take the petition to the Artisan Fair. Any offers?
Clive Bassil Sunday, 22nd Jan, 2012 3:05 pm
Very well done Christine. Keep up the good work. It is crucially important that as many Wilmslow Residents as possible think about the long term implications of the CEC proposals. Yes it would be a tragedy to loose the Rectory Playing Fields for this, and future generations, when green spaces in Town Centres will become even rarer than today. But thought should also be given to the impact of extra traffic, in the already congested Town Centre, at peak times, that will be generated by the increased retail development.
Roy Sower Monday, 23rd Jan, 2012 4:15 pm
I agree with Jon L. that a lifestyle centre would be great news for Wilmslow. Although we live in Alderley Edge, we use Wilmslow for most of our shopping and also trains to Manchester and to London. I don't think that the argument about 'future generations...' has much meaning given that we can't know how residents in say a generation will feel - but the trends are more towards developments like lifestyle centres just as they are for shopping malls i.e. future residents are, arguably, more likely to use such centres rather than green spaces.

Jon Lacey Monday, 23rd Jan, 2012 5:10 pm
Precisely Roy.... well said.
Christine McClory Tuesday, 24th Jan, 2012 11:47 am
I suppose it's about foresight. The Victorians realised that parks in towns and cities were important. Thank Goodness. Alderley's park is a little gem and the National Trust spend a great deal of money on the Edge.
The Rectory field is used as a green space.. for cricket.. as well as being pleasurable to look at.
We do in fact have a life style centre already... the leisure centre and the library and the Rectory field. Maybe the walk between them could count. Are we too lazy? Why should it all be under one roof. Where will we all park?
Sometimes "Trends" need to be carefully thought about.
Alison Warburton Tuesday, 24th Jan, 2012 12:22 pm
It's up to us to leave green spaces for our future generations so that they know what a green space is! If children grow up just inside malls etc then that is all they will know. Besides, green spaces are good for health and environment. To Roy S - you live in Alderley Edge - would you feel the same if the lifestyle centre was to be on one of the park in AE?
Roy Sower Tuesday, 24th Jan, 2012 2:59 pm
Well, whatever the Victorians thought and did was in a completely different time and place - the population of England/UK then was much smaller than now. Today, people's needs and wants, with much more freedom than in former times, are very different. The green field debate is current given all the challenges about where to build new homes which are desperately needed by young families everywhere and we can't just say no ad nauseam.

You can't compare the main park in AE with the field behind the leisure centre in Wilmslow - one is a park with various facilities - children's play area, tennis courts, a bowling green and even a bandstand - the area in Wilmslow is a (playing) field. If there was a similar field in AE and a lifestyle centre was being considered, I'd hope that the local council and CEC would look at any such proposal in the round - would it add value to the facilities in AE etc; this is at the heart of the debate in Wilmslow - upgrading the town. Wilmslow and AE are nice places to live in but they have to move with the times.
Christine McClory Tuesday, 24th Jan, 2012 6:25 pm
As I said. We already have a Life style centre. It's just a matter of taking the time and exercise to walk between the facilities. Something I'm sure would be appropriate.
Roy Sower Tuesday, 24th Jan, 2012 7:44 pm
Christine, Wilmslow has a leisure centre. It has a library and a small theatre. A lifestyle centre is much more than an aggregation of these 3 things. It has the potential to dramatically transform Wilmslow's town centre.

Wilmslow has the opportunity to develop into something dynamic and to play a major part in the regional economy - it has so much going for it with the rail links, proximity to the airport and motorways. Wilmslow isn't like Knutsford or Poynton or Macclesfield - it has a much more contemporary feel about it. It needs to continue to grow IMO.

I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want better facilities.




Christine McClory Wednesday, 25th Jan, 2012 10:50 am
So what is the magical factor that makes it more than an aggregation of those three things? How would the facilities be better? And where would the proposed supermarket customers park?
Birgitta Hoffmann Sunday, 29th Jan, 2012 4:01 pm
I was intrigued by Roy's suggestion that a life style centre is a very different thing than a library, a park and a small theatre. So I decided to go an have a look at one in Madeley nr. Crewe, brand new, it replaces the old village hall (much loved and well used, but a bit old and leaky), and an old people's home and an open field, where you could kick the ball around. It it now a fairly large modern structure, completely dominating the village with a restaurant that is doubling as the old people refectory (the food is too expensive and in the view of the local 'school food'), a community hall (too expensive for most groups to use and not really multipurpose (unlike the village hall that was useable for both Badminton and theatre and dancing), 'meeting rooms' (again too expensive) and a leisure centre, the outside is beautifully landscaped: with signs - 'no ball games'. Having seen the building process, in 10 years time, the roof will need replacing and in the meantime the village is saddled with a huge expensive white elephant.

Like most of the locals I talked to, I am NOT convinced that it has done anything for the village, except to make it harder to find an affordable venue that can be used for neighbourhood activities. If Roy Sower is so keen to have a Life style centre, why did he not fight to keep the Festival Hall in Alderley Edge, after all that is what it was built for? - I remember reading, that Alderley Edge it thought, it was too expensive for what it had to offer. why should we now repeat this mistake?

And while I have the floor, may I offer as a historian offer a small correction to Mr Sower: The reason why the Victorians pushed for Green spaces and public libraries and village or community halls inside their towns was exactly so that young families in crowded inner city accommodation could have a low-cost facilities offering instruction, healthy exercise and relaxation close to their place of residence, which was both healthy and affordable. Mr Sower, times may have changed - the argument hasn't.
Christine McClory Sunday, 29th Jan, 2012 5:38 pm
Thank you, Birgitta. A lovely piece of research.
Roy Sower Tuesday, 31st Jan, 2012 5:34 pm
Birgitta, the debate in AE about the Festival Hall is about turning it into a modern health centre to replace the very limited facilities in the village. I didn't know that the Hall was built as a lifestyle centre but that was 60 years ago in any case.

I'm not a historian - I used to work in the IT industry - but I don't share your perspective of Victorian times - you see one side and I see dreadful conditions for the majority of the population, workhouses...desperate working conditions in factories...mortality rates...

I'd suggest that both the times and the argument have changed. This is after all 2012.
Mikaela Williams Thursday, 2nd Feb, 2012 8:03 pm
I would just like to say thanks Christine for acting on this. I agree that it's not clear how the town would benefit from losing the Rectory fields. I would like to know what further benefit a new lifestyle centre would offer, and have certainly not read one benefit in the previous comments. The loss of the field would be tragic. As a regular user of the leisure centre it creates such an atmosphere, especially during the summer months when it is regularly used.
I prefer the library being a walk away from the leisure centre. We have to walk between the two and surely this is good for local trade.

Why not better use the facilities we do have. The leisure centre definately needs updating (the gym especially) and then maybe more people would use the facilities we have. The cafe area is great and in the summer allows the children to play outside, safely away from traffic. It seems a lack of care of what we have is the problem, surely the solution is not to completely abolish what we have for an even bigger, more costly, larger slab of concrete.

And the library was only recently completely refurbished.... I'm sure that wasn't cheap...

Please protect this for the young families of today and tomorrow. Times have changed and kids need outside play more than ever.
Christine McClory Friday, 3rd Feb, 2012 10:14 am
Thank you, Mikaela. Quite right about the outside play, too. Anyone reading the latest information about the benefits of Vitamin D will be aware of the fact that we need to spend more time in the open air trying to absorb whatever sunshine we can get.
Clive Bassil Friday, 3rd Feb, 2012 10:40 am
Thank you very much for contribution Mikaela. Cllr. Jones claims that he listens. I do hope that he reads as well.
In his recent interview with this website he suggested that housing would be a possible use for the Library site should his plans come to fruition. Good idea Cllr., right in tune with the Mary Portas report on the future of High Streets. However, demolishing Libraries is not, and we shall work and work to see it dosen't happen. In the meantime Cllr. would you kindly confirm that whilst housing would be an option, that a supermarket on that site would not bring in more cash which you would prefer? Would you also please confirm that you have not had and don't intend to have talks with J. Sainsbury to extend their store should the Library site became available. It is so important that we the Residents of Wilmslow know the facts.
It is reported in Edition No. 64 of "In Cheshire" that the leisure centre site may be sold to Waitrose. Is that true Councillor? If it is true or even likely, could you kindly advise the Residents of Wilmslow what your plans are for the then redundant building at the end of Church Street. Could you also say what you see for the future of Church Street once Waitrose have left and indeed what future there would be for the retailers at the bottom (Northern) end of Grove Street should this be allowed to come to pass.

Clive Bassil
Anthony Mooney Sunday, 19th Feb, 2012 6:25 pm
Here are some questions for Councillor Jones.

1. Has the councillor discussed the proposals with Waitrose?
2. Were any of the potential financial implications discussed?
3. Will the Rectory Field become the car park for the new supermarket?
4. What exactly is a "Lifestyle Centre"?
5. Who will own the "Lifestyle Centre".
6. Has the option of updating the existing Leisure Centre been considered?
7. If the library...a fine 1969 building recently refurbished...is demolished, will the site be incorporated into Sainsbury's car park, allowing the supermarket to extend its premises?
8. The Manchester developers R-gen have (at Macclesfield Council's request) commissioned he London Architects Tate and Hindle to prepare plans for 30 "Executive Homes for a premium site in Wilmslow. Does this request have any connection with the proposed new Wilmslow Centre Development?

Until these questions have been answered it is quite impossible to form an opinion on the new proposals.

Anthony Mooney
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