Cheshire East Council has agreed to transfer a parcel of Public Open Space adjacent to the car park and play area in the Carrs to Wilmslow Town Council for the sum of £1.
Wilmslow Town Council requested this land to enable them to erect a modular building on it for the provision of a public toilet and refreshment kiosk.
The Town Council has not finalised the design yet but in order to progress the project they wanted to make certain they could build on this plot of land.
Whilst the site was not considered surplus to Cheshire East's requirements it was felt that the proposal offered an enhancement to the facility for the benefit of users.
The transferred land will be protected for community use and the Town Council will be wholly responsible for it.
In addition to the land, the Town Council wants £30,000 of S106 money* which Cheshire East Council is holding to help fund the project. They set aside a budget of £65,000 last year for the provision of public toilets next to the children's playground and they are hoping that the rest of the money required for the construction will come from the 106 monies.
Councillor Martin Watkins said "We were disappointed that the question of 106 monies was not included. We understand that this will be addressed shortly.
"We are now looking at all options and costs with a view to making a recommendation to full council before the end of the year (remembering Council does not meet until mid-September)."
*Section 106 is money paid by developers to the council to mitigate the impact of a development on its surroundings. As part of the planning permission a legal agreement is made specifying how much money the developer must pay and what it will be spent on, such as improvements to highways and drainage, public transport, schools and parks.
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If anyone has seen the report from Arup for Cheshire East, most of the Carrs is marked as a SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION. This is in CE's Green Belt Assessment Update 2015. Bearing on mind that the playing fields on Altrincham Road, are marked the same, all I say is, watch them like a hawk. It is noted that this area was donated by the Boddington Family to the people of Wilmslow, and a small parcel of Land at Brown's Lane, to the Hamlet of Deane Row, and I believe Lindow Common, let someone tell us who owns these now
The Boddington family gifted the Boddington Playing Fields to Wilmslow Urban District Council (WUDC) in the 1920s for public enjoyment. WUDC also bought some other land from the Boddingtons and from other landowners to form the Carrs as we know it today by the mid-1930s (greatly expanded from the original Boddington gift).
In the 1974 local government reorganisation, WUDC was abolished and all of its assets were transferred to the new Macclesfield Borough Council. In 2009 MBC was abolished and all of its assets transferred to the new Cheshire East Council.