A public consultation will be taking place shortly to enable the local community to have their say on future plans for Wilmslow and how to make it a better place over the next 20 years.
Cheshire East Council is in the processing of developing a number of town strategies for areas across the Borough, including Alsager, Congleton, Sandbach and Middlewich.
Wilmslow Vision is the document being developed by the Town Council for Wilmslow that will form part of a collection of documents and assessments which will be considered by the Council when they put together the Cheshire East Local Plan. This will replace the Macclesfield Local Plan in 2013.
Wilmslow Town Council has been working closely with Cheshire East to prepare a new development plan for Wilmslow which will establish a Vision, objectives and broad principles for housing, employment, environment, transport and the town centre etc.
They have spent the past couple of months consulting with twenty different stakeholders who represent different sectors of the community. Four workshops have been held with a panel of representative stakeholders including Wilmslow Business Group, Wilmslow Guild, Cheshire East Councillors, Wilmslow Town Council, Wilmslow Trust and Wilmslow High School along with other business, environment and community groups.
The workshops discussed how Wilmslow Vision should meet the future needs of the town to make it a better place. As a result of those discussions a consultation document, using the thoughts and comments of stakeholders, has been produced by Broadway Malwan, the external consultants who were brought on board to help transform Wilmslow.
The strategy outlines options which the Town Council, through consultation with the stakeholder group, has considered and would like to present to the public for their views. The options and proposals within the document are for further consideration.
Described by Cllr Michael Jones as "quite provocative in places" this document has been put together to generate as much feedback as possible, both positive and negative. It is designed to entice reaction and whilst Wilmslow Town Council and CEC support it as a consultation document it is not a set of proposals which they have endorsed.
Matthew Jackson, Clerk of Wilmslow Town Council, said "We recognise that certain elements will attract quite a bit of comment, we are open to that - both positive and negative."
Michael Jones added "There are things in there that will almost certainly never happen but we can't be sure which ones they are until we have a full consultation."
Areas covered within the document include; housing; economy and employment; town centre; community assets; transport and movement and environment, sustainability and design.
One element which is bound to generate discussion is the suggestion that 1500 new homes should be built in Wilmslow by 2030.
Given that Wilmslow is surrounded by Green Belt there are few opportunities for medium or large scale development outside of the Green Belt. A map (see above) is included in the document which identifies a number of potential options for new housing in the Wilmslow area, no decisions have been taken - the map identifies options to be considered further and more land has been identified than is required to deliver 1500 new homes.
Cllr Jones commented "The most provocative element is the map which clearly CEC and Wilmslow Town Council do not support in its totality."
Potential projects and key priorities identified for the town centre include; potential to expand Wilmslow High School; improvements to the train station; a 'bus loop' around the town; a 'town centre zone' scheme to improve gateways, signage and a sense of arrival and improvements to Bank Square to provide a focal point for the town centre.
Wilmslow Vision should establish priorities to guide future investment in the town and suggested Infrastructure priorities include; improvements to cycle and pedestrian routes in the town centre; a 20mph zone in the town centre; improved health facilities; a new theatre; extra cultural facilities; improvements to town parking; improved leisure facilities; new or extended primary schools and improved library provision.
Wilmslow Vision is separate from the lifestyle centre and theatre study project, whilst the town centre and leisure facilities form part of the Local Plan they are only one element of a much broader project and a separate consultation will be held at a later date regarding the potential lifestyle centre and future of Wilmslow Library.
The public consultation will start on March 30th and run for 4 weeks. During that period information will be permanently on display at Wilmslow Leisure Centre and representatives from Wilmslow Town Council, Cheshire East Council and Broadway Malwan will be present at certain times, details of which will be published on wilmslow.co.uk when confirmed.
Broadway Malwan are also hoping to provide information in a smaller format in other locations around the town.
Feedback forms will be available for people to submit their comments and ideas, which will also be made available to download from wilmslow.co.uk.
Speaking at Monday's Town Council meeting, Cllr Ruth McNulty said "This is not set in stone. What we must do now is engage with the wider community of Wilmslow to get their views."
Cllr Gary Barton added "It is really important that as many people of Wilmslow as possible get involved. The more information we have the better we can reflect Wilmslow residents' desires for Wilmslow."
We are hoping to obtain as much of this information as possible in electronic format so we can host it on wilmslow.co.uk and CEC have confirmed that they will be taking on board all comments received on wilmslow.co.uk which will be fed back into the consultation.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
The foregoing being the biggest development in Wilmslow in fifty years or more. Any reasonable person or organisation would consult on this before or together with The Vision, unless they had something to hide, not exclued it.
Frankly I am weary of this shadow boxing with CEC aka Cllr. Jones and have to say all credability is now lost even assuming that there was any from the outset. What has he to hide? Why cannot he come forward and announce his plans for the Town Centre.?
I think that CEC should wake up and recognise that they are doing immense harm to their electoral base by the manner they are handling these issues and should expect to be heavily punished at the ballot box at the next elections.
If a defnitie proposal is forthcoming surrounding any major changes to the town centre then Wilmslow residents will of course be consulted.
This committment goes most of the way to settling the fear that CEC have, or will enter into contracts with retail superstore developers before letting the people of Wilmslow have their say. Can Cllr. Barton confirm that adequate time and publicity will be given by WTC and CEC to allow the fullest public debate on the future of our Library, Leisure Centre and Rectory Fields?
Anthony Mooney
Perhaps you might like to consider making a request for a reply from CEC under the auspices of "The Freedom of Information Act". That might reveal what we would like to know.
Please let us all know how you get on.
I don't know off hand is the honest answer. We as a Council regularly speak with the major businesses in all our towns, but I cannot say what discussions have taken place, if any.
However, as no definite plans have been drawn up, only possible ideas speculated upon, there can be no detailed discussions with anyone. The idea of a culture corridor has no one form, may never come to pass, and would be decided, as oft repeated, in consultation with local residents if/when any definite ideas have been formulated. Of course Waitrose wants to expand its presence in Wilmslow, as does every other supermarket firm. This does not mean that it will happen, indeed Cllr Jones has been very firm on this point. However, neither does Cheshire East childishly refuse to speak to the supermarket firms. Like them or not, they are a major force in the UK.
It is worth remembering that an idea is not the same as formally proposing something and a formal proposal is not the same as an action. There also comes a point when speculating on hypothetical situations begins to lose meaning, no matter how important the issue.
That being said, Clive, if you do want to speak to me more on this or any other local matter you have my telephone number.
Mr Stafford, I agree with you to some extent and Cheshire East and Wilmslow Town Council are looking at ways we can improve. Wilmslow does need more investment and part of this whole discussion is looking at where and how. Some things, like grass verges, are relatively easier to address. Other things take more time. I love Wilmslow, it's my home town for 28 out of my almost 30 years and where I have chosen to buy my first house so yes I want to see more done in the town centre and we are working on it - including spring cleaning events planned for May.
Regards,
Gary