Barlow's brief

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Sign of the times in Macclesfield town centre
Sign of the times in Macclesfield town centre
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Council inaction is destroying town

Vic Barlow
21/ 5/2008

"A TRAFFIC jam when you’re already late, a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break ..."

"It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

"It’s meeting the man of my dreams

"And then meeting his wife

"And isn’t it ironic...don’t you think

"A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think..."

When Alanis Morrissette sang those lyrics do you think she was thinking of Macclesfield Borough Council?

How else could you explain the introduction of a team of town centre parking wardens during a property slump and retail slowdown?

Isn’t it ironic when John Lewis, The Trafford Centre and Handforth Dean are attracting thousands of customers to their free parking facilities that MBC plan to blitz our town centres with parking fines.

You don’t need to be a retail guru to know where this is heading. McDonald’s has already closed down in both town centre Wilmslow and Mill Street Macclesfield. Just how many clues do MBC want?

Of course we have parking problems but Congleton seem to manage quite nicely and still offers free town centre parking. They’re not stupid; they know the effect of out of town shopping and have adapted their policies accordingly.

To make the whole scenario even more surreal MBC plan to do this at a time when constantly changing town centre development plans are frightening new tenants away. Where’s the logic?

It takes a lifetime to get the council to take action by which time circumstances have changed and the policy is no longer appropriate.

Instead of flooding our town centres with parking wardens MBC should be finding new creative ways to lure shoppers into town. Think about it: how likely are you to shop in town after picking up a couple of £50 parking fines? We all know the outcome, the Specials told us:

"This town, is coming like a ghost town

"All the shops have been closed down

"This place, is coming like a ghost town"

The views expressed on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express


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Most recent 2 of 3 user comments

   I too agree that shopping in Macclesfield is awful, and I think there should be more areas for everybody to shop. Instead of all the usual Phone and Card shops. I mean, come on, who needs about 30000 phone shops in one town? Apparently us.
OllieA, Armitt Street, Macclesfield.
31/05/2008 at 23:13
   Shopping in Macc is terrible, most places are well ropey, geared towards the budget conscious middle aged middle classes Boring.
The Satisfied Customer
23/05/2008 at 08:13
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