The Macclesfield Town Centre Masterplan, the cornerstone of plans for a multi-million pound redevelopment, is now ready to form the basis of the outline planning application to be submitted this autumn.

Developers Wilson Bowden and Macclesfield Borough Council have over the past six months continued to amend the Masterplan taking into account feedback from many stakeholders. The Members' Advisory Panel strongly supported the revised Masterplan and considered it would deliver a much-enhanced scheme for Macclesfield.

Debenhams at Park Green is the anchor tenant for the retail transformation of Macclesfield Town Centre, covering an area from Castle Street to Park Green, bounded by Mill Street and Churchill Way. It will also see a multi-screen cinema on Churchill Way, opposite a new Town Square. A new street will be created which will link the existing Grosvenor Centre to the new Town Square. A new community hall will be built adjacent to a new, enhanced public realm space at Park Green. The revised plans will hopefully benefit the shops currently located in Dukes Court with new links into the main retail mall.

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"We may have taken longer than anticipated in revising the Masterplan but the progress has not compromised the timetable. The developers are due to start on site in 2010/11 and the good news is that the changes will result in reduced construction time," said Councillor Jamie Macrae who heads up the Town Centre Development Advisory Panel, which was set up by Macclesfield Borough Council's Cabinet.

The submission of the outline application to Macclesfield Borough Council's Planning Department will kick-start a 16-week decision period, including public consultation.

Wilson Bowden Development Manager Emma Newman said: "The outline planning application for Macclesfield Town Centre will show we're making better use of the site. We're delighted to provide much more of a leisure focus which retains the key elements of the brief from the Borough Council. We will be holding further meetings with those parties affected by the changes, and will detail the plans and images in a newsletter to coincide with the planning application in the Autumn."

(CD/JM)