The Cheshire East Active Travel consultation is a vital opportunity for residents of Macclesfield to shape the future of walking, cycling, and wheeling (e.g. buggies or wheelchairs). Current plans lack ambition and vision. It’s more important than ever to call for safer, better-connected routes that truly support active travel for everyday journeys.
The Strategy is sadly lacking vision or even learning from best practice in other, more successful towns and cities. It fails to address most of the basic improvements needed. While it does include plans for limited cycling and walking paths for a number of towns across the borough. Plans are piecemeal, mostly running alongside busy main roads, rather than incorporating active travel in our everyday life. It is unclear whether any of these are any more likely to be implemented than the March 2021 Macclesfield plan.
The only work undertaken in Macclesfield since that plan has been the recent improvements on Black Lane and Hibel Road, mostly funded by the Sustrans charity; Cheshire East Council paid just 5%. Cheshire East have not funded or implemented any other improvements.
I, together with other local Greens and many Macclesfield residents have been asking the Council repeatedly to make Macclesfield roads safer for everyone. We will continue to call for the council to take a more visionary, holistic approach to active travel.
It is telling that Councillor Braithwaite, Transport Vice-Chair and co-author of the consultation document, represents Macclesfield Central ward, which includes precisely one cycleway, linking a busy junction with a small cul-de-sac.
Tell Cheshire East Council to take Active Travel in Macclesfield and beyond seriously. Please respond to the consultation by August 31st: http://surveys.cheshireeast.gov.uk/s/activetravel.
If you would like to talk to me about this or any other issue, please get in touch: welcome@cheshireeast.greenparty.org.uk.
Find out more about what Greens are doing in Macclesfield here.