7 March 2023
People in Macclesfield and Prestbury were horrified last week to find the River Bollin covered in mounds of white foam. Hundreds, if not thousands, of brown trout and other fish have been found dead. While investigations are ongoing, who knows what pollution has been dumped in our river and what ongoing harm may befall wildlife - vegetation, other fish and shellfish, birds and other creatures that feed on them? Rivers are our “green arteries”, connecting town and country, bringing life and open space into what could otherwise be urban desert and offering routes for town-dwellers to reach the countryside.
We hope Cheshire East Council and the police will work with the Environment Agency to find and deal with those responsible and do their utmost to ensure there is no repeat. Mind you, this isn’t the only act of environmental vandalism we’re seeing, with the council permitting housebuilding on peatland at Chelford Road and Gaw End while actively promoting the “development” of Danes Moss, pushing through major roadbuilding through greenbelt and proposing the wholesale destruction of trees in Poynton.
Residents and business owners throughout Cheshire East will also be alarmed to learn that Arriva North West plans to withdraw bus services throughout the borough. All very well to say they “will work to transfer the routes to other operators”; they are the main bus operator, certainly in and around Macclesfield. Bus services here have already been cut to the bone and beyond, with many villages and communities no longer served at all; Sunday services are virtually non-existent. While the current £2 maximum fare is welcome, it’s no use if there’s no bus to catch! Buses are a public service, too important to be run as commercial interests - time to look at bringing them back under public control, as Greater Manchester is doing.
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