Stockport Council to buy shopping centre – a lesson for Macclesfield

Stockport Council has exchanged contracts to buy  Merseyway Shopping Centre.

The council, which did not disclose the purchase price for “commercially sensitive” reasons, said following the purchase it will invest up to £35m over two years in updating and improving the infrastructure and facilities.

The council said it will also use funding from loans to invest in Stockport Exchange and Redrock developments.

Merseyway Shopping Centre has been in receivership for seven years but the council said that income generated from shop rental will cover the cost of borrowing so the deal will not cost tax payers.

Eamonn Boylan, chief executive at Stockport Council, said: “This purchase will not cost Stockport Council Tax payers a penny and will provide the long awaited opportunity for the council to promote a genuine regeneration of the town centre in conjunction with the Redrock Scheme, which also went on site last week.”

Wonder why ilovemacc is carrying this piece of news? Well we believe that this would have happened in Macclesfield had the ill-conceived Town Centre Redevelopment been allowed to go ahead.

The scheme would have failed and council-tax payers would have been left to foot the bill.

It’s evident to everyone, except perhaps councils, that there’s no way a town can compete with the likes of retail malls such as The Trafford Centre.

Thankfully, Wake-up-Macc et al succeeded in convincing our own council that their scheme was pure folly.

On a related matter, hopefully, the demolition of Sutton Castings on Churchill Way will encourage a re-think on the proposed siting of the cinema complex. Surely it would be better there than on Churchill Way car park?