‘Rare’ Victorian tiled floor may be lost

A community action group comprising local pub-goers are attempting to halt the conversion of The Macc pub, on Mill Green, into a number of residential dwellings with the loss of a possibly unique Victorian tiled floor.

The group have notified East Cheshire Planners of their intention to submit an Assets of Community Value (ACV) document. Update: this has now been done.

If the property is deemed to be an ACV then the loss of the public house and it’s very special flooring tiles could be halted.

The necessary 21 signatures (for the ACV) were collected in a 24 hour period, in The Macc, by pub regulars and has since continued to grow. Objectors to the scheme claim they are only accepting signatures from people who use the pub, rather than from anyone passing by or “on the street”.

Objectors are also voicing their concerns that by not opposing the plans Macclesfield Civic Society appear to be willing to allow the destruction of a Victorian tiled floor which Historic England has described as being “rare”.

They are also querying the length of time it takes for legitimate letters opposing the scheme to appear on the Cheshire East planning website.

Another issue for one of the objectors is traffic noise for the residents: “From 03:30 hours huge wagons begin travelling along this stretch of road until late at night.  We live in a nearby street, and can feel our house shake when these wagons go past, so how would the occupants fare?  Whilst socialising in The Macc, the ground shakes so badly that it makes people jump!”

They also claim “61 of the 104 notifications went to the people who work in Venture House and are not there when the pub is open.  I suspect that the applicants didn’t want to draw attention to their plans by including the local community who reside within the same radius.”

The objection letter continues: “only one notification been put up – on a lamp post which rarely gets anyone walking past it?  Most pedestrians use the opposite side of Cross Street, or Old Mill Lane. Again, it seems as if the applicants want to keep it as quiet as possible.”

If you wish to see the application in full go to:

http://planning.cheshireeast.gov.uk/applicationdetails.aspx?pr=19/1140M