Cheshire East Business Plan
Cheshire East Council commissioned PLACED to deliver a series of community engagement events to inform the development of a new borough plan in Cheshire East. The new plan will shape the direction and priorities for the next few years locally through day-to-day work of the council and partners. By having a robust plan, the council can ensure that it has the funding and resources in place to deliver the services that people need. The plan was launched in March 2024 and will cover the period April 2024 – March 2028.
What we did
As part of the commission, engagement was undertaken to explore local people’s priorities and encourage reflections on the identity of Cheshire East as a large borough with significant diversity and socio-economic division.
Engagement consisted of public pop-up events in Crewe and Macclesfield, two of the borough’s larger towns. The free to attend, in-person events would complement Cheshire East Council’s own engagement. Pop-up events led to the engagement of 200 residents and stakeholders across 4 different events. Event included fun activities including mixing the best qualities of good places to live as well as descriptive and thought-provoking questions.
“It was great to see the level of public interest. We are really happy with the content and initial outcomes of the events, and the tone of them was great.”
– Sarah Bullock, Cheshire East Council
Outcomes
As a result of the events, it was clear that Cheshire East residents want to see more shopping facilities in their local town centres, including a greater mix of retail outlets and independent businesses. Further, many residents wish to see town centres regenerated and empty retail units filled to revive commerce and foot traffic. There’s desire to see improved public transport that connects different areas of town as well as more affordable car parking in town centres. Overall, the response to the engagement delivered was positive with productive and constructive discussions, which will feed into the plan for the area up to 2028.