Town councillors have hit out at the design of the proposed new Marks & Spencer store in Nantwich.
Drawings of the store, planned on the site of the former Beam Street health clinic behind the library, were viewed by councillors at a meeting this week.
Nantwich Town Council has been asked to pass comment on the application currently being considered by Cheshire East Council.
And some councillors believe the proposed design would look out of place in the town.
Cllr Stuart Hutton (pictured) said: “It was initially criticised for its aesthetic qualities when drawings were first viewed. The revised plans are no improvement.
“It’s unattractive, it could be a building anywhere in any town in the country. It is possible to build large developments in an attractive way, and in keeping with the town.
“But this is not one of them.”
The council agreed to write to Cheshire East to raise concerns about the design.
Councillors did agree attracting national retailers to the town is a good thing, and welcomed the plans to turn the former Ye Olde Vaults pub on High Street into a Fat Face clothing outlet.
Forget that we now have 60 much needed new jobs in the town, forget that those of us who haven’t got cars (and the elderly) currently have to catch buses or trek out of town to Sainsburys, Aldi or Morrisons for their shopping, forget that Nantwich is ‘charity shop city,’ forget growth, investment, etc. It seems all our archaic, luddite, ‘head in the sand’ councillors are only interested in how a building looks! Hypocrites the lot of them!
Bob Harding
I think the idea of marks and spencers in nantwich would be a very good outlet in the town , not only for everyday shoppers but also the many visitors that come in to the town, our town needs some investment bringing to it.
Yet again these comments reveal the short term view of the town council and the lack of strategy in developing a successful thriving town in the medium to long term.
Whilst the plans may need amending the concerning part about this is only large companies can afford the capital investment needed in this site. This combined with one of the leading names on the high street should attract further investment within the town.
Clearly, there are local business concerns but there is a need to embrace change rather than oppose it. In the town councils submission to Cheshire East I would be interested to see if there were any conflicts of interest.