£90m redevelopment plan for Macclesfield town centre
A £90m plan to redevelop Macclesfield town centre has been approved by Cheshire East Council.
The Silk Street development will have a multiplex cinema, restaurants and large department stores, creating 1,300 jobs, the council said.
The plans are seen as a "crucial keystone" for the wider regeneration of of the town, the council added.
Opponents claim the town is not big enough for such a development and are against a centre full of chain stores.
The plan was submitted by Leicestershire-based property developers Wilson Bowden.
Beverley Moore, from the Wake up Macclesfield Group, said and money spent in chain stores was "likely to go outside of the town, to pension funds and shareholders.
"It's a misnomer that this is an investment in Macclesfield."
Councillor Jamie Macrae, cabinet member in charge of prosperity and economic regeneration, said: "We all want a distinctive and vibrant town centre with an attractive mix of shops, markets, leisure activities and culture.
"Macclesfield is not fulfilling its potential and it is losing out to rival centres as a place to visit and spend money. The Silk Street proposal would deliver this vision."