Join the Movement for a New Macclesfield Borough Council!
The Government’s Devolution White Paper provides a route to reorganise failing unitary councils, those that have mismanaged finances, neglected local areas, or become too large to serve their communities properly. 

Has Cheshire East Council (CEC) failed Macclesfield’s Borough Area? - The facts speak for themselves:

🔴 July 2026: CEC effectively receives 2nd Government Best Value Notice as serious concerns remain.
🔴 May 2025: CEC issued its 1st Best Value Notice over finance, governance and its ability to improve.
🔴 A damning LGA peer review warns that “financial sustainability is in jeopardy.”
🔴 Failure to immediately oppose the Peak Cluster CO₂ pipeline through Macclesfield’s borough.
🔴 Failure to immediately oppose the proposed Adlington New Town.
🔴 Consistent failure to oppose the destruction of green belt and irreplaceable habitats.
🔴 Council procedures used to silence elected representatives and prevent proper debate.
🔴 Gross mishandling of council finances.
🔴 Teetering on the edge of a Section 114 notice.
🔴 Plans to saddle residents with up to £77.9 m in long-term debt through Exceptional Financial Support loans.
🔴 Assets sales continue.
🔴 Council tax increased by the maximum 4.99% in 2026/27. Further rises and cuts are likely.
🔴 Double taxation through rising town and parish precepts for services already funded through council tax.
🔴 More double taxation threatened as further services and costs are transferred.
🔴 Council assets sold to support failing finances.
🔴 Essential services and local amenities cut.
🔴 Libraries closed or reduced.
🔴 Household waste recycling centres closed.
🔴 The £69 green bin charge retained, despite food and garden waste being legally capable of collection together.
🔴 Sunday parking charges introduced. Other parking charges increased.
🔴 Children’s services rated inadequate by Ofsted.
🔴 Children’s and older people’s meal services stopped.
🔴 Blocked gullies, flooding, potholes and crumbling infrastructure becoming the norm.
🔴 Policies worsening poverty and creating conditions for crime to increase.
🔴 Seven police investigations into matters connected with Cheshire East Council.
🔴 £167.7 m capital investment in Macclesfield’s borough than in southern Cheshire East. A gap of around 110%.
🔴 Crewe alone received around £173 m. More than the whole of Macclesfield’s borough combined.
🔴 Years of unequal investment damaging local infrastructure, town centres and economies.
🔴 Hundreds of millions of pounds in estimated economic output lost through underinvestment.
🔴 Cheshire East Council refuses to show Macclesfield borough's council tax and business rate contributions.
🔴 Further tax rises, borrowing, asset sales and cuts are likely while this council structure continues.

There Is a Better Way
The new Devolution Framework allows residents to press for local Government reorganisation. A Macclesfield Borough Council (Unitary Authority) would:

• Keep Council Tax and investment local.
• Restore public accountability and transparency.
• Protect Green Belt and community identity.
• Reinvest locally to improve roads, libraries, markets, and services.
• Provide a seat as a constituent member in the new Cheshire + Warrington Combined Authority.

Early analysis shows this move is financially viable and beneficial, with potential for a budget surplus while fully funding services at current or lower cost.

Why Cheshire East Won’t Publish the Facts
If Macclesfield’s independence were unviable, CEC could have closed the argument with data. Instead, it refuses to release the figures for Council Tax and Business Rates revenue, facts that should already be public. Transparency should not depend on Freedom of Information battles.

What Happens Next
There is now a clear legal route for the Government to commission a full review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE). This independent review would examine all financial and practical factors before any change is considered. In short, robust safeguards ensure that residents, services, and local accountability are protected at every stage of the process.

To demonstrate local support and begin this democratic process, we need just:

• 5% signatures (3,800) from Macclesfield constituency residents
• 5% signatures (2,600) from Tatton constituency residents

Add Your Voice
If you live in one of the blue-shaded areas on the map and believe Macclesfield deserves better, sign now.

This isn’t party politics, it’s about competence, fairness, and democracy.
Your signature gives our community the right to be heard, and to explore a practical, costed path to local self-government.

👉 Sign the petition today, because Macclesfield's borough deserves better.