Leader of 'Putting Crewe First' Brian Silvester, offers his opinion on the Royal Arcade Crewe town centre development:

CREWE town centre's Royal Arcade re-development has stalled before it has even begun.

We were promised that work would begin in January.

We are now told it will be nearly May before building work begins.

Will they then start building the much needed new shops?

Er No.

They will start by building the new bus station and multi-storey car park, which will be completed by the end of 2023.

Crewe bus station is 'an awful eysore,' says Brian Silvester (Ryan Parker).

Read more: Cheshire East Council gives long-awaited update on Crewe town centre scheme

Only then will the building of the shops begin and they won't be finished until 2025/2026.

Of course the new bus station is needed as soon as possible. It has been a awful eysore, that has needed replacing, for decades.

But why will it take nearly two years to build a new bus station?

The idea that the multi storey car park will be built before the new shops is insane.

It is putting the parking cart before the retail horse.

Crewe is not short of car parking spaces, it is short of shops to attract shoppers into the town centre.

And why is that?

JD Sports is moving away from Crewe town centre - for 'a bigger store' on Crewe's Grand Junction Retail Park this summer (Ryan Parker).

Because there has been a steady stream of retailers re-locating to the Grand Junction Retail Park, where there are no car parking charges.

Yet again Crewe residents have been badly let down by their Labour run Borough and Town Councils.

'Putting Crewe First' are campaigning to have the new shops built before the multi storey car park and for the building of the new bus station to be speeded up.

Crewe town centre is dying on its feet.

The former Wetherspoons on Victoria Street is now rubble. Trees were cut down around the bus station last month (Richard Seamon).

Urgent action is needed to revive it. Before it is too late.

(Brian Silvester - Putting Crewe First)

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