Santa Claus is coming to Cheshire town
Local councillors have approved plans for a 43-acre immersive Lapland experience at Capesthorne Hall but not everyone was in the festive spirit.
Lapland UK estimates the Cheshire venture – a four-hour immersive Christmas experience – could generate £24.5m a year for the area through projected visitor spend, supplier spend, and employment wages. It would employ approximately 1,200 individuals each year, many of whom are likely to be local.
Most of Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning committee liked the sound of that, approving the plans by eight votes to two after more than an hour of discussion. However, Cllr Gardiner, deputy leader of the council’s Conservative group, was against the plans, which he said would harm the hall’s Green Belt setting.
The committee’s chair, Cllr Brian Puddicombe, responded by saying: “From the point of view of the employment [opportunities] and economic advantages I think we should welcome them.
“I would suggest that that the very special circumstances [to justify development in the Green Belt] do exist.”
The only other current immersive Lapland experience is in Whitmoor Forest in Ascot and attracts around 170,000 visitors annually.
Alison and Mike Battle, the directors of Lapland UK, now have permission to bring the attraction to Capesthorne Hall west of Macclesfield for the 50 days leading up to Christmas day each year for the next decade.
Firstplan is advising Lapland UK on the proposals. The project team includes David Jarvis Associates, The Heritage Practice, Kingdom Ecology, Robinson Forestry, and TTP Consulting.
You can learn more about Lapland’s proposals by searching reference number 24/4504/FUL on Cheshire East Council’s planning portal.
Town? No nearer Macclesfield than Knutsford, Wilmslow or Congleton.
By Lurch