Macclesfield & district · Local news you can trust
New bin days and the food waste start date are due by mid-October. Caddies still to reach Wilmslow, Poynton and Knutsford; three Macclesfield wards unlisted.
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Macclesfield
Macclesfield Fireworks: Big Bang On Sale For 6 November
The Macc Big Bang is on sale for Friday 6 November, gates 5.30pm, fireworks 8pm. Tytherington runs on the 5th, Poynton on the 7th. Prices and parking here.
Macclesfield
Macclesfield Christmas Lights: No Switch-On, 28 Nov Instead
Macclesfield has no switch-on ceremony. Step Into Christmas runs 11am to 5pm on Saturday 28 November, free. Wilmslow's switch-on is Saturday 21 November.
Macclesfield
Macclesfield Pantomime: Cinderella Runs 18-23 January
Macclesfield has no December panto. MMTG's Cinderella runs 18 to 23 January 2027 at MADS Little Theatre, and Babes in the Wood goes on sale on 26 September.
Macclesfield
Macclesfield Christmas Markets: Treacle 29 Nov and 20 Dec
Two Christmas Treacle Markets in 2026: Sunday 29 November and Sunday 20 December, 10am to 3.30pm on Market Place, plus the Made in Macc market on 28 November.
Cheshire East
Cheshire East budget balanced only by £25m government help
Cheshire East's Q1 forecast balances only after spending all £24.995m of emergency government support, and its finance officer calls the assurance qualified.
Macclesfield
Macclesfield wine festival, 25 September: £30 a ticket
MACC WINE FEST brings 80+ wines to Macclesfield Town Hall on Friday 25 September. Tickets are £30, doors 5.55pm, and the Town Hall car park is free after 5pm.
West Park
West Park play tower opens, chosen by 1,500 votes
Macclesfield's 'Showstopper' play tower opened at West Park on 21 August, chosen by 1,500 residents in a vote. What is in it, and why it took a year.
Roads
Macclesfield Flowerpot junction: £6.9m, but not until 2028
Cheshire East's transport plan gives Macclesfield's Flowerpot junction £6.882m, none of it before April 2028. Cabinet decides on 3 September.
Local Info
Macclesfield Bin Collection Days: Black Bins Go 3-Weekly
Black bins move to every three weeks this autumn and food waste goes weekly. Garden waste is £69, bulky collections are suspended, and your day may change.
Local Info
Parking in Macclesfield: Where It's Free After 3pm
Duke Street is free after 3pm, Kennedy Avenue and Princes Way always. Charges run 8am to 10pm seven days, and 10 hours at the station costs more than a day.
Local Info
Macclesfield Council Tax Bands: £2,442.92 at Band D
Band D in Macclesfield town is £2,442.92 for 2026-27, up 5.21%. The full A to H table, every local parish precept, and the premium that doubles a second home.
Schools
Macclesfield GCSE results 2026: Cheshire East reports 66%
Cheshire East says 66% of pupils passed GCSE English and maths, below the 67.8% in its last official figures. No Macclesfield state school published a number.
Macclesfield sits with the moors at its back and the Cheshire plain in front of it, and the towns and villages around it are all quite different animals: Bollington and Prestbury up in the hills, Wilmslow, Handforth and Alderley Edge out on the commuter line, Poynton, Disley, Knutsford, Mobberley and Chelford further round.
They share one council. Cheshire East was drawn in 2009 and runs from here across to Crewe, so a decision that changes a street in Macclesfield is taken in a building that answers for a borough of 425,000 people. We go through the planning register, the licensing notices and the committee papers, and we write down the parts that apply at this end of it, with a link back to the original document every time.
No guesswork. If we cannot point you to the source, we do not print the figure.