West Park play tower opens, chosen by 1,500 votes

The new play tower at West Park in Macclesfield opened on Friday 21 August, replacing a structure Cheshire East Council says had reached the end of its life. Families, councillors and project partners were at the park for the opening, with refreshments and activities laid on. (Cheshire East Council media release, 25 August 2026)

The council calls it the largest single play installation of its kind in Cheshire East. That is the council’s own description, not an independently checked measurement.

Residents chose it. More than 1,500 people took part in a public vote on the replacement equipment, and the option known as the “Giant XL” won. (Cheshire East Council, 25 June 2026)

The council describes the finished tower as having:

• multiple levels, linked by climbing walls, ladders and tunnels
• an “extreme” tube slide
• a single structure at the centre of the play area, replacing the old frame

Cheshire East delivered the project. Macclesfield Town Council put money in, and two councillors say they added more on top of the original budget.

It was in the town council’s plan two years ago

The Macclesfield Times has read Macclesfield Town Council’s own reports on this, and they date the project further back than either press release does.

The town council’s Strategic Plan progress report, taken to Full Council on 9 March 2026, lists the “West Park Showstopper climbing frame” under its 2024-25 parks programme, with a note in brackets: “planning permission needed so will be in situe 2026 summer”. (Macclesfield Town Council, Strategic Plan Progress Report, Full Council 9 March 2026, agenda item 12)

The same report records the town council’s parks and play budget as £100,000 a year, “increased to £110,000 in 2025”, and lists what that money has bought: a new accessible roundabout and accessible gate entrance at West Park and a trim trail at South Park in 2023-24, then new equipment at the Sandwich Drive and Holcombe play areas in Tytherington in 2024-25.

A separate town council report, to Full Council on 22 September 2025, gives the planning reference. It records that the “Planning Application for the Showstopper” was submitted as 25/3155/FUL and was “awaiting a fee Estimate from planning”. (Macclesfield Town Council, Parks and Play Areas, Full Council 22 September 2025, agenda item 11)

Neither council has published the cost of the tower. It does not appear in the papers either council has put online, so we are not printing a figure for it.

What the councillors said

Councillor David Jefferay, Cheshire East’s cabinet member for environment, sustainability and waste management, said: “This is a fantastic improvement for West Park and a great example of how we’re working with partners to enhance our parks for local families.”

Councillor Emma Gilman, the Cheshire East ward member for Tytherington and a Macclesfield town councillor, said she and Councillor David Edwardes “worked hard to secure additional funding from both Macclesfield Town Council and Cheshire East Council, enabling us to deliver a play area that goes above and beyond expectations”.

The playground is also a scheduled monument

The three weathered stone pillars standing on the grass beside the play area are not ornaments. They are a scheduled monument in their own right, and they have been protected since 7 May 1948.

Historic England’s entry describes “three standing early medieval cross shafts now located in a children’s playground in West Park, Macclesfield”, set in a triangle two metres apart at the intersection of two paths. The eastern shaft is carved from a single block of local fine gritstone, stands 1.89m above its plinth, and carries vine-scroll, key and interlace decoration. Historic England dates it to the late ninth or early tenth century. (Historic England, list entry 1012884)

They are late Mercian round-shafted crosses, a type found in the Peak District and on the hillsides above the Cheshire Plain, with other survivors at Wincle and Astbury.

What it means for you

West Park is on Prestbury Road, Macclesfield, SK10 3BJ. The car park is at the end of the drive on the right hand side from the main entrance.

The park’s published opening times are:

Source: Cheshire East Council, West Park, Macclesfield

So from 1 September the park closes an hour earlier than it has all summer, and from October it closes at 6:30pm.

Other things to know before you go:

• The café is open 9am to 5pm, seven days a week
• The toilets are open Monday to Thursday 8am to 3pm and Friday 8am to 2:30pm, and are closed at weekends and on bank holidays
• There is a toddler play area as well as the main playground, plus a skate park, a bowling green, an ornamental garden and a barbecue area
• The former West Park Museum building is closed to the public
• Broken equipment can be reported through the council’s report an issue form, or by phone on 0300 123 5011

For more places to take children in and around the town, see our guide to things to do in Macclesfield.