The row over CPS Centre has moved from village frustration to legal action, with a barrister instructed to support traders facing eviction from the Culcheth shopping centre.
Owners Shivat Haminim Capital Ltd have issued formal notices terminating tenants’ licences, effective from February 28. The affected businesses are understood to be mainly on the first floor, leaving traders, shoppers and local politicians shocked and angry.
Cllr Neil Johnson, independent councillor for Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft, has launched a ‘save our shops’ campaign and is calling on the centre’s owner to pause the evictions until everyone can sit down and discuss alternatives.
“I have once again spent the afternoon with traders at CPS Centre, working on the case to save our shops,” he said. “I am pleased that we have now been able to instruct a barrister to assist them with qualified legal advice as we move to the next stage of our campaign.”
Cllr Johnson said he had written to Shivat Haminim Capital Ltd asking for a face-to-face meeting, which he has offered to host. It is a sensible attempt to get all sides around one table, rather than allowing a major village issue to be handled through letters and looming deadlines.
He has previously warned that losing the shops and facilities would damage Culcheth’s economy and put people’s livelihoods at risk. That point is hard to dispute: independent businesses are not decorative extras, they help keep people visiting the village and spending money elsewhere locally.
However, the fire safety concerns cannot simply be waved away in the name of protecting the high street. The eviction letter stated that a report had identified “critical works to improve fire safety” that needed to be completed within weeks to remove life-threatening hazards.
The letter said the CPS Centre would officially close on March 1, 2025, to allow essential upgrades, with the safety of tenants, employees and visitors described as the highest priority. If those hazards are genuine, they must be dealt with properly. The criticism is that businesses appear to have been left facing a deeply disruptive decision without enough transparency, consultation or visible effort to find workable alternatives.
Cllr Johnson described the decision as rash and said his campaign would focus on safeguarding jobs and incomes. Businesses in the village are being asked to display a ‘save our shops’ poster as a show of solidarity.
Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols MP has also said she will meet affected traders and has spoken to the fire service to seek clarity on the issues raised in the eviction letter.
The village now needs clear information, serious engagement and a solution that protects people from fire risk without casually sacrificing established local businesses. That should not be an impossible standard, although the CPS Centre saga is making it look remarkably ambitious.