Danes Moss Trust secures ACV status for Macclesfield site

The Danes Moss Trust secured Asset of Community Value status for Danes Moss earlier this year, giving macclesfield campaigners a formal layer of protection for the rare site on the town’s southern edge. Cheshire East Council is still weighing the options for land there that was previously allocated for development.

Danes Moss is a living lowland raised peat bog, with footpaths through wet woodland that connect to the Macclesfield Canal. It also holds an estimated 220,000 tonnes of carbon in ancient soil, and the trust’s campaign now turns on whether that asset status can help shape what happens next.

Danes Moss on Macclesfield’s edge

Danes Moss once stretched for a thousand acres to the south of Macclesfield. Centuries of drainage and cutting reduced it to a fraction of that size, leaving a remaining bog rich in dragonflies, butterflies and specialist plants.

The site is more than a patch of open ground. It is described as a valued green space for communities on the town’s southern edge, with paths that link the Moss through wet woodland and on to the canal.

Trust campaign and restoration plan

The Danes Moss Trust is now a registered charity. It has campaigned, fundraised and built a detailed restoration vision in partnership with Cheshire Wildlife Trust, which opposed the original development proposals.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust called those proposals among the most environmentally damaging ever put forward in the region. CPRE Cheshire has also supported the campaign and said it will continue to do so.

Cheshire East Council options

More than 200 acres were allocated for development at Danes Moss, putting the remaining bog and surrounding land at the center of a longer dispute over its future. The coming months will determine whether the landscape is restored or lost forever.

For people using the footpaths, the practical question is whether the land keeps moving toward restoration or toward development. The trust has already won the asset status; the next decision rests with Cheshire East Council.