Councillors agreed to carry out a longer two staged approach to the town centre's public realm consultation, to ensure the entire Alsager population can express their views and not be "disenfranchised" due to Covid-19.

The Public Realm Working Group was created to work with Xanthe Quayle consultants on proposals to develop the town centre.

The 'Reclaiming the Road' proposals had been recommended as an action from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.

The key objective of the scheme is to make Alsager town centre the hub of the community, which responds to a wide range of needs and activities that enables people to meet and enjoy a range of social experiences.

At an Alsager Town Council planning meeting in November, councillors agreed to carry out a consultation with residents and businesses on the Alsager Public Realm proposals from Xanthe Quayle.

However, it was approved that the final approval on the timing of the consultation would be made at the first meeting of the town council in 2021 to assess Covid-19 restrictions.

At last Tuesday's Alsager Town Council meeting, councillors discussed in length the working group's request that the consultation would commence on 1 February, which would include a YouTube video of the plans and leaflets being distributed to all Alsager households.

Cllr Julian Goodrich was concerned that the consultation was being "rushed" during a national lockdown.

The Conservative councillor felt going ahead with the consultation with Covid-19 restrictions in place, meant the town council was "disenfranchising" some of the town's population, who did not use electronic means, which was a "large" percentage due to Alsager being an elderly town in some areas.

Therefore, Cllr Goodrich felt the consultation should be delayed until a full proper face-to-face consultation could take place at the Alsager Civic and the open market alongside an electronic consultation.

Cllr Goodrich said: "I just feel we are rushing in an area that needs consultation of the whole town and the whole population, whether they have got access to technology or not.

"To do that now when nothing can be done is a mistake and I just think we should delay until we are out of this and the vaccine is rolled out even further and people can go to open spaces.

"People could then go to the civic, look at this in detail and ask questions to people who can be there to answer.

"A YouTube video is fantastic, but it is a one-way street, you cannot ask direct questions there."

Cllr Goodrich proposed that the consultation should commence once public buildings can be used.

Cllr Sue Helliwell supported Cllr Goodrich's comments.

Commenting on consulting during Covid-19, Cllr Derek Hough felt it was never going to be "completely safe" even in the future and that the virus was "here to stay".

The Liberal Democrat councillor added: "We cannot delay action for ever more because of Covid-19, I do accept that there is a certain risk, but I do suggest that we go ahead."

Cllr Helliwell had concerns that during a worldwide pandemic, the town council was considering having leaflets put through residents' letter boxes.

Cllr Helliwell added: "We do not know where the Covid cases are coming from and by Easter, the majority of the Alsager population should be vaccinated by then."

Cllr Alison Nayling felt it would not be a "fair" consultation unless every resident was able to take part.

The Labour councillor, who is currently shielding due to the virus, told the committee that she does not want any leaflets being put through her door.

Cllr Nayling added: "You cannot guarantee they [leaflets] are safe and you have not seen who has handled them.

"I sterilise everything that comes in, but not everybody does, and we do not want to increase the risk of passing it [Covid-19] onto vulnerable people. We need to wait."

June Buckley, a ward councillor for Alsager, did not have any qualms with waiting until Easter, but she felt the town council could not keep on "waiting and waiting".

Alongside an electronic consultation, Cllr Buckley felt the noticeboards outside the Alsager Civic could be used as a storyboard and provide key information about the public realm project.

Cllr Phil Williams, who has been volunteering at The Thirteen Club to assist with the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out, told fellow councillors that some residents, who were receiving their first jab, told him he was the first person they had spoken to face-to-face since March.

The ward councillor was worried about the consultation being "kicked down the road all the time" and suggested carrying out a two-phased and two-pronged approach to ensure the entire Alsager population was consulted fairly.

Cllr Williams said: "We could to a teaser like online campaign now and then follow it up with consultation when we can get leaflets out and get people to the Alsager Civic.

"It will take a little bit of juggling, but I do think it can work. We could also use the storyboards outside the civic and consult through video and online."

Cllr Goodrich's proposal to delay commencing the consultation until public buildings could be used was tied with six votes for and six votes against.

This meant Cllr Rod Fletcher, chair of Alsager Town Council had the deciding vote. The leader of the Liberal Democrats voted against the proposal.

Cllr Williams then proposed to commence a two-pronged consultation from 1 February, which would not be completed until every resident was given the opportunity to comment.

Cllr Fletcher said: "That is probably the best of both worlds."

Cllr Michael Unett said: "I think this is probably the best and most sensible option."

Cllr Fletcher responded: "It could be a long consultation."

The proposal put forward by Cllr Williams was approved.

You can see what Xanthe Quayle has planned for Alsager town centre here.