'VITALITY plans' are being developed for town centres across Cheshire East to help them meet the challenges posed by shifts in shopping habits and the pandemic.
The bespoke plans are being drawn up for towns including Wilmslow, Poynton, Congleton, Handforth, Knutsford and Sandbach.
The plans will help Cheshire East Council and town councils to work together to identify how individual town centres can be best supported.
The ongoing work to help the borough's town centres thrive is detailed in a report to Cheshire East's economy and growth committee. It also outlines the progress made on key strategic regeneration projects in Macclesfield.
The report reveals progress is being made on several "pipeline projects" - the delivery of which is dependent on capital funding being secured.
There are plans to transform Macclesfield's indoor and outdoor markets and to carry out a study to test opportunities to unlock sites for development, which could then lead to projects to improve the appearance of key areas, and boost employment and town centre living.
The council is also analysing the response to a public consultation on draft concept designs for public realm enhancements in Chestergate and Market Place.
As reported in the Cheshire Independent last month, a £1.6million public realm enhancement scheme for Castle Street has helped to encourage a further £7m of investment in the area.
A pocket park has been created on the derelict site of a former shop at the approach to Macclesfield bus station a temporary outdoor hospitality area has been created on Market Place.
Jayne Traverse, Cheshire East's executive director - place, said: "The last 18 months have been extremely challenging for our town centres and the impacts of the pandemic have been far-reaching.
"But over this period, we have also celebrated some major successes, and more work than ever before is now being undertaken to identify potential projects in a wider range of town centres.
"It seems likely that our town centres will continue to face challenges and so it is important that we continue to think innovatively about how best the council can maximise the impacts of its efforts to support them."
She added: "We are committed to supporting the health of all our town centres and will continue to pursue external funding opportunities for them."
Multiple major infrastructure schemes are also advancing - including the opening of the Congleton link road in April this year.
Across all 11 town centres, Cheshire East has launched the winter phase of its Say 'hi' to the High Street campaign, encouraging people to support local and shop safely in the build-up to Christmas.