The high street row that won't go away

'If I didn’t have shutters, I’d get broken into'

- BY GRETA SIMPSON

Cheadle high street pictured in 2024

FOAD Khodakarami is shielding his eyes from the sun and looking up at a bright yellow and green sign looming over his shop on Cheadle high street.

The bright colours aren't just an aesthetic choice, he says, but symbolise a movement close to his heart: the women of Kurdish Rojava, a region of northern Syria whose women formed an all female militia in 2013 to fight back against Islamic State.

“It's a symbol for me,” says Foad, who hails from the Kurdish region of Iran. “I will always support these women.”

The yellow of their flag is said to symbolise hope, and sunlight; the green, life and coexistence.

But it’s the latter that seems to be in short supply on this high street, where a row over the aesthetics of its shops and buildings is rumbling.

According to Cheadle Civic Society, Cheadle high street, which sits in its own conservation area, is ‘in decline’ with not enough being done to ‘protect its historic charm’

The group, which was set up in 1964 with the aim of preserving local character, cites buildings ‘being allowed to fall into disrepair’ or altered ‘without any regard for the building’s heritage or conservation area setting’

“The decline in quality in some shop facades is clear for all to see,” a spokesperson said.

“Sadly, we are not convinced that Stockport Council has the appetite to tackle this problem.”

The organisation says the management plan for the conservation area ‘hasn't been updated since 2012’ and ‘outlines a number of recommendations that appear never to have been actioned, with just two cases of planning enforcement in the past five years.