A Keppel-Green | Knutsford Town Council

26Jul2023

Civic Sunday Parade

Residents of Knutsford are being encouraged to come out to see their Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Coan, at his Civic Sunday parade on Sunday 30th July. The Mayor of Knutsford will be processing through the streets for the first time since he became Mayor in May.

The parade assembles at 1.30pm at King Street Car Park and sets off at 1.45pm processing down King Street, up Minshull Street, along Princess Street, taking a left down Church Walk and across the Moor before heading up to St Cross Church where the Civic Service will take place led by Reverend Paul Deakin

The parade will be led by Warrington Brass band and include dignitaries and Town Mayors along with Chairs from Town and Parish Councils across Cheshire.

Town Mayor Cllr Peter Coan said: “My Civic Sunday is open to anyone who wants to attend. All are welcome to join me as I parade through the town with my fellow councillors and Cheshire dignitaries and the church service is open to everyone! Please feel free to come along. Let’s hope the sun keeps shining for us all!’

During his term of office, Cllr Coan is raising funds for Knutsford GROW and for UK Men’s Sheds Association.

For more information about the above events contact the Civic Events Officer on 01565 653929 or email laura.phillipson@knutsfordtowncouncil.gov.uk.

24Jul2023

RHS Week Best Shop Window Winners

Knutsford was blooming last week as the annual Best Dressed Window Competitions took place during the RHS Tatton Flower Show.

16 town centre businesses participated across the official RHS competition, and Knutsford Town Council’s competition. Whilst the number of entries was lower than previous years, there was a fantastic effort by those who were able to participate this year.

Morgan Edwards was crowned the victor of the RHS Best Dressed Window Competition after the judges applauded their stunning display. Pulse of Perfumery won a new award introduced for 2023 entitled ‘Best Floral Inspired Display’.

Winners for the Town Council’s floral walk were chosen after careful consideration from Knutsford Deputy Town Mayor, Councillor Colin Banks and Sam Youd, former head gardener of Tatton Park.

The award for best Small Window went to Kanoa Living on Princess Street who had decked their window with tropical plants and flowers.

In 3^rd place this year was Pulse of Perfumery on King Street with their rose inspired design. In 2^nd place King Street Kitchen, also located on King Street, who had a stunning display of fresh flowers and herbs at their entrance.

The winner this year is Morgan Edwards, also located on King Street, whose display featured a floral design incorporating the RHS theme for this year, the senses.

Sandra Curties, Town Centre Manager said: “It is fantastic to see the great efforts our local businesses go to in creating stunning displays for RHS week every year, it adds real magic to the town centre.”

Cllr Colin Banks, Deputy Mayor of Knutsford, added: “A huge congratulations to everybody involved in the Best Dressed Window Competition this year! The standard has been outstanding, the time and effort shown by local business is commendable and a credit to all! The winner’s display was judged the best as the whole window was intricately themed and we found the fresh appearance of the display impressive.”

Cllr Banks continued “You can still see many of the displays in town this week so don’t forget to have a walk-through town if you haven’t already.”

29Jun2023

July Makers Market

The July Makers Market takes place this weekend – Sunday 2nd July – from 11am to 4pm along Princess Street. The market is run by The Makers Market and this month the market manager is Matilda who can be reached on 07803397027.

You can view the stall layout here: July Makers Market Stall Layout

26Jun2023

Publication of Unaudited Accounts 2022/23

NOTICE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS AND PUBLICATION OF
UNAUDITED ANNUAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 26 and 27
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)

Date of announcement Monday 26 June 2023

Each year the smaller authority’s Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor appointed by Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd. The unaudited AGAR has been published with this notice. As it has yet to be reviewed by the appointed auditor, it is subject to change as a result of that review.

Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records must be made available for inspection by any person interested. For the year ended 31 March 2023, these documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to:

Adam Keppel-Green, Town Clerk
Council Offices, Toft Road, Knutsford, WA16 6TA
townclerk@kntusfordtowncouncil.gov.uk – 01565 653 929

commencing on Tuesday 27 June 2022
and ending on Monday 7 August 2022

Local government electors and their representatives also have:

The opportunity to question the appointed auditor about the accounting records; and
The right to make an objection which concerns a matter in respect of which the appointed auditor could either make a public interest report or apply to the court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the smaller authority.

The appointed auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose between the above dates only.

The smaller authority’s AGAR is subject to review by the appointed auditor under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the NAO’s Code of Audit Practice 2015. The appointed auditor is:

PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team), 1 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4HD / sba@pkf-littlejohn.com

This announcement is made by Adam Keppel-Green, Town Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer

You can view the unaudited return here: AGAR 2022/23 (unaudited)

1Jun2023

Medical Centre ‘five years away’ if all partners commit

Last night, Town Mayor Cllr Peter Coan hosted a public meeting to discuss future primary healthcare provision in Knutsford. The packed meeting at Knutsford Methodist Church included a panel with Esther McVey MP, Dr Patrick Kearns (Knutsford Medical Partnership) and Mark Wilkinson (Cheshire East Place Director at Cheshire and Merseyside NHS integrated Care Board). Unfortunately East Cheshire NHS Trust (which owns the hospital) and the Leader of Cheshire East Council (which owns property around hospital and is responsible for social care) were unable to attend.

Patrick Kearns highlighted the challenge facing local doctors who are desperate for more space to be able to provide more care for the community. It was also highlighted that whilst a lease extension had been secured for the Annandale surgery, it will end in five years at which point the practice would lose a significant space.

Mark Wilkinson confirmed that improved primary care facilities for Knutsford are the top priority for the Cheshire East directorate he leads, but noted that following the change to Cheshire and Merseyside NHS there will be other top priority projects in other areas which compete.

The community expressed its frustration that after 15 years there seemed to have been no real progress on delivering new facilities. Mark Wilkinson advised that, subject to all going smoothly with securing permissions and funding, a new facility could be approximately five years away.

It was noted that the delivery of a new facility required strong partnership working from all partners. It was suggested that residents write to the Chief Executives for Cheshire East Council and the East Cheshire NHS Trust urging them to commit to the delivery of a new combined medical centre at the site of the Community Hospital (NHS Trust owned) and Bexton Court (Cheshire East Council owned) and prioritise engagement in a project to see it delivered.

As promised at the meeting, we are providing the contact information for these organisations.

Ged Murphy
Chief Executive of the East Cheshire NHS Trust

East Cheshire NHS Trust
Macclesfield District General Hospital
Victoria Road
Macclesfield
SK10 3BL

ecn-tr.CustomerCareService@nhs.net

Lorraine O’Donnell
Chief Executive of Cheshire East Council

Cheshire East Council
Westfields
Middlewich Road
Sandbach
CW11 1HZ

lorraine.odonnell@cheshireeast.gov.uk

The Town Mayor will be writing to all stakeholders to convene a meeting as the first step to ensuring all partners commit to the project and make it a reality.

25May2023

New Committee Structure Introduced

A new committee structure at the Town Council has been introduced, aligned to deliver the council’s emerging strategic plan.

The Town Council will be adopting a new strategy at its June 12th meeting and has commenced the new civic year with changes to the committees designed to deliver the plan, which was subject to public consultation in January-March this year.

Old committee structure

Assets and Operations
Environment and General Purposes
Events and Town Centre Management
Finance
Personnel
Planning and Licensing

New committee structure:

Assets and Operations
Community
Environment and Transport
Events
Finance
Personnel
Planning
Town Centre

The changes introduce a new Community Committee which will administer the council grant scheme and have responsibility for volunteer programmes, communication and engagement, civic pride, social issues and the Town Awards.

The Events and Town Centre Management committee has been split into two. This creates a Town Centre committee with responsibility for the town centre masterplan, tourism, markets (only excluding the Christmas Market), Christmas lights and the town economy. The Events Committee retains responsibility for celebrations and events, including the Christmas Market, Music Festival and Pumpkin path.

Environment and General Purposes has become Environment and Transport, with responsibility for floriculture, Streetscene, environment and climate change, non-council owned open space, highways, heritage and active travel and transport.

As part of the changes, Finance, Events and Personnel move to meeting quarterly. Planning continues to meet every three weeks and all other committees meet every other month.

19May2023

Knutsford Music Festival’s Fantastic Folk Line Up

Next month Knutsford Music Festival will return for its sixth year starting off on the 8^th June with an exclusive pre-festival event at Knutsford Little Theatre from Mark Radcliffe & Friends. This one-off show, hosted and featuring BBC Radio presenter Mark Radcliffe, will not only launch the music festival but is also one of four acts in the Folk programme of the long weekend event. This opening night is close to selling out so act fast to secure tickets.

The Town Council is again working with Mark to host a weekend of leading folk acts, at Folk in the Theatre/Folk in the Church.

Starting on Friday the 9^th June at 7:30pm at St John’s Church, Welsh musician Georgia Ruth will be headlining. Using folk influences to create a truly unique sound, her debut album Week of Pines won the Welsh Music Prize in 2013 and was nominated for two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The support act will be Chris Fox & John Parker Folk troubadour and bassist duo.

Katherine Priddy will headline on Saturday 10^th, again at the beautiful St John’s Church, at 7:30pm. The Birmingham-based artist who emerged onto the Folk scene with her long-awaited debut EP ‘Wolf’ in 2018 will be joined by Australian Alt-Country duo The Weeping Willows.

Closing the weekend, and the final night of the folk programme is Budapest Café Orchestra bringing gypsy and folk flavoured music in their own surprising way. Doors open at the Little Theatre at 7pm with the event starting at 7:30pm.

Mark Radcliffe said ‘Once again thanks to the council, St.John’s and Knutsford Little Theatre for supporting me in my ongoing mission to brink the very best folk and acoustic artists to our little festival. I really urge you to come. I promise you music and entertainment of the highest standard and we need you there. We want to keep this going and without you backing us – we can’t do that. So come. You won’t regret it’.

Tickets for all the Knutsford Music Festival Events including all Folk performances are available at https://www.knutsfordmusicfestival.com/buytickets. The festival also includes evenings of classical music and a Friday Night Blues session, alongside a variety of performances in local businesses. Programmes with full details of events will be available from venues around Knutsford very soon.

18May2023

Future vet Ella wins Bursary

Future vet Ella Senior has won the 2023 Knutsford Millennium Bursary, securing £575 towards her studies.

Introduced in 2000, the Millennium Bursary is awarded annually to a student from Knutsford to support their third year university studies. The bursary is delivered in partnership with Knutsford Lions who provide an additional discretionary award.

Queensway resident Ella is studying Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at the University of Edinburgh. Speaking of being award the bursary Ella said: “I’m very excited at the opportunity to be able to use this bursary to help me with the large amounts of work experience I have to do with my degree.

I have had some amazing experiences so far working on farms all over the country and this bursary will help fund travel, accommodation, and living costs during my placements (including replacing several pairs of ripped waterproof trousers thanks to the horns of some slightly angry sheep!).

It will go towards equipment I need during my training such as suture kits, riding helmets, and lecture notes. I have three years left of placements to go and this help from the town council will be really appreciated to assist me along my way.”

Six students applied for the 2023 bursary and were interviewed by Town Mayor Cllr Mike Houghton and Lydia Kennedy of Knutsford Lions. Mike and Lydia were impressed by the enthusiasm of each candidate for their field of study and the journey their studies are taking them on.

Lydia said “This year’s winner, Ella provided us with a clear plan on how she would use the bursary where it will make a difference to enhance her studies and university experience. Her dedication and enthusiasm for her future career as a vet shone through, and we wish her every success.”

Knutsford Lions also agreed to make a discretionary award to Ryan Ketley. Ryan, of Grebe Close, is studying Nursing at the University of Salford.

“Ryan Ketley’s positive approach to his studies really struck a chord for us. His passion and work ethic are un-mistakable, he is clearly driven to succeed and pursue his nursing career. So, we wanted to recognise this with an additional award from Lions this year.” Lydia added.

Applications for the 2024 Millennium Bursary open in November.

18May2023

Card payments now accepted at public toilets

Visitors caught short no longer need to worry about not having change to access the public toilets following the installation of card readers to two cubicles.

Knutsford Town Council provides two public toilet blocks in the town centre, one at the bus station and another on King Street car park near the Moor. Each block comprises three toilets – a female, unisex and unisex accessible.

The unisex accessible cubicles, which also include a baby change table, can now be accessed by credit/debit card and contactless payments. This is in addition to access via a RADAR key or coin.

“We know that an increasing number of people don’t carry cash so wanted to ensure that accessing our public toilets is easy for everyone who needs to.” said Town Clerk Adam Keppel-Green.

The Town Council will be reviewing the impact of the card terminals on usage at the toilets and may consider adding terminals to the other cubicles in the future.

Alongside the installation of the new card payment terminals, the usage fee for the public toilets has also increased to 30p. The 20p charge was introduced when the Town Council took on public toilets in 2013 and contributes to the annual cost of cleaning and repairs. The Town Council consulted its contractor, Danfo, who provide public toilets across the country who highlighted that 30p is now the standard cost for most public toilets.

Knutsford’s public toilets have consistently been recognised for their high quality in industry awards (yes, there are awards for toilets). The toilets were awarded Gold/Platinum in the Loo of the Year awards until 2021 and subsequently given a 4-star rating by the British Toilet Association.

16May2023

New Traders at Knutsford Market Hall

Knutsford Market Hall has welcomed two new traders and seen a familiar face return to their Silk Mill premises.

Med Olives run by Unsal Sarikir opened on May 6^th with Nyx Cat Crystals opening a couple of months ago, before moving to a more prominent location opposite Jonty’s Fruit and Veg. Grandad’s Attic return to the market hall on May 20^th opposite Slipped Discs.

Med Olives sells a huge selection of olives, nuts and Turkish Delight and is already a familiar face due to trading at Knutsford’s Makers Market. Unsal, said “I have been made to feel very welcome at Knutsford Market Hall and I look forward to meeting customers new and old. There is nowhere else in the town offering such a vast and varied range of olives – the perfect addition to any grazing platter”.

Nyx Cat Crystals took part in Knutsford Christmas Market in 2022 before taking the leap and joining a permanent market. Nicky Facey is extremely knowledgeable and has a loyal customer base. Nicky said, “I am really enjoying trading from Knutsford Market Hall. Each crystal is ethically sourced and intuitively chosen with love! Today’s world is so fast-paced, and crystals emit a range of positive, uplifting energising and calming vibrations that help even the most cynical!”

Grandad’s Attic have traded in the market before, sell a range of upcycled furniture and traded in the market in a larger stall before moving back. Owner, Linda Kendall said, “We just missed the vibe of the market – both customers and traders – everyone is so friendly. Our smaller stall showcases our key pieces but if any customer wants something more bespoke, we can always source it for them”.

Knutsford Market Hall is open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am to 4pm. Traders are as follows – Style Loft Boutique, Grandad’s Attic, The Market Butcher, M&J Cards, Jonty’s Fruit & Veg, The Market Café, The Market Hall Barber, Sabrina’s Baby Boutique, Radchester Garden Ornaments, Slipped Discs, Med Olives and Nyx Cat Crystals

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