Aerial photo of Marshall House

Council decides not to purchase Marshall House

The opportunity to purchase a landmark building in the Town Centre was considered by the Town Council at two meetings in October. Marshall House, the Victorian former Egerton School on Church Hill, was put up for sale following the collapse of Wright Marshall. At an initial meeting in October councillors decided that it was worth exploring options for the building, recognising it could provide a additional community space and public car parking.

An options paper was prepared in advance of a deadline to submit a bid to purchase the building of the 1st November. This paper was considered at a special meeting of the town council on Tuesday 29th October where it was noted that the limited time available meant a fully costed and detailed business case could not be prepared. The options paper explored the idea of purchasing Marshall House to convert it into a Town Hall venue, accommodating the Market Hall and/or Council Offices. One key benefit identified was the opening up a large hall for the community, identified as a need in the Neighbourhood Plan.

It has been anticipated that the purchase price would be in excess of £1.5m and it was concluded that purchasing the building would not provide value for public money. The council accordingly resolved not to submit a bid or explore the options any further.

Town Clerk, Adam Keppel-Green said “The Town Council is always looking for opportunities to improve the facilities and services available to our community, on balance we felt that this would have presented too much risk and been a poor use of public money.

“We look forward to seeing proposals to bring this fantastic building back into active use developed by the new owners in due course”.

A group holding items related to the Taste Knutsford Food Tour

Taste Knutsford turns One

Knutsford’s walking food tour, Taste Knutsford, launched last autumn has recently celebrated its 1st birthday.

The tour showcases the best of Knutsford’s culinary offerings with guests walking around Knutsford tasting a variety of foods from brunch, nibbles, ice creams, and sorbet, tapas through to afternoon tea, cheese and gin.  The tour lasts approximately 3 hours and is led by local resident and cake maker – Lucy Farnon of Knutsford Bake Club assisted by Nicola Arnell who ensures the social media feed during each tour is kept up to date.

Sandra Curties, Town Centre Manager said, “Since the Autumn 2018 around 160 people have enjoyed a food tour – meaning they have tasted 160 sausage rolls, ice cream, tapas and cheese amongst other treats!  We are really pleased about how well the tours have been received, our Trip Advisor reviews, and how hard the venues work when hosting a tour.  The guests really love meeting the owners and finding out more about the establishment and Knutsford than you would on a normal visit”.

The tours can be booked via www.tasteknutsford.co.uk and private tours for groups of six or over can also be arranged. These private tours are great for hen nights, birthdays or anniversaries.  Eateries taking part in the tour include:

  • The Market Café
  • Morgan Edwards Fine Wines & Spirits
  • Rose & Crown
  • Evuna
  • Real Fruit Creamery
  • Wine & Wallop
  • The Old Sessions House
  • The Cheese Yard
  • The Courthouse
  • Dexter & Jones
  • April’s Kitchen
  • Project 53
  • Courtyard Café
  • Giovanni’s
  • The Tea Room

Alison Cunliffe of The Real Fruit Creamery said, “We love taking part in these tours.  It is a great way to meet people and for people to ask questions, find out about the business and raise awareness”.  

Vincent Lazzarini, Director of The Cheese Yard said, “The Taste Knutsford tours are a great opportunity for me to showcase my independent business and what The Cheese Yard has to offer. We look forward to hosting more Taste Knutsford guests in the coming year”.

If any Knutsford establishment wants to get involved, please contact us.

Man Convicted after flouting Lantern Parade road closure

The Town Council is proud to host a number of community events every year and we naturally take the safety of visitors very seriously. Some of these events involve the temporary closure of roads to allow parades to pass through and we do our best to ensure that these closures are publicised in advance through signage and our social media and we seek to minimise disruption to residents and local businesses.

At the 2018 Lantern Parade a car ignored the road closure signage, verbally abused a member of Town Council staff and breached the road closure order to drive up King Street, in the process striking said member of staff on the hip, but fortunately not encountering the parade as he drove off.

This incident was immediately reported to Cheshire Police and on Wednesday 25th September Mr Paul Lockton appeared at Chester Crown Court charged with dangerous driving. Mr Lockton was found guilty and sentenced to two months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, 150 hours of community service and a 12-month driving disqualification.

In sentencing, Mr Recorder Atkinson said: “You drove your Audi R8 dangerously on a dark and rainy winters night in Knutsford Town Centre. The road was closed appropriately, and signs had been placed on King Street. It was explained to you by the marshall, Mr Garner, that a children’s lantern parade was due to emerge onto the road at any moment.

You responded with abusive language to the marshall who was there to enforce the road closure and protect the children and adults in the parade. You drove at speed in the very direction the parade was due to emerge from and in doing so struck with Mr Garner with your car. You were highly culpable and placed others at risk. Thankfully the injury to Mr Garner was minor but your actions were shocking to those that witness them.”

Town Clerk, Adam Keppel-Green said “Mr Lockton’s actions endangered the public at our event. When roads are closed, they are closed for a reason and drivers should not attempt to just proceed past barriers. We like this to serve as an example of the potential implications for those who consider that the rules do not apply to them.”

Peter Coan reads the draft Neighbourhood Plan

Neighbourhood Plan Commended by RTPI

Planning experts at the Royal Town Planning Institute have commended Knutsford’s Neighbourhood Plan in their annual Planning Excellence Awards. The Knutsford Neighbourhood Plan received a commendation in the Spatial Planning category for the North West region, with judges praising the level of volunteer involvement from the community in developing the plan with the town council.

Bev Watson, Regional Co-Ordinator of the North West Royal Town Planning Institute said “Judges were impressed with the wide range of planning policies within the plan and the clear diagrams which hep to create a more user-friendly document. It is a good example of a community led plan, which has provided opportunities for engagement and which has helped to raise the awareness and understanding of planning issues across the community.”

The Neighbourhood Plan, which was developed by Knutsford Town Council working with representatives of the wider community, was approved at a referendum in March and sits alongside the Local Plan for use by Cheshire East planners making decisions about development in the Town.

Supported by Urban Imprint, the Macclesfield based planning consultants who helped create the plan, Neighbourhood Plan Committee Chairman Cllr Stewart Gardiner and Mr Brian Chaplin, who led the Housing and Employment working group, were interrogated by RTPI judges on the content and development of the plan.

Cllr Gardiner said “’As a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute I am extremely proud to have been the lead councillor in the team that delivered the Knutsford Neighbourhood Plan and to have been judged by my peers to secure this commendation.

However, this award is not about me, but an affirmation of all the hours of hard work and effort put into the process by my Town Council colleagues, The team at Urban Imprint and so many Knutsford residents; too many to name here but a big THANKS to you all- please share my pride”

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