Council Strategic Plan 2023-2032 | Knutsford Town Council

OUR TEN YEAR STRATEGY

A strategic plan is one of the most important documents for any organisation, setting out its priorities and giving direction to all those involved in its work. This is our second corporate strategy and sets out what we will work to deliver for you over the next 10 years through to 2032.

Our plan is an overarching strategy and intentionally doesn’t detail the solutions; it sets out our core aims and objectives – how we deliver on this will be set out as we progress through the next decade.

This plan has been built on ground up community consultation which took place in summer 2022. The consultation aimed to help us understand what the priorities of the community were so we can ensure that delivering on those priorities forms the core of our work. In February/March 2023 we consulted on a draft plan, seeking further community input to ensure our priorities meet the Town. This plan was then adopted in June 2023.

Our six aims are what we work towards in the long term and each aim is supported by a series of objectives setting out how we will make them a reality. Each year we will produce specific action plans detailing what we will be doing to meet our objectives and we will hold ourselves accountable to their delivery. Working together we’ll continue to make Knutsford a better place for all.

READ THE STRATEGIC PLAN

OUR STRATEGIC AIMS

Knutsford Town Centre will be a thriving and unique destination for residents and visitors alike.

Knutsford will have a diverse network of green spaces, a biodiverse natural environment and a reduced carbon footprint.

We will lead a strong, connected community with a thriving community spirit and civic pride.

We will enable residents to choose to reduce their reliance on cars by improving the desirability of walking, cycling and using public transport.

Knutsford’s heritage will be understood, conserved and celebrated.

Knutsford residents will have access to the services and facilities they need to live happy and healthy lives.

HOW THE PLAN WAS DEVELOPED

In creating a new ten-year strategy, we were keen to ensure that it was built from the ground up with community input. Rather than preparing some ideas and heading out to consultation, we held a series of workshops and an open survey in summer 2022 which gave residents an opportunity to raise any matters they felt needed to be addressed in the town. We gave a short presentation on what our role as a Town Council is and what we can/cannot achieve and asked people to highlight what is good and bad about Knutsford to help identify areas we need to focus.

We then used this information to develop some draft strategic aims and a series of objectives which set out what we would seek to achieve by 2032 to meet the needs of the community. This draft plan was then put back out to public consultation in Feb/March 2023 and we sought input on whether we have properly interpreted what the community raised in our earlier consultation. We also asked what specific actions people think we should take to deliver these objectives.

Following this feedback we modified the plan and it was then taken forward for adoption by Full Council in June 2023.

DRAFT PLAN CONSULTATION REPORT (2023)

INITIAL INPUT CONSULTATION REPORT (2022)

OUR 2023/2024 ACTION PLAN

Action Ref	Objective Ref	Action	Responsible Committee	Lead Officer	Target Date	Status
ASS01	C3	Assets and Operations Committee to review the scope of Town Ranger service	Assets	Town Clerk	26/06/2023	Complete
TOW01	TC1	Establish a Town Centre Masterplan working group	Town Centre	Town Clerk	10/07/2023	Complete
TOW07	TC3	Deliver successful alfresco dining evenings	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	22/07/2023	Complete
ENV11	T1	Establish an Active Travel Infrastructure Plan working group	Environment	Town Clerk	24/07/2023	Complete
ENV18	T5	Respond to the Northern consultation on the closure of the ticket office at the station	Environment	Town Clerk	28/07/2023
COM9	C8	Investigate and agree a new e-marketing platform to enable the development of improved e-communication channels.	Community	Town Clerk	31/07/2023	Complete
TOW06	TC3	Deliver successful Knutsford Family Fest	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	05/08/2023	Started
ASS08	S5	Creation and dissemination of a promotional leaflet for the Cemetery Chapel	Assets	Town Clerk	31/08/2023	Started
ASS09	S5	Development of a marketing plan to generate further bookings of the Cemetery Chapel	Assets	Town Clerk	31/08/2023
COM21	S4	Obtain a clear position from Cheshire East Council on the status of funding for improvements to Knutsford Leisure Centre following changes introduced in their medium term financial strategy	Community	Town Clerk	31/08/2023	Started
ENV04	H2	Support McCarthy and Stone in the creation of the interpretation board for the memorial garden at the site of the War Memorial Cottage Hospital	Environment	Town Clerk	31/08/2023	Started
ENV16	T3	Write to landowners to understand if there are any existing issues/conflicts on Public Rights of Way	Environment	Town Clerk	31/08/2023
ENV17	T3	Investigate options for replacing PROW signage to include indication of where paths lead to	Environment	Town Clerk	31/08/2023
ENV19	T5	Council representative to Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership to ascertain if there are any specific actions they would like to see the Town Council support/undertake	Environment	Town Clerk	31/08/2023
ENV20	T6	Better understand the community transport schemes in Knutsford and identify if any support is required	Environment	Town Clerk	31/08/2023
COM6	C6	Deliver a successful (measured by attendance and feedback from groups) third ReFresh Knutsford community freshers fair.	Community	Communications Officer	02/09/2023	Started
ASS02	C3	Personnel Committee (and then Council) to consider increasing staffing resource for Town Ranger service	Personnel	Town Clerk	11/09/2023	Started
TOW04	TC3	Deliver a successful Knutsford at Home initiative	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	16/09/2023	Started
ASS05	S5	Town Clerk to investigate income generation from building in current form, including to understand the VAT impact of any income on the council’s overall VAT recovery and report to committee on proposals	Assets	Town Clerk	18/09/2023
ENV01	H2	Consider the installation of three blue plaques put forward under the Blue Plaques Scheme	Environment	Town Clerk	25/09/2023
ENV23	T7	Consider the 20’s plenty campaign and whether it should be supported in Knutsford	Environment	Town Clerk	25/09/2023
PLA06	H3	Investigate the cost and process of conservation area designations for Cranford Avenue, Grove Park and Shaw Heath	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	25/09/2023	Started
PLA11	C9	Committee to consider the timing and budget requirements of a Neighbourhood Plan Review	Planning	Town Clerk	25/09/2023	Started
COM1	C1	Hold a meeting with Great Places, The Welcome and Cheshire East Council Community Team to understand the known/unknown in relation to access to services within St John's Wood ward.	Community	Town Clerk	30/09/2023	Started
COM11	C10	Develop a new regular e-newsletter from the Town Council	Community	Communications Officer	30/09/2023
COM12	C11	Develop a schedule of existing locations where posters/notices can be displayed to promote activity	Community	Communications Officer	30/09/2023
COM19	S4	Obtain information from Cheshire East Council and local schools on current school places provision and subscription levels	Community	Town Clerk	30/09/2023	Started
COM4	C6	Develop an updated community organisation directory both for internal use and published on the Town Council website.	Community	Communications Officer	30/09/2023
COM5	C6	Launch a regular community group e-newsletter	Community	Communications Officer	30/09/2023
COM7	C6	Increase promotion of the council's grant scheme and alternative funding opportunities with local groups via the community group newsletter	Community	Town Clerk	30/09/2023
ENV03	H2	Install a new plaque for the QEII coronation tree	Environment	Town Clerk	30/09/2023	Started
ENV13	T2	Work with partners to develop a project plan for the cycle path from the Moor to Parkgate	Environment	Town Clerk	30/09/2023
ENV22	T6	Research the options and costs of enhanced bus services	Environment	Town Clerk	30/09/2023
ENV25	T7	Implement a robust programme for speed monitoring to identify problem roads and engage with Cheshire East Council and Cheshire Police to secure action to address	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	30/09/2023
PLA01	H3	Conclude the review of the Heathfield Square Conservation Area and submit to CEC	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	30/09/2023	Started
PLA02	H3	Conclude the review of the St John's Conservation Area and submit to CEC	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	30/09/2023	Started
EVE01	H2	Events Committee to consider options for re-introducing a Heritage Open Days event in September 2024	Events	Events Manager	02/10/2023
EVE02	H2	Events Committee to consider options for marking the 50th anniversary of the Town Council	Events	Town Clerk / Events Manager	02/10/2023	Started
EVE03	C5	Events Committee to consider options for a community fun day on the open space at Longridge/Higher Downs in summer 2024	Events	Events Manager	02/10/2023
EVE08	TC6	Events Committee to consider options for a re-launched Knutsford Art Trail for April 2024	Events	Events Manager	02/10/2023
EVE09	TC6	Events Committee to consider options for a re-launched Knutsford Food and Drink Festival	Events	Events Manager	02/10/2023
TOW02	TC1	Develop a project plan for the creation of the masterplan.	Town Centre	Town Clerk	02/10/2023
ASS10	S5	Terms to be agreed with Bruntwood for their occupation of 60 King Street	Assets	Town Clerk	09/10/2023
COM13	C12	Develop a schedule of locations for potential new noticeboards in areas across the town with natural footfall	Community	Town Clerk	31/10/2023
COM15	C14	Develop a ‘consultation and engagement template’ for use when planning engagement activity, detailing opportunities for connecting with existing networks and events, developing novel engagement methods and how to reach differnet stakeholders and demographics.	Community	Town Clerk	31/10/2023
COM20	S4	Investigate current and potential community usage of the Adelaide Academy Sports Barn	Community	Town Clerk	31/10/2023
COM8	C7	Undertake a gap analysis of the community organisations within the town to identify if there are any areas where new organisations would be beneficial	Community	Town Clerk	31/10/2023
ENV09	C4	Develop a schedule of routine maintenance/cleanliness jobs that would be suitable for volunteers to support	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/10/2023
ENV14	T2	Work with partners to fund the necessary survey work for the Moor to Parkgate Cycle Path	Environment	Town Clerk	31/10/2023
EVE05	C5	Host the Knutsford Pumpkin Path	Events	Events Manager	31/10/2023	Started
PLA03	H3	Conclude the review of the Cross Town Conservation Area and submit to CEC	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/10/2023	Started
PLA11	E4	Agree lobbying for the protection of trees with Cheshire East Council and the government	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/10/2023
TOW05	TC3	Deliver a successful autumn Knutsford Flash Fashion initiative	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	31/10/2023	Started
TOW12	TC5	Complete a business confidence survey to identify where support is needed	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	31/10/2023	Started
TOW16	S5	Update the Markets Strategy and action plan	Town Centre	Town Clerk	13/11/2023
ENV02	H2	Explore a ‘lost streets’ project which would look to install signage denoting street names which have been lost or streets which are no longer in existence e.g. Bakehouse Yard, Love Lane etc	Environment	Town Clerk	27/11/2023
ENV15	T3	Source volunteers to undertake a survey of existing PROW and non-PROW	Environment	Town Clerk	30/11/2023
TOW08	TC3	Increase promotion of the Knutsford Voucher	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	30/11/2023
TOW09	TC3	Increase promotion of Taste Knutsford	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	30/11/2023
TOW13	TC5	Identify areas where businesses could benefit from shared resources	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	30/11/2023
COM14	C13	Create a pop-up “What’s On” ‘POS’ display that can be deployed at events to promote upcoming activity/ general information	Community	Communications Officer	02/12/2023
EVE10	TC6	Host Knutsford Christmas Market and Christmas Light Switch On	Events	Events Manager	02/12/2023	Started
EVE06	C5	Host the Crib Service	Events	Civic Events Officer	09/12/2023
ASS03	C3	Planning and Facilities Officer undertake a review of equipment provided for the Town Ranger service and bring proposals for future purchase/replacement to the Assets and Operations Committee	Assets	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
ASS04	C3	Planning and Facilities Officer to explore enhanced use of CEC depot at Longridge.	Assets	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
ASS07	S5	Assets and Operations Committee to monitor the impact of change in usage fee and introduction of contactless payments on usage of the public toilets	Assets	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
COM16	S1	Facilitate joint meetings of stakeholders in connection with the delivery of a new medical centre, leading to an agreed delivery plan.	Community	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
COM17	S3	Compile a schedule of existing services and facilities within Knutsford to create a baseline	Community	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
COM3	c2	Undertake a consultation with the residents of Longridge on whether the streets should be renamed and ideas for renaming.	Community	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
ENV08	H4	Undertake a ward-by-ward local heritage survey	Environment	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
ENV10	C4	Explore the creation of a volunteer team to support activity	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
ENV21	T6	Undertake a survey of existing bus infrastructure to identify any required improvements	Environment	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
ENV27	E1	Work with established friends groups to ensure the Green Spaces Strategy consultation also meets their specific aims	Environment	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
ENV28	E3	Develop and commence implementation of an updated Nature Action Plan for the 2023-2027 period	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
ENV29	E4	Review of the mature trees survey to identify 10 trees/areas suitable for preservation orders and an application to be submitted to Cheshire East Council	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
PLA04	H3	Conclude the review of the Town Centre Conservation Area and submit to CEC	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023	Started
PLA09	C9	Explore creation of a checklist for members to appraise applications against	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
PLA10	E4	Undertake a review of planning decisions for tree applications over the past twelve months to identify learning points from CEC Tree Officer reports	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
PLA12	H3	Implement a system to ensure the conservation area management plan objectives are considered when reviewing planning applications within said areas.	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/12/2023
TOW03	TC2	Secure a timeframe from Cheshire East Council for the feasibility assessments of the From Top to Bottom Street Proposals	Town Centre	Town Clerk	31/12/2023	Complete
TOW10	TC4	Secure agreement from Cheshire East Council for coach parking at the bus station	Town Centre	Town Clerk	31/12/2023
TOW14	TC5	Develop an annual programme of business support workshops for local businesses	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	31/12/2023
COM2	C1	Develop a forward plan with stakeholders to further understand issues in relation to acess to services in St John's Wood ward and how they will be addressed.	Community	Town Clerk	08/01/2024
EVE07	C5	Launch the Young Artist of the Year Competition as part of the Knutsford Art Trail	Events	Events Manager	31/01/2024
PLA05	H3	Agree the timetable for public consultation on the Heathfield Square, St John’s, Town Centre and Cross Town reviews.	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/01/2024
TOW15	S5	Develop an agreed scheme for the renovation of the market hall	Town Centre	Town Clerk	31/01/2024
ENV24	T7	Review existing speed limits in Knutsford and put forward proposals for change under the CEC Speed Management Strategy	Environment	Town Clerk	05/02/2024
ENV05	H3	Develop an information leaflet for residents of the Legh Road Conservation Area following its formal adoption	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	28/02/2024
ENV26	E1	Identify the various stakeholders for green spaces and develop a targeted consultation to inform the development of a Green Spaces Strategy	Environment	Town Clerk	28/02/2024
EVE04	C5	Host the Bunny Hop	Events	Events Manager	30/03/2024
ASS06	S5	Council Offices sub-committee to develop a phased programme for renovation	Assets	Town Clerk	31/03/2024
COM10	C9	Proactively develop the e-newsletter database to reach 1,500 resident subscribers	Community	Communications Officer	31/03/2024
COM18	S3	Undertake a targeted consultation with young people to understand what services and facilities they would like to have access to.	Community	Town Clerk	31/03/2024
ENV06	H3	Develop an action plan for addressing the actions raised in the management plans of each conservation area	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/03/2024
ENV07	H3	Explore the creation of an information leaflet for residents of the other four Conservation Areas	Environment	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/03/2024
PLA07	H4	Undertake a review of planning decisions for heritage assets over the past twelve months to identify learning points from CEC Planning Officer reports	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/03/2024
PLA08	H4	Develop proposals for an updated Local List of Heritage Assets	Planning	Planning and Facilities Officer	31/03/2024
TOW11	TC4	Implement the coach friendly town initiative	Town Centre	Town Centre Manager	31/03/2024
TOW17	S5	Secure a renewed licence for the operation of an outdoor market	Town Centre	Town Clerk	31/03/2024
ENV12	T1	Develop an Active Travel Infrastructure Plan	Environment	Town Clerk	28/02/2025