Minutes of the Annual Town Council Meeting 11th May 2026

26/000  PRESENT

Councillors Banks, Coan, Dalzell, Forrest, Gardiner, Gray, Hartley, Johnson, Lowe, McCulloch, Mears, Robertson, Russell, Watson and Wood

In attendance: A Keppel-Green (Town Clerk)

 

26/001  ELECTION OF THE TOWN MAYOR

It was proposed by Cllr Gray, seconded by Cllr Banks and RESOLVED that Cllr Coan be elected Town Mayor.

Cllr Coan signed the declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the chain of office.

 

26/002  ELECTION OF THE DEPUTY TOWN MAYOR

It was proposed by Cllr Gardiner, seconded by Cllr Johnson and RESOLVED that Cllr Dalzell be elected Deputy Town Mayor.

Cllr Dalzell signed the declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the chain of office.

 

26/003  APPOINTMENT OF THE MAYOR’S CADET

Cllr Coan announced the appointment of Jenson Webb of Knutsford Fire Cadets as Mayor’s Cadet 2026/27.

Mr Webb gave a declaration of acceptance of office and was presented with the badge of office.

 

26/004  APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES

It was RESOLVED to make the following appointments:

Organisation	Representative
Crosstown Community Orchard	Cllr Dalzell
Friends of College Wood	Cllr Coan
Friends of St John’s Wood	Cllr Banks
Friends of the Heath	Cllr Watson
Friends of the Moor	Cllr Johnson
Knutsford Heritage Centre	Cllr Banks
Knutsford in Bloom	Cllr Hartley
Knutsford Old Folks Club Committee (Jubilee Hall)	Cllr Johnson
Manchester Airport Consultative Committee	Cllr Banks
Mid Cheshire Line Community Rail Partnership Steering Group	Cllr Forrest and Cllr Hartley (sub)
The Knutsford Fund	Cllr Coan
Knutsford and District Schools Council	Cllrs Dalzell and Robertson
Rural Market Towns Group	Cllr Johnson
Knutsford Partnership	Cllr Johnson
Knutsford Royal May Day Liaison	Cllr Johnson
Knutsford Community Garden	Cllr Johnson
Plastic Free Knutsford	Cllr Hartley
Knutsford BID	Cllr Johnson (ex-officio as Chair of Town Centre Committee)

 

26/005  APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES AND BANK SIGNATORIES

It was noted that the Town Mayor and Deputy Town Mayor are ex-officio members of all committees.

It was RESOLVED to make the appointments detailed below.

 

Assets and Operations Committee

Cllrs Gardiner, Hartley, Gray, Lowe, McCulloch and Wood

Chairman   Cllr Hartley
Deputy Chairman Cllr Gray

Community Committee

Cllrs Banks, Forrest, Hartley, Johnson, McCulloch and Russell

Chairman   Cllr Banks
Deputy Chairman  Cllr McCulloch

Environment and Transport Committee

Cllrs Banks, Johnson, Lowe, Mears, Russell and Watson

Chairman   Cllr Mears
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Johnson

Events Committee

Cllrs Banks, Hartley, Robertson, Watson and Wood.

Chairman   Cllr Banks
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Hartley

Finance Committee

Cllrs Johnson, Mears, McCulloch, Robertson and Wood

Chairman   Cllr Robertson
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Wood

 

Personnel Committee

Cllrs Banks, Forrest, Gardiner, McCulloch and Mears.

Chairman   Cllr Dalzell
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Gardiner

Planning and Committee

Cllrs Banks, Gardiner, Gray, Lowe and McCulloch.

Chairman   Cllr McCulloch
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Dalzell

Town Centre Committee

Cllrs Forrest, Gray, Johnson, Robertson, Russell, Watson and Wood

Chairman   Cllr Johnson
Deputy Chairman  Cllr Gray

CIL Projects Advisory Committee

Cllrs Gray, Hartley, Johnson, Lowe, McCulloch and Wood

Grievances and Appeals sub-committee

Cllrs Banks, Dalzell and Mears

Reserve 1 Cllr Coan

Reserve 2 Cllr Forrest

Reserve 3 Cllr McCulloch

Bank Signatories

The Town Mayor, Deputy Town Mayor, Finance Committee Chairman, Finance Committee Deputy Chairman and the Town Clerk (for administrative purposes).

 

26/006  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

All members were present.

 

26/007  DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS

No member declared an interest in any item.

 

26/008  STATEMENT FROM THE NEWLY ELECTED TOWN MAYOR

Cllr Russell joined the meeting during this item.

Cllr Coan thanked his fellow councillors for the honour of being elected Town Mayor and gave a short speech announcing that during his term of office he would be raising funds for Men in Sheds Knutsford and the Parent Teacher Associations of the four Knutsford Primary Schools.

 

26/009  STATEMENT FROM THE OUTGOING TOWN MAYOR

Cllr Hartley gave a short speech reflecting on his year in office, thanking councillors and officers for their support during the year. Cllr Hartley announced that his fundraising efforts had raised £4,480 to be split between East Cheshire Hospice and Knutsford in Bloom.

It was proposed by Cllr Coan and RESOLVED that the council record its thanks to Cllr Hartley for his service as Town Mayor. Cllr Coan then presented Cllr Hartley with his Past Mayor’s Medal.

 

26/010  CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

It was RESOLVED to confirm the minutes of the meeting held 2^nd March 2026.

 

26/011  PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

A resident highlighted the high time commitment for unpaid councillors, suggesting there were too many committees, too many projects with a significant percentage of expenditure on activity supporting local businesses and too many organisations to which a councillor was appointed a link.

 

26/012  DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

It was noted that the next scheduled meeting will be held on Monday 16^th June 2026.