These are draft minutes that have not yet been approved by the council. The minutes are subject to change and will be confirmed at the next meeting.
26/038 PRESENT
Councillors Coan, Forrest, Gardiner, Hartley, Lowe, McCulloch, and Robertson
In attendance: A Keppel-Green (Town Clerk)
26/039 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Cllrs Banks, Russell and Wood (personal business), Watson (business) and Dalzell, Harley and Mears (health).
26/040 DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
In the interests of openness and transparency, Cllr Gardiner declared that Toft Cricket Club had provided a venue for a fundraising event during his tenure as Town Mayor. In the interests of openness and transparency with respect to the funding of CCTV, Cllrs Gardiner and Coan declared they were members of Cheshire East Council.
26/041 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
No members of the public wished to address the meeting.
26/042 CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
It was RESOLVED to confirm the minutes of the meeting held 15th June.
26/043 COMMITTEE MINUTES
The minutes of committee meetings were noted.
26/044 CHESHIRE EAST COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS
Cllr Gardiner advised that there was no further update on any review of the libraries or leisure centres services and reported that the Conservative Group had submitted a request for an extraordinary Council meeting on the same day as the next scheduled Council meeting to debate the Peak Cluster project, noting that it had not been discussed at Cabinet in September despite having been advised it would be. Cllr Gardiner outlined his concerns about the project and reasons for wishing to see it debated.
Cllr Coan reported that since moving to the Cabinet model, most meetings were now made by a smaller group of councillors and scheduled meetings of the Licensing Committee on which he sits had been cancelled. Cllr Coan reported he has attended a number of meetings of the Fire Authority and that the Cheshire Fire Service had received an excellent report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Fire and Rescue Services, was managing its budget well and agreed the final programme of station upgrades.
Cllr Gardiner advised the s106 agreement for the Longridge development had yet to be finalised and that he had been advised that Cheshire East Highways had a long list of desired projects, of which parking restrictions around Teal Avenue was one.
It was noted that the Cheshire East Councillors Referred Matters report had a number of items which were raised some time ago and to which no update seemed to have been provided, nor lead member identified. It was requested that the previously agreed review meeting of the Town Clerk and ward members be expedited.
26/045 MEMBERS’ REPORTS
Cllr Hartley reported that there were currently a number of matters affecting Tabley including the proposed solar farm, the whole of the Crown Estate landholding being put forward in the local plan call for sites and a proposed service station at The Windmill public house.
26/046 TOFT CRICKET CLUB CIL FUNDING
The Chair of Toft Cricket Club took questions from members, confirming Knutsford Rugby Club would have use of the pavilion in the winter for after match facilities, that it runs a programme for 4-8 year olds to introduce them to cricket and confirming that the club has two safeguarding officers.
The Town Clerk relayed Cllr Dalzell’s comments to the meeting.
It was RESOLVED to provide £20,000 of CIL funds towards the rebuild project, in addition to the £30,000 of grant funding previously agreed.
26/047 TOWN CENTRE CCTV
It was RESOLVED to enter into a new three-year service level agreement subject to the council being informed of any proposal to implement any AI features on the system, with an option to terminate the agreement in the event of AI enabled features being implemented should the council wish.
26/048 SEALING OF DOCUMENTS
It was RESOLVED to approve the council seal being applied to documents in connection with the sale of 60 King Street and new leases for Justice View and Lily Lodge.
26/049 SCHEME OF DELEGATION
It was RESOLVED to approve the scheme of delegation as presented.
26/050 CORPORATE PEER CHALLENGE
Progress in delivering the outstanding actions was noted.
26/051 MAYORAL DUTIES
Cllr Coan reported on mayoral duties as set out in the appendix.
26/052 PAYMENTS
The recent payment reports were noted.
26/053 OUTSTANDING ACTIONS, PROJECT UPDATES AND WORKPLAN REPORTS
The log was noted and it was noted that an update on the medical centre project was being pursued.
26/054 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A resident enquired as to when the United Utilities water butt planters would be installed at the scout huts and schools to which the Town Clerk advised it would be progressed in the coming weeks.
26/055 QUESTIONS TO THE TOWN CLERK
Thanks were expressed to the Corporate Support Manager and other staff for arranging and delivering the volunteer path clearance sessions.
It was noted that the APR camera installed on North Downs was likely a traffic count camera to inform development proposals.
It was suggested that the council look at how it can capitalise on coach trips of international visitors, noting that it had been observed that on visiting services such as the Heritage Centre no donations were made as the tourists considered it an all inclusive coach package.
The Town Clerk undertook to raise out-of-hours operations at the household waste recycling centre with FCC Environmental to understand what works were taking place and any limits on operating times, and to raise the lack of repair to railing sat the Parkgate Lane roundabout with Cheshire East Highways.
26/056 DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
It was noted that the next scheduled meeting will be held on Monday 28th September 2026.
APPENDIX A: MAYORAL ENGAGEMENTS
ENGAGEMENTS ATTENDED
| Date | Event | Attended by |
| 18/06/2026 | POP Cystic Fibrosis Charity Ball | Town Mayor |
| 20/06/2026 | Tatton Singers Summer Concert | Town Mayor |
| 20/06/202 | The Welcome Summer Funday | Town Mayor |
| 21/06/2025 | DSN 50 Year Celebration | Town Mayor |
| 26/06/2026 | Manor Park School Fair | Town Mayor |
| 01/07/2026 | Toft Taverners annual trip wave off | Town Mayor |
| 01/07/2026 | Sharston House Summer Fair | Town Mayor |
| 04/07/2026 | Cross Town Open Gardens | Deputy Town Mayor |
| 10/07/2026 | Foodies festival | Town Mayor |
| 16/07/2026 | Mini Vinnies sports day | Town Mayor |
| 17/07/2026 | Adalaide Health Summer Fair | Town Mayor |
| 26/07/2026 | Abbey field Strawberries and Pimms Party | Town Mayor |
| 26/07/2026 | Picnic in the Park | Town Mayor |
| 22/07/2026 | Rainbow Care Group Open day for Dementia Care | Town Mayor |
| 07/08/2026 | Cranford Grange care home Taste of Home event | Town Mayor |
| 07/08/2026 | Knutsford Fire Station fun day | Town Mayor |
| 15/08/2026 | Crosstown Community Orchard BBQ | Town Mayor |
| 05/09/2026 | Summer reading challenge | Town Mayor |
| 13/09/2026 | Congleton Civic Sunday | Town Mayor |
| 17/09/2026 | Old people’s Information day | Town Mayor |
| 17/09/2026 | Rowlinsons Solicitors Knutsford Office Launch | Town Mayor |
| 19/09/2026 | Veterans Breakfast | Town Mayor |
ENGAGEMENTS DECLINED
| Date | Event |
| 20/08/2026 | Popcats Care Home Visit |