Katie Clague, Kevin Griffiths, Cllr April Johnson, Cllr Rex Mears and Malcolm Thomas with the Bee Trail Sign

Bees’ Needs Champion Award

Knutsford Town Council has been awarded one of the 2025 Bees Needs Champion Awards in recognition of its work taking action to support pollinators.

Through its Nature Action Plan working group, the council has helped create wildflower meadows in locations across the town and this year launched the Knutsford Bee Trail to raise awareness of practical steps residents can take to help reverse the pollinator decline.

The award was made as part of Bees Needs Week, which runs from 14th to 20th July. The aim of the week is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators and share ideas, actions and activities that highlight the ways in which everyone can help them thrive.

When most people think of bees, they think of honeybees, but there are over 270 species of bee in the UK, including the honeybee, 24 species of bumblebee and many different solitary bees. Honeybee populations are doing relatively well, however many wild bee populations, including solitary bees and bumblebees, are struggling. Causes of decline include habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.

“Our focus this year has been on supporting pollinating insects as so much of the rest of nature, including us, relies on strong pollinator populations” said Cllr Rex Mears, Chair of the council’s Environment and Transport Committee.

“We are proud to have received the Bees Needs Champion Award this year recognising the importance of the work we are doing, and we hope this will help inspire others to take action. We will continue on our mission to enhance Knutsford’s ecology”

“I would like to thank the nature action plan working group volunteers and the residents that attended the bee trail launch event, without whom this would not have been possible.” Rex added.

The council has created an information page on its website to share steps residents can take to support pollinators at home, as well as finding out more about the Knutsford Bee Trail. This can be found at https://www.knutsfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/bee-trail

There are 5 simple actions that anyone can take to help pollinators:

  1. Grow more nectar rich flowers, shrubs and trees. Using window or balcony boxes are good options if you do not have a garden.
  2. Let patches of garden and land grow wild.
  3. Cut grass less often.
  4. Do not disturb insect nests and hibernation spots.
  5. Think carefully about whether to use pesticides.

The Town Council is also running a pollinator photography competition, with entries closing on 31st August. Photos need to show pollinators in action, including at least one pollinator and flower. More details can be found at https://www.knutsfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/bee-trail/photo-comp.

Bee Trail maps can be picked up at locations across the town and will be distributed through school bookbags ahead of the start of the summer holidays. To celebrate Bees Needs Week, you can also find out more about the Bee Trail and our pollinators on the Moor from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday 19th July.

NALC Star Council Awards 2021 Finalist Graphic

Town Clerk in running for Clerk of the Year Award

Knutsford’s Town Clerk has been shortlisted for a national award.

Adam Keppel-Green, who celebrates nine years with the Town Council this month, is one of five in the running for the Clerk of the Year award in the NALC Star Council Awards which aim to recognise the role of town and parish councils and the contribution they make to their communities.

Adam, who joined the council in September 2012 as Deputy Town Clerk and became Town Clerk in April 2014 is also clerk to Gawsworth Parish Council, a Director of the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), board member of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils and Training Officer for the Cheshire Branch of the SLCC.

Speaking on the announcement of the shortlist, Town Mayor Cllr Stewart Gardiner said “As Town Mayor I am very pleased that Adam has been nominated for this award and wish him well in the final.

“I am very conscious that he works tirelessly not just in his official capacity as Town Clerk but in supporting several of the volunteer organisations within the Town in their efforts too. Adam has been the inspiration behind many of the initiatives the Town Council has undertaken in recent years and the people of Knutsford should be pleased that he is our Town Clerk.”

“It is an honour to be shortlisted for this award amongst four other great clerks” Adam said. “The job of Town Clerk is extremely rewarding, and I am proud to work for a proactive and positive council; if I am fortunate enough to win, it would be as much an award for the council as it would for me personally.”

The winner of the award will be announced at an online ceremony in October.

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”