Sandbach Town Council

Cheshire, England

 
Sandbach, pronounced "sand-batch", is a pleasant, historic market town located in South East Cheshire.  It has very efficient communications being approximately half a mile from Junction 17 on the M6 motorway.  It has its own railway station on the Crewe to Manchester mainline, providing rapid access to Manchester International airport. Crewe mainline station is only ten minutes away, making London under two hours away. 

The surrounding countryside is mainly attractive dairy farmland and hence it is no surprise that Sandbach has grown rapidly in recent years as a dormitory town for the adjacent conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Potteries.

The Trent and Mersey canal passes through the Town bringing numerous tourists in the summer.
 

News Highlights

For full information see the regular newletters
View the latest newsletter here

Planned for July 2009 - Market Square Grand Opening

Saturday 11th July 2009
Market Square Grand Opening

Sandbach Partnership invites you to the official opening of the new and improved Market Square. Come and join us for a day of family friendly fun. With live music, dance, performances, stalls, mouth watering refreshments and much more…
 
An event for the people of Sandbach, by the people of Sandbach!!

For more information please call Kerry Hall, Sandbach Project Coordinator on 01270 752124
 

June 2009 - Car Parking Charges

The planned imposition of car parking charges by Cheshire East Council was considered by a dedicated working group of Sandbach councillors. The resulting Sandbach Town Council Car Park Strategy Report was sent to Cheshire East Council for consideration.
    Some of its key points are:
  • "Council strongly recommends that parking on Scotch Common remains free of charge, until such time as legal approvals are proved by Cheshire East, and that the people of Sandbach have been clearly apprised of this status"
              
  • "The Status of Scotch Common as a registered Village Green was considered and there were two prevailing issues:
    i) Can a Village Green be used as a car park?
    ii) Can a change from free parking to pay parking be enforced?"
     
  • "The economic viability of the town is regarded as the most important element of the strategy for Sandbach, therefore significant concern was expressed about the loss of the current free parking on public car parks – it was felt that there is significant risk that shoppers may choose more vibrant, attractive shopping centres over Sandbach"
     
  • "It is suggested that if this market continues to use Scotch Common, then all public car parks should be either free or have mixed usage and charging regimes on market day."
     
  • "The Council requests that resident surveys are undertaken in the Streets that are within the 350 metre zone in order to assess the requirements for residents parking permits. The Council requests consultation regarding any plans to charge for these permits".

For complete details please see the Sandbach Town Council Car Park Strategy Report.

Since submitting this report to Cheshire East, a report recommending a 30p minimum charge for Sandbach has been published by Cheshire East. Although this has yet to be approved by the Cheshire East Cabinet, it clearly does not adopt the lower, single coin, 20p tariff, suggested in our report and it also contains a number of errors and omissions. The Town Council will therefore remain firmly engaged with Cheshire East Council in this critical area that will impact the economic well being of the Town.
 

Cabinet Approves Report considered to be flawed

To this end the Council was representated at the Cheshire East Cabinet meeting on the 16th June to present the Town Council's position and to ask a number of questions. An outline of the presentation is given here. Sandbach Town Council asked for Cabinet to reject the recommendations, on the basis that the Officer's report on Car Park Charging was flawed and the proposed parking fees were not economically sustainable for the Sandbach community. The same request was made from a number of Cheshire East Ward Councillors and from its own Scrutiny Committee. Despite these observations, car parking charges were approved, subject to legal conditions.
 
This report has been subsequently called in by the Cheshire East Scrutiny committee for detailed investigation.
  

September 2008 - Quality Status Acheived

Sandbach - A Quality Town CouncilAfter many months working on a submission for Quality Status, the Council was pleased to announce that it received recognition on 1 September 2008 when it was officially awarded 'Quality Town Council' status. In order to achieve Quality status, the Council had to produce evidence that it acts in an open and transparent manner, that it is accessible by members of the public, that it is democratic and that it operates within the law.
 

July 2008 - FairTrade Status Achieved

Sandbach - A Quality Town CouncilSandbach won Fairtrade status in July 2008, joining 400 other towns and villages across Britain. Find our more about the Town's excellent FairTrade work.
  

2008-2009 Newsletter & Website

One of the main areas that required attention was 'Communication'.  In order to improve this, over the past year or so, the Council has launched a newsletter and continues to focus on the quality of this website.
 

Regular Surgeries

As part of its drive for quality, the council now runs regular Councillor surgeries, these are held on Saturday mornings at the Sandbach Literary Institution. These are informal and we always welcome your comments and views, good or bad. So please come along and discuss any local issues with your Town Councillors, there is no need for an appointment.
 

Town Vision

The population of Sandbach at the 2001 Census was 17,630.  The population is increasing with new developments. To promote and encourage beneficial change, Sandbach Town Council is working closely with local and regional organisations to deliver its:

Vision for Sandbach