STC Boundary Consultation

Background parish contains four wards, Town Ward, , & Wheelock and Sandbach Heath and East. Each ward is represented by 5 town councillors and a councillor for East. The population in the 2011 census was 17,976, which will have increased following the completion of numerous residential developments across all the wards since the census. Updated population figures are not available, but the Local Plan includes a 30% increase in the number of dwellings in Sandbach by the end of the plan period in 2030. The parish is centered on the historic market town of Sandbach and is surrounded by valued open countryside.

With the exception of development in the neighbouring rural parish of Moston all the new residential development has been contained within the existing parish boundary. The town council is satisfied with the proposed settlement boundary proposed in the 2019 draft CEC SADP. Whilst the residential development in Moston is allocated to Sandbach for its housing totals the town council do not intend requesting the formation of an enclave of Sandbach within Moston.

The only requested change to the parish boundary is within the Ettiley Heath and Wheelock ward, where at its southerly edge it contains a small number of properties in Winterley. The majority of the community of Winterley is located within the neighbouring parish of , however the portion in Sandbach parish contains no services, and is distant from Wheelock the next nearest village. The split between parishes dates from when Haslington was in the borough of & , and Sandbach was part of Borough.

It is requested that the boundary be moved to the Wheelock & Haslington bypass, and the southerly tributary to the . The boundary change will reunite the severed roads of Elton Lane, Holly Fields, and houses along the old Crewe Road including Millcroft and Ashley Close together with the mobile homes within Western Park. This will include approximately 40 houses plus the park homes transferring into the neighbouring parish of Haslington, together with mainly open countryside and farmland.

This change of boundary and transfer of dwellings is supported by Haslington Parish Council.

Local Government representation The recent increase in population deriving from the new residential developments are spread fairly evenly across the four wards of the parish. The anticipated 30% increase in the population in Sandbach by 2030 would increase the number of residents per town councillor to a level that could impact the service that they receive from the first tier of local government, it is requested that an additional four council seats are allocated. Sandbach Town Council do not therefore propose any amendments to the ward boundaries within Sandbach but request that the number of town councilors be increased to six per ward, a total of twenty four for the whole council.

Sandbach Town Council do not request any change to the Cheshire East ward boundaries unless there is a rebalancing of Cheshire East councillors towards the south of the borough to reflect the relative increases in population growth in the south of the borough, as demonstrated by the expected 30% increase in the number of dwellings in Sandbach by 2030 contained within the Cheshire East Local Plan.