What we Do

Bollington Town Council was formed in 1974 as part of the Local Government Reorganisation at that time. The former Bollington Urban District Council passed over many of its responsibilities for local services, along with some assets to the newly formed Macclesfield Borough Council and to the Cheshire County Council. A subsequent re-organisation resulted in the creation of Cheshire East Council in 2009. Cheshire East Council is the responsible authority for the majority of our services and is the key decision maker in many of the areas which affect our daily lives.

Cheshire East Council decide how our the majority of the Council Tax residents pay is allocated.

So what does Bollington Town Council do?

Residents of Bollington pay a small extra charge on their Council Tax known as the Precept, which is transferred to the Town Council and forms the income for the Council Budget. You can learn more about the Council Budget and Precept on the Finance Page.

Land and Buildings

It wasn’t too long after the creation of Cheshire East Council that it was realised that running all the services, and being responsible for the many assets  the Boroughs had inherited from the Districts in 1974 was a major administrative and financial headache for the Authority. Devolution became the buzzword and Cheshire East Council looked for ways to devolve responsibility back down the line to the Towns and Parishes.

Bollington was “offered” a number of assets to take off their hands and a very long consultation with Cheshire East Council and the Bollington population began. The Councillors at the time had to take into account what value could be added by asking precept payers to cover the costs, and the risk of doing nothing to the long term future of the assets being offered.

The Town Council took ownership of the Civic Hall and transformed it from a tired, underused building into a clean and modern performance space with a practically full bookings calendar. The Town Hall Building has more recently become the property of the Town Council and plans are still being formulated as to how to make the best use of the building going forward.

The toilets at Adlington Road came under threat when the Cheshire East Ranger Service vacated the adjoining Ranger Station. Some towns and villages have already lost their public toilets so whilst the Town Council did not wish to take full ownership we are currently ensuring they can stay open by providing the cleaning and security services.

The Town Council also manages two allotment sites and would like to provide more if suitable land can be secured.

You can find out more about the assets we own and manage on our Land and Property page

Supporting and Undertaking New Projects

We regularly initiate and support projects to to improve our infrastructure.

Supporting our Community

From creating a Covid 19 Support Network, to providing Grants for our wonderful variety of Local Organisations the Town Council aspires to help our community thrive. You may not always see what we do behind the scenes but we regularly provide advice and practical support in the running of events, such as facilitating road closures and we are always willing to promote and publicise where people are trying to make a positive difference in the town.

Supporting Local Business

The Town Council recognises that we are blessed with a large number and variety of local businesses and the town will thrive if they can thrive. The Bollington Business Forum has been on hand to offer help and advice  and the Council is looking at ways to publicise and promote our town’s business community, promote shopping locally and address other issues which affect their ability to trade.

Supporting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The Town Council has a working group to look at ways that we as a Council and we as residents can make Bollington a welcoming place for everyone to live and work. More to follow.

Planning for the Future

The Town Council produced a Neighbourhood Plan to help shape the future of the town. The Councillors view all the Planning Applications which fall within our boundary, or those which may affect the town’s infrastructure and where appropriate make comments to Cheshire East Council planners based on our plan and local knowledge.

Bollington 2030

Bollington Town Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and made a pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030. There is a lot of work going on to plan how this can happen and to create a pleasant and sustainable environment going forward.