A CARPET of croci has transformed Knutsford’s green open spaces, doughty daffodils defy forecasts of snow and frost, and the first cuckoo of spring cannot be long in making itself heard.

The Knutsfordian had a spring in his step as he tootled into town to pick up a few necessities on Saturday, ruminating on the happy fact March is already here.

Town centre traffic quickly put the brakes on The Knutsfordian’s good mood as he got stuck in the first Saturday ‘rush hour’ traffic of the year as Billy Smarts Circus trapezed into town.

The Knutsfordian is grateful that that circus rolled in and out of town smartly unlike the Cheshire East Local Plan circus.

After three years, six rounds of consultation, 37,000 public responses, hours of individuals’ time, councillors’ time, officers’ time, the plan finally has been bundled up and packed off to the planning inspectorate for approval and final adoption.

With all the effort that went into the plan, The Knutsfordian is horrified to report that of the borough’s 81 councillors, only 55 voted.

The Knutsfordian appreciates there are many fun things our elected representatives would rather do on a Friday night. He also notes that sitting through a six and a half hour meeting may be asking too much of some.

But the local plan is the main project for the 2011 councillor intake. Will their indifference to their own plan be remembered?

PS The Knutsfordian notes our acting town clerk was at the Society of Local Council Clerks Practitioners’ Conference last week.

Whilst The Knutsfordian applauds his desire to have a ‘youth town council’, the acting town clerk would do well to examine ways of making serving as an ‘adult’ town councillor more attractive.

Six of the town council’s current councillors were ‘elected unopposed’ in 2011.

Why is it that Knutsfordians are put off from becoming town councillors?

At the same conference, the acting town clerk found another talk of interest: ‘How To Win Friends and Influence Councillors’.

The Knutsfordian's mind boggles.

PPS The Internet informs The Knutsfordian that central principle of free running (page 3, for those that missed it - Ed) is that one should ‘express oneself in the environment fluidly and without limitations of movement’.

As featured elsewhere in this august publication, a young free runner was spotted cavorting on the Princess Street rooftops.

The Knutsfordian fears the teenager did not read the free running guidebook which states ‘free running encourages people to think positively, suggesting that practitioners of free running will sometimes fall—largely because they think they might.’ Indeed, my reader, fall he did.