LAST week’s announcement of a public consultation into the future of Knutsford Crown Court came as no surprise to The Knutsfordian.

This glorious building which dates back to Georgian times has been left unused and unloved for many years.

As recently as 2002 our hardworking MP George Osborne successfully campaigned to keep the court open.

However, since a brief flurry of judiciousness when the building was used as a magistrates’ court while the Macclesfield building was refurbished, the building has lain empty since 2010.

The Knutsfordian notes the most recent ‘trials’ heard at the Knutsford Crown Court have been those of Coronation Street villains such as the evil Jez Quigley, played by the fine actor Lee Boardman who runs Actor Tribe for aspiring thespians; Jim McDonald, played by Charlie Lawson who now runs the Prestbury Farm Shop and will be reprising his Coronation Street role shortly; and bad lad Terry Duckworth, played by Nigel Pivaro who is now a journalist.

Knutsford Crown Court is advertised by HM Courts and Tribunals Service as a film set location.

This is a useful, if not particularly lucrative, way to support the building.

Even in our soap opera dominated times, there are only so many TV and film villains who could face the sword of justice in Knutsford.

The Knutsfordian feels the current public consultation is merely a box-ticking exercise which will lead to the inevitable sell off.

We Knutsfordians are continually exhorted to ‘shop local’, but thanks to falling crime rates, we are not obliged to ‘keep justice local’.

The future of Knutsford Crown Court poses many challenges for Knutsfordians and potential developers alike.

The Knutsfordian applauds the ideas mooted in last week’s Guardian by hardworking George, the Knutsford Conservation and Heritage Group’s (KCHG) contention there are ‘several potential uses for the building’, and Val Bryant, trustee and volunteer at the Knutsford Heritage Centre who has several fanciful ideas but urges Knutsfordians to: “Save our town’s heritage”.

However, applause does not equal funding to support such lofty heritage or community type uses.

To turn the building into a community or heritage use will take millions of pounds.

This is a Grade II * listed building – the star makes all the difference as the building is classified as just one step down from Grade I.

In Knutsford we do not have one community organisation with the constitution, the expertise, or the support to seize the day and step in with a proposal to save the Crown Court for the community.

PS The Knutsfordian’s invitation to Civic Sunday and the awards ceremony was lost in the post.

He does, however, feel for those award winners who presented themselves at 1pm to find lunch had not only been served but eaten.

PPS The Knutsfordian enjoyed promenading round the town on Saturday drinking up, along with a couple of open-air cocktails, the creative mixed bag of poetry, music, dance and theatre which comprised the Knutsford Promenade 2014.

It was nice to see our diligent Mayor and his lovely Mayoress, along with our deputy Mayor, were present to support this fascinating event.