A TOP Cheshire East Council officer has poured cold water on talk of Knutsford getting a bypass before 2030.

Chris Hindle, head of strategic infrastructure, told CEC’s environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee on Monday that the council would struggle to receive Government funding for a relief road around the town.

CEC has successfully been awarded cash from the Department for Transport for a number of schemes in recent years – including £46.8 million for the proposed Middlewich bypass, and £45 million for the Congleton link road – while it is also wants Government funding for its A500 dualling project near Crewe.

Cllr Tony Dean, Conservative member for Knutsford, told the committee: “For obvious reasons a massive amount of money has been spent and is being spent in Crewe.

“I also understand the need in Middlewich, having driven through there on many occasions, and in Congleton very much so.

“There is a major need for a relief road in Knutsford. How do I as a councillor go about getting a Knutsford relief road scheme on to this list?”

Knutsfordians have repeated the call for a bypass around the town this year.

Bill Cowburn, who has lived in the town since 1938, wrote to transport secretary Chris Grayling about the issue in July.

And last month, Cllr Dean told the same scrutiny committee that a relief road was needed to take lorries away from Knutsford and improve air quality.

But Mr Hindle warned that the council’s current major schemes are ‘closely linked to significant housing growth’ – and Knutsford’s numbers would struggle to attract Government funding.

“The successful bids [for funding] have been clearly linked to the delivery of housing,” he said.

“In the local plan, Knutsford doesn’t have that same significant growth that other towns have had.

“What Knutsford does have though is some proposals to improve key junctions on the existing infrastructure to cope with the growth that is planned in the local plan for strategic sites in Knutsford.

“But what is not there in Knutsford is external funding from central Government, from the DfT. The rules for those bids would mean that we wouldn’t be successful.”

In the local plan, which was adopted last year, Knutsford is earmarked for 950 new homes and 15 hectares of additional employment land by 2030.

At the same time, Middlewich is expected to gain 1,950 new homes and 75 hectares of employment land, while Congleton is set to gain 4,150 new homes and 24 hectares of employment land, and Crewe is earmarked for 7,700 new homes and 65 hectares of new employment land.

“I’m not saying that it won’t happen in the future,” Mr Hindle added.

“But in the context of the current local plan, what is published, and what we need to have in place in terms of policy and strategy to enable us to have successful bids for significant [funding], the sort of growth you would need is not there in our local plan up to 2030.”

But Cllr Dean suggested the town’s growth will still be significant enough to have an impact on its road network.

He said: “Knutsford is growing by 25 per cent in the next 10 years. So if you go by percentage it is pretty significant.”