What makes Cheshire so special?
The answer may well be that diversity is the key to its success and there is huge potential for expansion.

While mostly a county of small towns and villages, the most densely populated areas (accounting for 45 per cent of the total population) are concentrated in industrial areas such as Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Crewe. Cheshire comprises six districts, Chester with Ellesmere Port and Neston in the west, Vale Royal and Crewe and Nantwich centrally and Macclesfield and Congleton in the east.

Yet a quarter of people (25 per cent) live in rural areas, with the remainder concentrated around busy hubs of commerce such as in the city of Chester, commuter towns such as Wilmslow in Macclesfield, or market towns such as Nantwich.

Currently, age distribution mirrors national averages; under-fives account for six per cent of Cheshire’s population, and 14 per cent are aged from five to 15. At the other end of the scale, just over 16 per cent are over 65. The total population is now roughly 700,000.

Cheshire County Council says planned growth will focus particularly in the heart of Cheshire, around the districts of Vale Royal and Crewe and Nantwich. By 2011 it is also estimated that Cheshire’s workforce will rise to over 340,000, up from 307,000 in 1999.

There are a number of leading housing associations in the county, among them Cheshire Peaks & Plains Housing, which provides high quality, affordable homes in Macclesfield and the surrounding areas. With almost 5,000 properties from Knutsford to Disley, it offers the widest choice of locations and properties across the Macclesfield district, at excellent value for money.

It provides a range of high quality housing for people in housing need - from one bedroom studio apartments to four bedroom family homes and aims to provide homes and services to help local people build strong and united neighbourhoods.

It is in the process of carrying out a major improvement programme of its properties, which will see £43 million invested in homes over four years. This will include new bathrooms and kitchens, as well as heating and electrical upgrades.

Cheshire Peaks & Plains started life in July 2006, with the transfer of 5,000 homes from Macclesfield Borough Council. Prior to transfer, all council tenants were issued with an offer document that outlined what they could expect from the new housing trust. Throughout the first year of the trust it focused on delivering those promises, by improving its services and starting to make longoverdue improvements to customers’ homes.

It is in the process of implementing a major improvement programme, which will see £43 million invested in local homes over the next four years. Based on survey results, homes may receive a new bathroom, kitchen, central heating or electrical upgrade. Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are also being fitted to every home.

The trust held a competition earlier this year to find the best neighbours in Macclesfield and entries were received from across the borough, which included some stories of the help and support residents have received from their neighbours.

The awards ceremony was held in May, on International Neighbours Day and everyone from the shortlist was invited to attend, including the neighbours who had made the nomination

A slightly larger housing provider is the Chester & District Housing Trust, (CDHT) set up in November 2000 to receive the transfer of over 6,900 properties from Chester City Council.

CDHT is governed by a board of directors and strongly believes that local people are in the best position to shape the housing service. That’s why there are three tenant or leaseholder directors on the trust board. They have equal decision-making power with the three directors nominated by Chester City Council and four independent board directors.

The board makes policies and plans for the trust, sets its wider aims and objectives and makes sure that colleagues working day-to-day are meeting standards of service and improvement. All tenants are welcome to get involved in how the trust is run, either as a tenant board member or as part of a resident association.

The biggest and most comprehensive survey of employee opinion in the UK ranked CDHT as the 56th best company to work for in the UK.

The research was carried out by Best Companies Ltd, which ranked the organisation in the top 20 for leadership. It involved surveys from over 180,000 employees across the country and was shortlisted from 868 entries, including Microsoft.

Jonathan Austin, chief executive of Best Companies Ltd, said: ‘“A happy, engaged workforce is also a productive and profitable one. These are the organisations that realise investing in their staff is an investment in the future.

‘“A significant increase in the number of organisations entering highlights that they have become a beacon of excellence as enlightened workplaces. Our role is to set a rigorous benchmar so that organisations can become even better employers.’”

It was earlier this year that the government finally agreed to create two new unitary councils in Cheshire.

The number of councils in the county will be reduced from seven to just two, under the successful proposal put forward by Chester City Council, Vale Royal District Council, Macclesfield Borough Council and Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council.

The changes are due to take effect in April next year, changes that most decision-makers in the county believe will further help the county build on its highly successful record and exploit that huge potential for expansion.