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According to the 2021 Census, ethnic white groups account for 94.4% of the population (376,543 people), with 5.6% of the population (22,229 people) being in ethnic groups other than white (Asian, Black, Mixed, Other).[5]
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At the last Cheshire County Council election in 2005 there were 15 Conservative controlled wards, 6 Labour controlled wards, 5 Liberal Democrat controlled wards and 1 ward controlled by an independent within the unitary authority boundaries.[8]
The first elections for Cheshire East Council took place on 1 May 2008, with the Conservative Party taking overall control. The Conservatives took 59 of the 81 seats with the others being held by the Liberal Democrats (12), Labour (6), 3 members of Middlewich First and one Independent.[9] The first leader of the authority was Wesley Fitzgerald who was elected at Cheshire East's inaugural meeting on 13 May 2008. Wesley Fitzgerald is a Councillor for the Wilmslow South ward. Having decided in February 2012 to step down, a leadership contest was triggered. Michael Jones – a relatively new councillor having been elected in the May 2011 elections – was elected as the Leader of the Conservative Group on 17 March 2012.
A556 Knutsford to Bowdon Improvement: A new five-mile four-lane dual-carriageway bypass of Bucklow Hill and Mere Crossroads on the A556 has been by Highways England at a cost of between £165-£221 million. The new road contains the first 'green bridge' wildlife crossing in the United Kingdom. The existing road has been narrowed to one lane in each direction and re-designated as the B5569 under the maintenance of Cheshire East Council.[14]
M6 Junctions 16-19: Smart Motorway: Highways England are preparing to convert the hard shoulder to a permanent running lane and introduce a variable speed limit along this section of the M6, meaning that it will become the first smart motorwayinCheshire. The scheme is expected to cost between £192-£274 million.[15] However, in Spring 2023 the Government abandoned all plans for further Smart Motorways to be constructed following concerns regarding their safety.
Crewe Green Link Road South: A dual-carriageway extension of Crewe Green Link Road is being constructed between the A5020 and Weston Gate Roundabout on the A500 by Cheshire East Council at a cost of £26.5 million.[16]
LED improvements: The Cheshire East Council, for multiple years now, has been investing in LEDs (light emitting diodes) as they are energy-efficient lights that are more likely to avoid sleepiness on the road as of their blue tint.
D&G bus is the primary operators of buses in cheshire east serving the county Monday to Saturday. Sunday services are limited to 84 Chester to Crewe operated by D&G bus, 3 crewe to hanley operated by First potteries and 58 operated by high peak Macclesfield to Chatsworth House via Buxton. Additional services are operated by Aimees travel, High Peak, Mikro coaches, Stagecoach Manchester, Warrington's own buses and Hollinshead coaches.
The area is home to a large number of sites of public interest:
Tatton Park is the venue for a variety of events: classical concerts; fireworks displays; classic car shows; open-air theatre and the Country Show (massed pipes and drums, sheepdog trials, competitions, crafts fair, and dancing).[17]
The Tatton Estate is privately owned with over 1,000 people living and working on it in town (Knutsford), in villages such as Rostherne and Ashley, and in the rural parishes surrounding. The new Ashley Hall Showground and Event Centre hosts events such as the Cheshire Ploughing and Hedge Laying Competition, the Ashley Hall Traction Engine Rally and charity barn dances.[18]
Jodrell Bank Observatory is home to a number of significant radio telescopes including the Lovell Telescope; and is involved in a range of international research projects such as MERLIN.
Gawsworth Hall is a half-timbered hall, and possibly once home to Shakespeare's 'Dark Lady'. Concerts are held in the grounds, and each summer there is an open-air theatre season, featuring Shakespearean classics and light opera, comedy, jazz, and drama.[19]
Cuckooland Museum is a reputed museum which exhibits the world's largest and finest collection of antique cuckoo clocks.[citation needed]
Arley Hall is a Victorian-Jacobean Grade II listed country house, sometimes used as locations for filming. There have been two Coronation Street weddings filmed here.[20]
Capesthorne Hall is a Jacobean-style stately home which plays host to a variety of events.[22]
Alderley Edge is a great sandstone escarpment that overlooks the Cheshire plain.[23] The Edge itself has been mined for copper since at least the time of the Roman invasion, and is the centre of the legend of the Wizard of Alderley,[24] made famous by local author Alan Garner's books The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath. Nowadays it is said that the Wizard was Merlin, but this is an addition that only appeared over the past thirty years. Tours of the mines are available, but should not be attempted without an experienced guide – the Edge is riddled with mineshafts.
Knutsford is best known as the site where King Canute forded the Lily Stream, and as the home of Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell, and the town holds a May Day parade and festival every year.[26]
Old Hall Hotel in Sandbach is a Grade I listed building.[32] The Hall is on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register as priority A, this is the highest grading.[33]
The former borough of Macclesfield was twinned with Eckernförde, Germany.[34]
Congleton has been twinned with Trappes since 16 September 1962[35]
Twinning remains active in the Crewe and Nantwich area. The town of Crewe began twinning with the town of Mâcon in France in 1957. This continued when the borough of Crewe and Nantwich was formed in 1974. The borough added the town of Bischofsheim in Germany in 1991. In 2003 the administration of twinning was passed to CANTA, the Crewe and Nantwich Twinning Association, a voluntary association supported by the borough. The association immediately added Dzierżoniów in Poland as a Friendship Town. The association has received continuing support from Cheshire East after the borough became part of the new authority.[36]
White: East Midlands Railway stations; 
Blue: Northern Trains stations; 
Red: Avanti West Coast stations; 
Green: Transport for Wales stations
North West England
England
United Kingdom
Europe
