Parks, gardens and play areas

Parks and gardens list

Alderley Edge

Alsager

Bollington

Congleton

Crewe

Handforth

Knutsford

Macclesfield

Middlewich

Nantwich

Sandbach

Wilmslow

See our approved Municipal Parks Strategy which provides guiding principles for the future management and development of our municipal parks to ensure they meet the needs and aspirations of our residents.

Periodically an opportunity arises for the commercial sector to partner the Cheshire East parks service, managed by Ansa Environmental Services Ltd*, to enhance the local park(s) services. For more information about commercial opportunities, see our Parks commercial opportunities page.

We are committed to making our approaches to the management and maintenance of our parks and open spaces more sustainable, and this year we are trialling some new ideas.

The more variety we can encourage in our parks and open spaces, the more eco-systems we can support. Increasing biodiversity makes nature more resilient and helps to protect people from the effects of climate change. 

Find out more about combatting the climate and nature emergency

Reducing the amount of waste, we produce is crucial to becoming more sustainable and, where possible, we will keep compostable waste on site.  

You might start to see areas of wood chippings spread on shrub beds and where trees have to be felled, we will try to leave some standing wood to rot down naturally. If that is not possible, we may stack timber and leave it close to where it was felled. This reduces the need to move the timber off site and creates a great habitat. 

Find out more about dead wood

We will also reduce the number of bedding plants we buy each year and instead replace with other plants like spring flowering bulbs, meadow flowers or perennial plants. 

Find out more about plants for wildlife

Recycling bins will be installed in some of our parks. It is important that the bins are used properly so that we can recycle as much as possible. Please only use these bins for the waste described on their information sign. 

Find out more about the 7 benefits of recycling

By leaving some areas of grass unmown, the grass can grow longer, and the natural flora can flourish – providing areas for wildlife to flourish too. Increased plant species will feed a wider range of pollinating insects and provide areas for small mammals to forage. We will also be adding wildflower seed to some areas to try to increase the different species. 

Find out more about grasslands for wildlife 

Find out more about plants for pollinating insects like bees

We will be allowing some areas to ‘re-wild’. This means that in some places that do not need to be kept neat and tidy, we will allow natural regeneration. These areas provide great habitat for birds, insects and mammals. 

Find out more about the 15 ways to a wilder garden

Some of our hedgerows will be cut less frequently, which is not only great for nesting birds, but also means they can also produce spring flowers to support pollinating insects. The fruit that follows the flowers then provides food for the birds. 

 Find out more about the best hedges for wildlife

You may see us using some equipment that looks a bit different to our usual tools and machinery. This year we will be trialling some electrically powered equipment to reduce the amount of fuel we use to maintain parks and open spaces.

Trees are already being planted around the borough to capture carbon. This includes woodland and woodland edge, parkland planting, orchards, hedges and avenue planting. We are also committed to caring for our veteran trees so you will start to see some measures in place to discourage visitors from walking over tree roots. This may be some low fencing, planting or simply longer grass. 

Find out more about how trees fight climate change

We provide facilities for picnics in many of our parks but not BBQs. If you do bring a picnic or BBQ to our parks consider how you will dispose of anything leftover safely.

  • do not put BBQs on the picnic benches or any other park furniture
  • do not put hot coals in the litter bins
  • do not leave BBQs in the park

Page last reviewed: 25 May 2023