A mix-up over town council budgets means the 100 trees bought to celebrate the new millennium won't be planted for another year.

But at a meeting last week, some town councillors branched away from their colleagues and said they didn't even fully agree with the idea.

"The people elected in May have had no input at all into the millennium committee," said Clr Ken Fairhurst.

"I believe if this idea had been taken on by the new council there would have been a lot more debate about it."

One of their concerns stemmed from the fact that the project - costing more than £6,000 - would not be in Knutsford.

And Clr Wilson Hamman, who was on the council when the proposal was passed last year, also questioned if the wood was special enough to mark the millennium. "Planting trees in Tatton Park is rather like taking coals to Newcastle," he said.

But Clr Jennifer Holbrook said the plan had been agreed and arranged with the National Trust and Tatton Park.

"That is the nature of politics," she said. "It takes a lot of time to plan in advance."

More than half the council's special millennium fund will be spent on the wood which will be visited by the town's schoolchildren as it grows.

The remaining £6,000 will be spent on other projects including the millennium calendar, tapestry and extra fireworks for the Scouts' bonfire in November.

Plans for a town centre clock - similar to the famous timepiece that spans Chester's Eastgate - were dropped in March after councillors realised it would cost about £50,000.

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