Businesses have their say on refreshed vision for Leamington
"Leamington is already a wonderful place with a great community spirit and a diverse and innovative business community. Our refreshed vision for the town will seek to safeguard all that is good and make improvements where necessary to meet the challenges of today."
Businesses added many valuable views into the mix at a well-attended meeting called to help define a new vision for Leamington town centre.
The meeting was arranged by Transforming Leamington, a joint project by Warwickshire County Council, Warwick District Council and Leamington Town Council in the stylish setting of the Royal Pump Rooms Assembly Room.
Transforming Leamington, which was set up in late 2021, will refresh the ‘Vision for Leamington Town Centre’ that was drawn up by then Leamington Town Centre Forum in 2018. Although that was formulated only six years ago, so much has changed, with the pandemic having accelerated the evolution of retail and consumer habits, that the previous vision has been quickly overtaken by time.
A new vision is required for the town centre and specifically Parade, so the meeting was called to enable LDA Design, led by project consultant, Bernie Foulkes, to harvest opinion from local stakeholders and principally the business community. Those opinions will shape the vision for the town centre which is now being honed towards development of a Parade Masterplan in Autumn.
In his address to the meeting Bernie Foulkes said the refreshed vision needs to balance three aspects critical to the future: People, Planet, Place.
“We need more people in the town centre,” he said. “Whatever we do, people are central. In recent years footfall has dramatically reduced and the old shopping habits are not coming back, so we need to find ways to attract people back to Parade and the town centre.
“We also need to look after the place and, in that regard we have such a lot to work with. I can honestly say, as someone from outside Leamington, that you are so lucky to have one of the best town centres anywhere in England. It has an extraordinary fabric and layout which has withstood all the changes of 250 years. And all built on the idea of health!
“Finally, we need to do things in a way to make sure we are not harming the planet. How can the town contribute to emphasis on climate change? How can we bring a stronger alignment to Net Zero? We need a greater emphasis on walking and cycling and to reduce the impact of motor vehicles. We need to balance these three things up which is not easy.”
A passionate discussion at the meeting featured a wealth of ideas. These included the need for: a more vibrant mix of uses and a town centre focal point; integration of residential, retail and office use; more space for events to take place; more to attract visitors, especially families with an emphasis on child-friendliness.
There was also a call for action to support the drawing up of the vision. This echoes the conversations the project team have had with key stakeholders in Leamington since January, including targeted sessions with the business community, younger people and community groups. The team has, and will continue to, collate all feedback and has produced a draft emerging vision for the town centre.
Warwickshire County Council's Portfolio Holder for Transport & Planning, Jan Matecki, said: "Leamington is already a wonderful place with a great community spirit and a diverse and innovative business community. Our refreshed vision for the town will seek to safeguard all that is good and make improvements where necessary to meet the challenges of today.
"It was great to learn that there was so much passion and that so many interesting ideas were voiced at the meeting and they have all been taken very much on board."
"Leamington is already a wonderful place with a great community spirit and a diverse and innovative business community. Our refreshed vision for the town will seek to safeguard all that is good and make improvements where necessary to meet the challenges of today."
The team is keen to hear feedback on the emerging Vision which can be submitted via this survey. Everyone is welcome to meet members of the project team at several drop in events in April and May.