petition details

Creating a Tranquil Town Centre for People & Pets

We the undersigned petition the council to Repurpose a section of The Parade from its junction with Regents Grove in the south up to approximately No 20 (the location of The Edinburgh Woollen Mill) in the north for the sole use of individuals on foot. Do this by restricting all forms of motor transport & vehicles, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, rollerblades & roller skates from using it.

In brief summary, the issue of the possible permanent repurposing of a section of The Parade is not a new one, and has been a hotly debated topic in the past in Warwick District. The temporary closure of The Parade since the pandemic started has provided a rare opportunity for people to experience a closed road for a prolonged period of time. Another extensive experience has been the one of home deliveries by all major supermarket chains and food parcels for the most vulnerable.
Over the past year The Parade has been infinitely more pleasurable, with less noise and pollution. Going back to the old traffic blighted parade, with too many buses blocking the traffic, mounting the kerbs and heavily tricked out cars with drainpipes for exhausts driven down The Parades like it’s a drag strip, would be a big step backwards. One option would be to locate bus shelters at the rear of Tesco, or incorporate them into the redevelopment of the adjacent car park site.
The repurposing would serve to further the relaxing artistic street café culture that Leamington has made decent steps towards in the last few years. Plus, the evidence is overwhelming that when you pedestrianise an area the amount of trade increases (around 40% more). See here for references https://cycleways.org.uk/economic/
There are plenty of alternative north-south routes in Leamington to make The Parade redundant for traffic. The creation of commuter ‘rat-runs’ is inevitable, but not a valid enough reason to avoid reducing traffic in the Town Centre. The ‘rat-runs’ would diminish as residents take the opportunity to walk, cycle or take public transport.
Most importantly, if we are going to improve our Town Centre, it has to be done properly with landscaping and perhaps provisional plans for a future park & ride scheme.
This petition is purely to agree in principal to the repurposing of The Parade, refining the details would be the next step.

Started by: Hafeez Ahmed (Binswood House Dental Practice)

This petition ran from 15/03/2021 to 21/06/2021 and has now finished.

341 people signed this petition.