First phase of new park to link towns opens

2 hours ago

Hannah Griffithsin Warwick

News image — Elizabeth Park is the first stage of a plan to link Leamington Spa and Warwick

BBC A wooden sign with the words Elizabeth Park stands in a grass field. The grass is brown and dry from the summer heat. Next to it is another wooden sign with a map of the park. A gravel path and a tarmac path are either side of the signs. — Elizabeth Park is the first stage of a plan to link Leamington Spa and Warwick

The first phase of a new park has opened that will ultimately link Warwick with Leamington Spa.

The Elizabeth Park plan is part of a deal with the developers building on the old council offices at Riverside House in Leamington.

They have paid for the creation of the park along the river, linking Victoria Park to Saint Nicholas Park.

Once completed, it is expected to provide a traffic-free route for pedestrians and cyclists between the two towns.

Phase one was officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox, on Thursday.

Councillor Sidney Syson, who represents the ward, said it was important for everyone to have access to nature.

An arched bridge in the back of the photo of the river Leam with a weir in the foreground. A purple Astilbe is flowering in the foreground on the photo and water lilies are in the calm water above the weir. Trees overhang the river. — Councillors hope the new park will eventually have access to the River Leam for open water swimming

"Everybody should be able to get out into a green space and unfortunately with more and more buildings and flats it's even more important that people have a green space to get out to," she said

Once finished, Syson added the park would offer residents a "great swathe of green".

Phases two and three would see Edmondscote athletics track moved to a new site south of Myton, Syson said, allowing the park to be extended.

"We are hopeful that we will get the projects up and running within the next few years," she said.

A wooden sign telling the history of the creation of Elizabeth park. It shows an image of the Queen Elizabeth and has text about the history of the area. — Some of the planting has been inspired by Queen Elizabeth II's love of nature

Homes England, the government's housing and regeneration agency are in charge of clearing the old council buildings at Riverside House, ready for a developer to build new homes there.

It would not be drawn on the exact cost of the Elizabeth Park project but said it had invested "a substantial figure".

Ragu Sittambalam, Senior Planning and Enabling Manager at Homes England said: "what we've done here is that we're able to bring forward some of the community infrastructure in advance of the housing getting built so that it'll benefit everyone who lives in Warwick and Leamington for the future."

Syson hopes the site will be used for open water swimming in the future too.

"Severn Trent have been doing work in Leamington to clean up the River Leam and the hope is there will be a public river swimming access point down that way in about phase three," she said.

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