Looking back on what has been an historic time for the town of Kenilworth

Last month, Cllr Alison Firth passed over the honour of Mayor of Kenilworth to Cllr Richard Dickson after serving from May 2019 to May this year. In her own words, here is her report on that was an eventful time in the town's history, from HS2 Covid-19.

Straight away we were focussed on important projects that included scrutinising the plans for the significant developments planned for Kenilworth. These including the moving and redevelopment of Kenilworth School, two new sizable housing estates and the remodelling of our leisure facilities at Castle Farm and Abbey Fields.

Putting our wholehearted efforts in to assessing and trying to find solutions for the significant impacts that they would have on our transport infrastructure and environment. With climate change ever present in our minds, we strongly put forward our recommendations and comments to stakeholders, designers and builders with varying degrees of success. These new dwellings will significantly increase the population of Kenilworth and our council has the on-going responsibility of ensuring that we can all live together sustainably and maintain and grow our wonderful sense of community love and creativity.

My first engagement as Mayor was to attend the Worthies Awards, run by the Kenilworth Chamber of Trade. It was a fabulous evening where we celebrated our wonderful Kenilworth businesses. Ted Bear won the award for best pub, The Engine, and well deserved it was. He has raised over £50,000 for Myton Hospice, holds men’s mental health evenings, has increased the number of floats in the carnival, supports local sports and other interest groups and holds a litter pick twice a year in conjunction with Plastic Free Kenilworth. Ted is a bright example of the type of big-hearted, selfless, community-spirited people that Kenilworth possesses in abundance. Ted went on to win the “National Heart of the Community Award” and I awarded him the “Mayor's Award of Merit”. What a Kenilworth Legend. Thank you, Ted.

We lost another Kenilworth legend this year as Phil Highley passed away on December 27 aged 81. What a man he was devoting most of his life to his community with his work on the Rotary Club, Kenilworth Scouts, Talisman Theatre and St. Nicholas Church to name but a few. Kaye Highley, Phil’s wife, would like a road in one of our new estates named after him and our town council have written in full support of the application. Thank you, Phil, Kenilworth won’t forget you.

HS2 - WHAT NEXT?

This year the chaos of HS2 work divides both our populous and our countryside. The Stop HS2 group, headed by Joe Rukin, did everything they could to protect the ancient woodland at Crackley and Cubbington while the Douglas Oakervee HS2 review was underway and non-essential works were meant to cease. This didn’t happen and so the town council wrote to the Government complaining and looking for answers. We wrote again when works continued after lock down and social distancing was enforced on March. Both responses were vague, unhelpful and disappointing.

HS2 now has the go ahead and so once again the pressure increases on Kenilworth’s infrastructure. Our council continues to work collaboratively, carefully, efficiently and in consultation with the public to ensure that funding grants from HS2 are well spent to sustain our environment and way of life.

KENILWORTH TO LEAMINGTON CYCLE ROUTE

Advocating sustainable transport our town council have been successfully involved in securing funding for the Kenilworth to Leamington Cycle Route, K2L. The cross-party Working Group began as soon as the Town Council assembled in May 2019 and in November 2019 £4.7 million of funding was approved by Warwickshire County Council.

K2L will be a dedicated off carriageway route along the A452 and B4115 including a new pedestrian cycle bridge over the River Avon at the Chesford Grange. What an achievement! Thank you, team! Long may our bodacious cross-party work continue! The earth needs us to cycle and walk more now and reduce our carbon emissions wherever possible. A silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic is that it saw carbon-emissions and air pollution levels, in our district and globally, drop significantly.

CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY

A climate Emergency was declared by Kenilworth Town Council in August with a ten-point action plan agreed upon by a cross party working group. The plan is aimed at reducing Kenilworth’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 in line with the district council target. Another success for our town council and collaborative councillor working.

CELEBRATING OUR USUAL EVENTS

Could it be that climate change is already affecting our weather? The rainfall this year was significantly higher than average and twice the saturated Abbey Fields proved too wet to host both the Lion’s Grand Show in June and the Lion’s Christmas Carol event in December which was a great shame as this year was their 50th year here in Kenilworth.

However, the Lions Boxing Day Duck Race went ahead as planned and I enjoyed chucking the yellow ducks off the ford bridge with the wonderful Graham Pemberton, this year’s Lions' president. The Lions continue to be part of the good fabric of Kenilworth raising money and supporting local charities and worthwhile interest groups. Also celebrating a milestone 50th year this year were another valued Kenilworth charitable group, the Soroptimists. The Kenilworth Cancer Research Shop celebrated its 30 th year and I ate scones and triangle sandwiches at the shop with shop manager Emma Thornett and her happy crew of volunteers.

The Kenilworth Tenants Allotment Association also celebrated a marvellous 100 years and I attended their open day and enjoyed a jug of Pimm’s with the allotmenteers in the sun! Another sunny day which demanded the imbibing of more Pimm’s was VE Day where, despite lock down and social distancing, the celebrations continued in the streets.

Kenilworth Town Council had planned some fabulous events to celebrate 75 years of peace in Europe after the Second World War which were unfortunately cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, I managed to get over to see Rusty Waughman, a spritely 97-year-old WWII veteran who was a flight left tenant flying 30 missions in special Bomber Squadron 101. He could also be the only person to barrel roll a Lancaster Bomber in combat. Another Kenilworth legend.

LOCAL BUSINESSES

Local Kenilworth businesses have been evolving and growing. Kenilworth Books received a record 400 visitors on December 23 and Sylvester the jewellers and the Sunam Indian restaurant celebrated significant anniversaries of 50 and 25 years respectively. After finding no reasons to object the town council were glad to see that district council granted planning permission for a gin distillery in a converted out-building at Chase Farm.

Two of our high-street banks have been re-furbished in to cafes adding to our growing café and bar culture. Laurie Howe retired after 20 years as the land lady from the Virgins and Castle pub in February 2020. Our wonderful, historic local pub has been around since 1563 and its traditions, including its crowd drawing, twice yearly street parties, will now carry on under the tenure of Jonathan Carter-Morris and Mark Hornby, its new owners.

PLASTIC FREE KENILWORTH

My Mayoral charity, Plastic Free Kenilworth, whilst raising a modest yet gratefully received £500 (approximately) was active in raising awareness of the use of single use plastics. We kicked off with a successful “Mass Unwrap” in June at Sainsbury's and Verity Thompson and I worked hard with organisers of the Kenilworth Half Marathon to make it as plastic free as possible; Severn Trent provided standpipes to fill compostable cups with water and Leaders estate agents provided cotton gift bags and reusable drinks bottles to all of the five thousand participants.

I have given presentations at the University of the Third Age, Priorsfield School, and worked with Sam Pater at Clinton School on several plastic free initiatives involving both students and their parents at the school. Verity and I have also had a presence at the St Johns Church Ecofayre, the Kenilworth Chamber of Trade show and presented at a meeting of Kenilworth All Together Greener. We have also held a litter pick with the Engine Pub and a band night and raffle also at the Engine to raise awareness of the perils of single use plastic. My work will continue with Plastic Free Kenilworth and my wonderful co-coordinator Verity until we achieve plastic free Kenilworth status and beyond.

CORONAVIRUS

The end of my Mayoral year was overshadowed by the spectre of the coronavirus, Covid-19. The remainder of my engagements were cancelled because of lock down on March 23. This pandemic has taken the lives of many and in traumatic circumstances. Loved ones are not allowed to touch or even go near their family member who is sick to stop the spreading of the virus. Among many others on April 5 one of our residents Simon Rogers sadly lost his father Harold, just four days after his 90th birthday, in these tragic circumstances. Our loving thoughts go out to Simon, and Jean Rogers, Harold’s wife who survived the virus, and all those who have suffered loss in these terrible and uncertain times.

Despite the adversity and sadness generated by the Covid-19 pandemic the Kenilworth community once again displays its bright colours of charity, love and compassion and within days of Lockdown being enforced the Kenilworth Covid-19 Support Group was formed. The group was inspired by individual residents including Darren Rees who wanted to ensure that those who were over 70 or vulnerable and isolating could still get food, medicine and friendly, caring support.

By March 27, 10,000 leaflets had been distributed around Kenilworth giving our townsfolk a number to call if they needed any kind of help. The Kenilworth Covid-19 Support group is backed by the town council, Lions Club, the Round Table, Rotary, Kenilworth police team and the Church of England as well as many local businesses. The group received hundreds of applications from those wanting to volunteer and now the group works efficiently collecting and delivering shopping and prescriptions, arranging lifts to hospitals and offering a friendly ear and voice via the Call Pal arm of the organisation.

I and four of my fellow councillors have been volunteering from the start and have watched this volunteer led group grow and blossom under the careful management of heroes like Miranda de Freston, Holly Hewett, Pauline Edwards and Helen Braithwaite to name but a few. And the remarkable efforts of Molly Bufton Stear and her team; cooking and delivering free hot meals to our isolating residents since lockdown began. Magnificent work from brilliant people which will continue as we are not yet living the “new normal”, whatever that may look like.

SUMMARY

In Summary: In the face of any adversity Kenilworth will continue to emanate love, community spirit and creativity. We are a bubble of inspiration in a beautiful yet troubled world and we must continue to display our success as not only a hospitable and community-minded town but also a climate-friendly town by developing models of sustainability for other communities to be inspired by.

It feels like serendipity that I became the Mayor of Kenilworth; it has been a privilege and honour. As Mayor I’ve found out about the detail of our beautiful embroidery of good organisations like the Talking News, The Kenilworth Scout and Guide movement, Waverley Day Centre, Church Groups, Environmental groups and so many more. I’ve made so many friends and inspiring and useful contacts and most importantly seen the tireless charitable work that the big-hearted folk of this town carry out each and every day.

This position has profoundly affected my life and I can’t go back. The intimate knowledge of Kenilworth I have gained this year is now deeply entrenched in the marrow of my being. I feel I have an on-going responsibility to protect, nurture and celebrate our remarkable town. Thank you for having me as your Mayor of our beloved Kenilworth.