Warwick town centre road changes 'killing the town'

Changes to the road system in Warwick have been said to be 'killing the town'.

Last weekend going into Monday, Warwickshire County Council implemented changes across the town including road closures and one-way systems.

These are part of the council's plans to help 'safe social distancing' but these changes have been criticised and some are calling for the measures to be removed.

Sue Butcher, chair of the Warwick chamber of trade, said: "The implementation is a shambles and communication has been inadequate.

"They have put in a one-way system and there is supposed to be a cycle path and barriers to widen paths but all we have is cars going - nothing else has changed.

"I do accept that they have given Barrack street and Cape Road car park spaces for people to park for free but people aren't coming in to use them.

"If this is a public safety issue then why is this only happening in four towns in the county.

"If they had asked the right people at the beginning, people who knew the town, a lot of this could have been made much better.

"One business in Warwick told me they took 47p in one day - no one is going to survive on that.

"Over the four days from July 15 to the Saturday there were no measures in place and people were being sensibly safe.

"I have never seen people and businesses so angry and so worried. They have been shut for three months then get this, which is not supporting the town's economy - it's killing it.

"I would urge them to reverse these changes especially the one-way High Street measure as it's a waste of time."

Martin Rantzen, who lives in Castle Lane, also thinks the road closures should be stopped.

He said: "For 40 years Castle Lane has been a one-way Westwards and now it is one-way the other way.

"I don't believe the person who arranged this is a Warwick person. When I contacted people about this they told me they did it to avoid people rat-running down Castle Lane because of the one-way on Jury Street and High Street eastwards.

"The Butts is clearly marked as one-way only and you still see cars being hooted at and they are carrying on the wrong way.

"I can't see why we have got it and I can't find anybody that can give me a good reason for doing it - I think it should be put back."

Cllr Richard Edgington, chair of economic and tourism at Warwick town council, said: "The road closures as existing clearly have a number of issues which must be addressed as soon as possible.

"Having spoken with county council councillors and officers I understand that changes can be made to the arrangement.

"Going forward I very strongly urge Warwickshire County Council to meet with local businesses and stakeholders at the earliest opportunity to address these issues, and work with the town to make it extremely clear that we are very much open for business.

"As a town council we will seek to help secure amendments that are required to the scheme to support our hardworking and dedicated business community".

Lyn Bolton, a Warwick resident, said: "The road closures within Warwick have brought our town to a standstill over the last few days.

"This has been exacerbated by the closure of St Nicholas Church Street for essential gas works.

"Whilst there is a need for us to all stay safe whilst we socialise and shop the extent of these closures are far too great and should be removed or at least a reduced.

"At a time of economic uncertainty we should be attracted to the benefits of what our wonderful town centre has and not create an obstacle course to get to it."

At the time of publishing this story Warwickshire County Council had not released a statement specifically about Warwick town centre but did issue the following statement about the changes made county-wide.

Cllr Les Caborn, portfolio holder for adult social care and health, said: "These measures are all about making it safe for people to go into our town centres so that they can use their local retailers and town centre businesses.

"We recognise the value of being outside to people’s mental health and sense of well-being, and that going into a town centre can have a real benefit, so we have been keen to make that possible while making it physically safe.

“It was a government expectation that we took steps like this to help suppress the spread of Covid-19 at a time when social distancing restrictions are being eased.

“We understand there will be frustration with the disruption this is causing. We all want to return to normality, but we are still a long way from being in a normal situation.

"We have had to act decisively in taking steps to safeguard public health. It is critical that we all stay alert to the risk that this disease poses to our health and the economy. "