Artwork will be used to "improve" the appearance of railway bridge in Leamington

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The new piece of art created by artist Jennie Moncur will be installed on the Princes Drive railway bridge west of Leamington Station, which is currently being repaired and refurbished by Network Rail



A new piece of art has been created to be used for a railway bridge in Leamington to improve its appearance ahead of when the town hosts the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. bowls competitions later this year.

The art created by artist Jennie Moncur will be installed on the Princes Drive railway bridge west of Leamington Station, which is currently being repaired and refurbished by Network Rail.

The project is amongst a number of improvements to the public realm being co-ordinated by Warwick District Council in preparation for welcoming bowls spectators to the town in the summer.

Warwick District Council’s portfolio holder for culture, tourism and leisure councillor Liam Bartlett said: “It had already been identified by Network Rail that this railway bridge was in need of repairs and improvement, but as it’s so visually prominent as you enter Leamington, we have seized the opportunity to work with Network Rail to create something unique providing an uplift to the area and a warm welcome to visitors.”

“First impressions will be important as we play host to a worldwide audience as an official venue for the lawn bowls and para bowls competitions and also the cycle road races both of which will take place in this area.

"We are however mindful of the delays and road closures incurred and thank local people for their understanding and patience while this and other projects are taking place.”

Jennie was selected to work on the project because of her previous successful designs for railway bridges in other parts of the country.

She is the creative director of furniture company Vitsœ, whose headquarters sit adjacent to the bridge and who have funded her design.

Jennie said: "It has been a pleasure working with the team at Warwick District Council.

"They have been hugely supportive of my design ideas for this gateway site.

"I hope the scheme for the bridge will offer visitors a fresh welcome to Leamington, as well as adding a little cheer to those on their daily commute for years to come.”

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Dear God! That is considered art?

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Fury over new artwork plans for Leamington bridge



Warwick District Council has been blasted for contributing £120,000 of public money towards "ghastly" artwork on a Leamington bridge.

The bridge over Princes Drive is due for a colourful makeover once Network Rail engineers have strengthened the structure.

Princes Drive is currently part of a mile-long diversion which will be in place for another ten weeks while the bridge repairs, artwork and several roadworks in the area are completed.

A computer generated image of what the bridge will look like attracted a heap of disparaging comments on the Leamington Spa Noticeboard Facebook page.

"What a dreadful prospect, it looks ghastly," Anne Piper said.

"Really dislike it," Vicki Peach said, while "old and rancid" was Jamie Strevens' take.

Another Facebook user said: "It looks pants! Surely for that much money it could have been something amazing not just some blue v things that my kids could have designed."

Some felt the council should have spent the money elsewhere.

Dougie Christo asked: "Can I have a reduction on my council tax?

"This stupid waste of money ..spend some money on proper seating at bus stops, help for disabled people, who on the council thinks this is a great way to spend money, name and shame."

"Money well spent again," Luke Anthony said. And Caroline Kimberlin asked: "Jeeez don’t they have more important things to spend that amount of money on? What an absolute waste of taxpayers money!!!!!"

Rosemary Stevens Bryan, said the design reminded her of tiles you might find in a lavatory.

"Could have spent money on police or holes in pavements or roads, waste of taxpayers' money."

Karen Morris said: "This is near the college the art students could have done a way better job and designed it for free and would have benefited the students too."

"If you are going to paint it do something beautiful and uplifting," Laura Clifton-Lavers said.

"Take inspiration from foundry woods the foundry, elephants. Leam basically.

"But surely it just needs to be safe end of and then leave it."

Jenny Simon branded it "an eyesore" while Liam Mates described the artwork as a "monstrosity".

The painting was also condemned by members of a different Facebook page.

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Campaigners' fury as 'toxic' Leamington roadworks rumble on



Campaigners are demanding action on the "toxic" roadworks in Leamington they claim are "damaging the quality of people’s lives".

A clockwise one-way system, from and back round to Princes Drive, has been in operation since the first week of January and will remain so until the end of March.

The mile-long diversion is in place while restoration work on the rail bridge over Princes Drive is carried out and while a number of roadworks in the area, the vast majority instructed by Warwickshire County Council, are completed.

The traffic management scheme is said by campaigners to be causing "chaos" with long queues and delays a common occurrence during and out of rush hour.

Protesters claim the "agony" of the roadworks are causing "misery and harm" and say they have contributed to a huge increase in noise and traffic pollution as vehicles sit in long queues of often static traffic.

They have called on Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western to lobby WCC for a change to the works that would dispose of the diversion at weekends when, they say, construction work is paused.

"The toxic roadworks stop at 3pm on a Friday and do not start again till Monday morning," campaigners say in the letter.

"Please will you lobby the Council to lift the toxic roadworks traffic diversion from Friday pm to Monday am to provide a little relief to the suffering residents of Leamington Spa."

The council said removal of the diversion at weekends was simply not feasible given the nature of the works involved.

It said the diversion was necessary because of the lane closure on Princes Drive, which is considered a trunk road.

And while the council has a number of roadworks planned in the area, it said it would not start the bigger undertakings until the Network Rail-led diversion has finished.

Campaigners claim the project has "negatively encroached" on residents from "extra pollution" to the alleged knock on effect of slower traffic in the area.

"One way or another these toxic roadworks are damaging the quality of people’s lives," they claimed.

"Please do something to reduce the harm and misery these toxic roadworks are causing.

"Please Mr Western, do something, even if it is only a phone call or an email, to ease the pain these toxic roadworks are inflicting on people who are doing nothing wrong except trying to get to work or get their children to school."

Campaigners claim eye witnesses have told them that emergency vehicles have struggled to get through "the tightly packed traffic" and that "people are not shopping in Leamington Spa anymore".

Mr Western said he felt "frustrated" by the diversion "like so many residents".

"What residents don’t understand - as I don’t - is why this has been left to the 11th hour!" he said.

"We’ve had two years of the pandemic with quieter roads yet the Conservative-led Warwickshire County Council has left it to the last minute to do these works, ahead of the Commonwealth Games - leaving the public - and vehicles - fuming.

"I wrote to the county council asking if alternatives had been considered to reduce the massive inconvenience the roadworks have caused – and whether the scale of disruption was anticipated.

"Fears about pollution, blockages for emergency service vehicles and traffic that, at times, has paralysed our town centre are understandable and well founded."

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Council 'bans' roadworks in busy street to curb further disruption



Warwickshire County Council has effectively banned roadworks in a busy Leamington street to minimise the disruption from a traffic management scheme nearby. Leamington has been plagued with roadworks, branded 'toxic' by campaigners, since the turn of the year.

The knock-on effect has been long queues along many of the feeder routes into the town centre. Princes Drive, an important cut-through for people who live and work in the area, has been the subject of almost non-stop roadworks since the first week of January.

The northbound lane, from Park Drive to the Myton Road roundabout, will remain closed until Friday, April 29. An anti-clockwise diversion is in place along Old Warwick Road, Lower Avenue, the A452 Avenue Road / Park Drive back to Princes Drive.

The scheme has pushed more vehicles to the east of the town centre, prompting the council to prohibit any such works on Willes Road, another of Leamington's key routes. A council spokesperson said: "There are currently planned works restrictions on Willes Road until the works on The A452 Princess Drive have been completed.

"These works will minimise the need for further works that are not part of the diversion route, but are essential for traffic to easily flow around the network." Roadwork bans also will be enforced close to Commonwealth Games venues for much of July and August, the council said.

Five events will be held in Coventry and Warwickshire with the Coventry Building Society Arena (which will be known simply as Coventry Arena during the Games) hosting the rugby sevens, judo and wrestling. Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club, in Victoria Park, will be the backdrop for the bowls and para bowls competitions, and the cycling road race will start and finish at Warwick's St Nicholas Park.

"We have placed a 0.5 km planned works restrictions area around the venues that are, in or near to Warwickshire," a spokesperson added. "These include Coventry Building Society Arena, The Athletes Village at the University of Warwick, Victoria Park and the entire race route.

"The planned works restrictions exclude planned work but will accommodate all emergencies, for which we have separately agreed protocols. These have been agreed with all the necessary utilities."

The roadwork exclusion zones will come into effect from Thursday, June 30 to Sunday August, 21. "In addition, the council and its partners including, Transport for West Midlands, National Highways and relevant police forces, will work to ensure the planned works are completed on time," a spokesperson added.

"For Warwickshire, this includes the motorway and trunk road network and the A452 from junction 14 of the M40 through to the A46 at Kenilworth."