Is Spa Centre site the easy option?

As a resident of Newbold Street, I was dismayed to read Warwick District Council’s proposals to utilise the patch of land in front of the Spa Centre as a new headquarters.

I hope it will not be another eyesore amongst Grade II listed buildings of the area. It will remove the pleasing and open entrance to The Jephson Gardens approach from the town, as well as being the first thing visitors see when they are ‘set down’ by coach outside the park gates, as often happens now.

And where are visitors to the council offices going to park? We already pay for the privilege of trying to park near our own homes in the L4 area of Leamington. This will be made much worse, as even more cars use Newbold Street for parking whilst they go to the offices.

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It is, literally a patch of land – how many storeys high is the proposal, to house all that the council needs and will need as the years go by? Surely a better location can be found – or is it just that the council already owns this plot of land? Why not build in the Guy Street car park? Proposals for yet another shopping mall there, thankfully fell through – but surely that plot has more potential than the Spa Centre option.

Lastly, what will happen to the town hall if it is longer needed for council meetings? Sold off too? A hotel and restaurant?

I hope that, as residents, we will be both consulted and listened to. This proposal sounds a bit like a ‘simple move’ for the council to land it already owns - is this so?

Angela Triggs, Newbold Street, Leamington