Fewer cars and more festivals? Warwick Town Council reveals vision to improve town centre

Warwick Town Council has drawn up the vision and action plan for the period of 2024 to 2030 in a bid to ensure Warwick remains a “viable and sustainable town centre” in the face of ongoing challenges for local towns and the wider economy.

The consultations

The vision is the result of a series of consultations by the town council with stakeholders including local businesses and Warwick Chamber of Trade as well as residents and community groups.

Three stages of these revealed perceived strengths and weaknesses of Warwick as a town, as well as suggestions for how they could be addressed.

Over the course of the consultations some concerns were raised about empty shops and buildings as well as other areas such as the cleanliness of the town.

In terms of empty units/buildings, one key area which has been highlighted in the plan is the former King’s High School site in and around Smith Street.

Planning applications have been submitted over the last few years since the school left the site in 2019 but no development – be that housing or any other use – has been completed yet.

In the document it said: “Changes are needed to perceived empty shops/units and open/empty development spaces such as the King’s High site that has stalled at the top of Smith Street.

“In the short term this might connect to temporary events and activities, e.g., a food festival which trials new options, or pop-up cafes in vacant units.

“In light of the King’s High development site stalling, it reveals the need for a more strategic reappraisal of future development plans.”

Drawing up the plan

Following on from the consultations, the resulting information has now been gathered and combined with wider information and research on town centres to help form the Warwick Town Vision Plan.

The plan was drawn up by Warwick town centre manager Kelly Scott, who was appointed in November 2024 as part of the town council’s ongoing work to coordinate the direction of Warwick and ensure it remains a great place to live, work and visit for the coming years.

Launching the vision plan, Kelly said: “Work on this Warwick Town Vision started before my time here, but I’m delighted to have had the privilege of bringing together extensive consultation with so many stakeholders in the town and turning it into a concrete action plan for how we can make Warwick even better than it already is.

“The action plan contains a mixture of short, medium and long term activities that address areas highlighted in the consultation and give us tangible ways to build on Warwick’s strengths and address what are perceived by some stakeholders as weaknesses.

“Times are tougher than ever on the high street everywhere, but Warwick has a resilient local economy and – as this vision shows – a passionate and committed community that is ready to work together to make our town even better.

“Some of the action points have already been started, with plenty more in the pipeline, and we look forward to delivering on what is an ambitious but eminently achievable plan for Warwick up to 2030.”

The town vision themes, goals and potential projects

The Warwick Town Vision has identified four areas on which to build the ‘Warwick of the future’.

Within these several projects have been listed to help achieve this – being listed as short, medium and long-term.

Here’s the list of areas and the projects:

A historic and cultured town

Projects to build on Warwick’s reputation as a historic and cultured town include the development of art and culture initiatives and programmes, as well as an effort to better link Warwick Castle to the town centre.

Other projects include working with current groups and institutions to look at bringing new spaces to the town for new galleries, performance spaces and museums.

A connected and happy town

Activities to promote a connected and happy town include work around accessibility and sustainable transport, as well as improved pathfinding.

There are also plans to better use empty spaces and units in the town centre, and to conduct a review of parking provision.

One of the projects listed included: “Ultimate removal of cars from streets in town permanently to create more liveable walkable streets”. The Courier and Weekly News asked whether this meant pedestrianisation and a spokesperson from the town council responded with: "The reference to liveable, walkable streets as a long-term goal is a reflection of some of the feedback given in the consultation for the vision, and is something the council plans to explore."

A communal and youthful town

Creating a communal and youthful town will include increasing community and social spaces and engaging with community groups, as well as conducting regular town deep cleans and operating a regular programme of events to bring people into the town centre.

The trialling of early evening events, markets and pop-up stalls were also listed.

A vibrant and safe town

And projects to support the development of a vibrant and safe town will include support for innovation and start-up businesses, as well as encouraging investment and trialling pop-up shops in empty units.

Enhancing buildings in need or repairs and encouraging a ‘small high-quality supermarket in the town centre’ were also listed.

Kelly added: “These are just some of the many ideas that make up the Warwick Town Vision and Action Plan, and I’d urge people to look through the whole document, which is the product of months of work by many different people.

"As a town council, we’re fully committed to doing everything we can to make Warwick the best it can be, and we look forward to working with stakeholders and the wider community to bring this Vision to life.”

The Warwick Town Vision can be downloaded at: https://www.warwicktowncouncil.gov.uk/warwicks-vision/

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