‘Please can we have our shopping centre back?’ say Warwick Town Council

The shopping centre is now called Leamington Shopping Park, but Warwick Town Council is angry as it is within the boundaries of Warwick, and they are calling for the name to be changed.

At a meeting of the town council Cllr Martyn Ashford (Con, Warwick North) said it needs to be changed to Warwick Shopping Park “as a matter of urgency”, and the council decided to write again requesting a change.

He said: “The town clerk has written on numerous occasions to Leamington Chamber of Trade and there seems to be some lack of communications or reluctance on their part to do anything about it.

“Their excuse being that people from Leamington are shopping there. But people from Warwick are shopping there as well.

“I don’t think that just for commercial reasons they should call it that. Commercially I don’t think it would affect anything by changing it. There are clear boundaries and that area is in Warwick. The boundary actually includes the Sikh Temple, so the shopping centre isn’t just inside Warwick, it’s quite a bit inside.

“The Leamington Chamber of Trade must be aware of this. They should respect people’s areas and not try to claim it as one of theirs.

“It must therefore make sense to change it to the Warwick Shopping Centre.”

However, the chairman of the Leamington chamber Norman Stephens said the naming of the park was nothing to do with the chamber and questioned why Warwick Town Council was on “its high horse”.

He said: “It was two years ago when the application went in for the renaming of it. At that time what did Warwick Town Council do or say? Nothing. It’s something we obviously have been very strongly against. As the Shires it was bad, but as Leamington Shopping Park it’s worse. People visiting the town go there instead of to the town centre.

“Yes it was utterly wrong but regrettably it’s a done deal, there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. Warwick Town Council should have shouted loudly when it happened, but we stood alone.

“I will personally donate £1,000 towards the costs of the arrangements to change the signs and everything, I think everyone would, that’s how destructive it has been. We would expect Warwick Town Council to equal the amount that we put into it.

“We do not want any foot to fall there. Why would we want them to go there? If Warwick want it, let them have it, please do.”

Owners of Leamington Shopping Park, British Land, had not responded with a comment at the time of publication.