Abbey Fields parkland gets largest response during Kenilworth public consultations

The district council held a series of drop-in public consultation events at various locations across Kenilworth during the month of November covering key leisure facility issues in town.

The consultations sought feedback on new plans for Abbey Fields Swimming Pool, Castle Farm Recreation Centre, the proposed new home for Kenilworth Wardens Cricket Club and the Abbey Fields parkland area.

The public consultations saw 538 attend the drop-in events organised by the council’s project team.

The Abbey Fields parkland survey received more than the amount of response from the public when compared to the Abbey Fields Swimming Pool and the Castle Farm Recreation Centre surveys.

The district council received more than 1,000 completed surveys for the Abbey Fields parkland compared to 410 for the Abbey Fields Swimming Pool and 332 survey responses for the Castle Farm Recreation Centre.

A spokesperson for Warwick District Council said: “Overall the council is pleased with the level of engagement in this project and would like to thank everyone who took part.

“The feedback of this consultation will be available to the public at the end of January. We will release information about the responses received in the form of an analysis report.”

People were encouraged to take part in an information gathering exercise for Abbey Fields parkland to help form a management plan for the wider use of the parkland, including the issue of cycling in Abbey Fields.

There were three key areas the council wanted ideas from the community in connection to the new Castle Farm Recreation Centre.

The council is looking for ideas on possible new names for the centre, feedback on the design plan for the facility along with parking and access to the leisure facility.

The Castle Farm Recreation Centre will be completely knocked down and built again new.

In regard to the Abbey Fields Swimming Pool facility the council wanted feedback on the new building design along with parking.

The council is looking to apply for planning permission on the leisure facilities in Spring 2020 with a view to have work starting in September 2020.