CALLS are being made to allow cycling through Kenilworth’s Abbey Fields ahead of the opening of the new Kenilworth School next year.
The new purpose built secondary school and sixth form on Glasshouse Lane is scheduled to welcome its first pupils for the start of the new acdemic year in September.
But concerns have been raised over the lack of infrastructure to allow pupils to cycle to the school safely from across the town.
And Warwick District Council Cabinet is set to consider a motion, which includes allowing cycling through Abbey Fields, where cycling is currently prohibited due to a bylaw, at certain times of the day.
The motion, put forward by Kenilworth councillors Andrew Milton and James Kennedy, states: “Concerns about the lack of safe cycling provision to the school have been consistently raised by residents, and this was evidenced in the recent petition organised by Pedal to Protect, which gained around 2,000 signatures in support of the need for improvements.
“However, as yet, there has been little practical action to create safer routes to school, to enable active travel and in so doing, reduce the road traffic that prevents many from cycling or walking to school.
“The district council is not the highways authority (which is Warwickshire County Council) but is the responsible authority for Abbey Fields, where cycling is currently prohibited due to a bylaw. This currently creates a significant barrier to a continuous cycle route across Kenilworth which would enable students to travel a larger proportion of the route safely.”
The motion suggests varying the current Abbey Fields bylaw to allow cycling through it between 7.30am and 9am and 3.30pm and 5pm, Monday to Friday during school term time.
The motion also calls on WDC to work with WCC on carrying out improvements at key points in the town including Bridge Street, Dalehouse Lane, Warwick Road and Farmer Ward Road to create a
network of safe cycling routes.
