Should Kenilworth have its own slogan?

That was the question discussed by Kenilworth Town Councillors as they debated the design for the new town signs.

Following the twinning with Sicilian seaside town Roccalumera in January, KTC must now pay for six new 'welcome to Kenilworth' signs with the new town on them.

But councillors thought the new signs presented the opportunity for some town branding.

"It seems to me this is an opportunity to create a new Kenilworth sign that is new, is striking, and shows that we are somewhere important," said Cllr Michael Coker.

"After all it is the sign that people will see when they come to Kenilworth from any direction.

"For instance Warwick's says 'we are the county town', perhaps we should be thinking whether we 'are the home of the ancient castle'.

"Maybe this is a chance to do something rather different."

Opinion was split on the slogan.

Use of the town's latin motto 'Cives Oppidi Fundamenta' (citizens are the foundation of the town) was suggested by Cllr Richard Dickson.

Whilst Cllr Alan Chalmers said: "Is this like the American states being something like 'the sunshine state'? I quite like that idea."

But Cllr Dickson added there may come a time when the signs would need to be changed again if the text wasn't suitable.

"Warwick might well need to change their sign if their bid to become a city pays off," he said.

Other councillors agreed and warned that a simple design would be a safer option.

"I am sure with Warwick when they come up with 'the county town' that font was all very in vogue, but quite frankly now it looks dreadful, it looks dated and old fashioned," said Cllr Andrew Milton.

"That is the risk I want people to be aware of. What feels exciting now can quickly fade and go out of date.

"Whilst it might appear to us as exciting and a bit sexy to do something new, my advice would be to keep it simple and keep it timeless because it will last a lot longer."

Cllr James Kennedy agreed saying: "I would urge us not to have a strapline because it will become very dated and look embarrassing.

"Let's go with something classic for this."

KTC decided to ask Warwickshire County Council to produce more potential designs, with the view to having the signs in place in time for the Commonwealth Games.

(Warwick sign image by Jaggery via geograph.org.uk)