Town councillors have signed off on a £25,000 spend to help pay for safety improvements around the new Kenilworth School.

The funding marks a significant milestone in a town council project to improve pedestrian and cycling safety around the Glasshouse Lane site, with councillors having raised "serious" concerns about the roads around the school since it opened in September 2023.

Signed off at Kenilworth Town Council's (KTC) full council meeting last week, the funding will come from the CIL budget - money raised from local housing developers.

The £25,000 will also allow the town council to apply for the same figure from Warwickshire Highways Community Action Fund, which requires a commitment from a 'community source' before it will match-fund a project.

A report presented to councillors did state that more funding would be needed to pay for all the improvements hoped for.

"The Kenilworth School Active travel improvement scheme is relevant to all residents of Kenilworth, hence the support from all three divisions' councillors," the report said. 

"The school serves all of Kenilworth's families, is a large employer for the town and an important community facility located in a highly populated residential area, where there have been congestion and parking issues, as well as safety issues for students getting to school.  

"The scheme is vital to ensure that walking, wheeling and cycling to school is a safe and feasible option for all of Kenilworth School's 2,000+ students, and its staff, and the wider community, by creating a clearer School zone via improved traffic management, signage and other measures, to encourage traffic to adhere to the 20mph speed limit and give priority to pedestrians and cyclists. 

"This will encourage higher use of walking, wheeling and cycling to school and help alleviate the wider problems in the area."

KTC previously approved £4,000 from its CIL budget to commission a survey into the area around Kenilworth School to identify the key problems and suggest some fixes.

The report from this was presented by The Transportation Consultancy earlier this year, with a variety of 'significant' problems identified.

On the back of this, a number of suggestions for Glasshouse Lane have been made, including a 'left-in / left-out' restriction at the school as well as speed bumps and tables.

None of these details have been signed off yet, and will require further discussions and costings.