Student input urged in £100k makeover of South Leam

Old Town in Leamington Spa, an area which has a large student population, has been awarded a £100,000 share of a £1.5m pot from central government to rejuvenate the area.

The national scheme, which was spearheaded by the Government’s retail ‘Tsar’ and TV personality Mary Portas, has awarded funding to 15 towns across England.

More than 400 towns applied for backing in the so called ‘Portas-Pilots’.

A group of local residents and business owners put together the application over four weeks, including support from the Bath Place Community Venture, which Warwick students play a major role in. The ‘Portas Pilot’ project is now a structured organisation consisting of over 200 members and five sub-departments.

A party on Clemens Street will take place on Saturday to mark the bid’s success.

Jeremy Ireland, the Project Leader for delivery of the ‘Portas Pilot’, has told the Boar that student involvement will be crucial in the regeneration of the Old Town: “Students are a key community resource in the bid, their contribution to the area, their experience and labour can get resources going.

“They will be able to prove opposite some peoples negative perceptions of Warwick students in the area.”

Students will be able to contribute to large idea generation, helping with the development and grant applications, engineering and artistic planning, project managing and through volunteering community labour.

Student opinion is actively encouraged, Ireland stated, “Students offer fresh eyes to the area and see things that the rest of us tune out. If a student moves into the area and thinks ‘bloody hell this is awful compared to where I used to live’ we would like to know. It is this instinctive perception that will help us improve the area.”

Ireland noted that Leamington is almost a ‘virtual second campus’ for students, without any real student facilities. He stated that one remit for empty properties could be to act as a student resource centre.

Postgraduate students are encouraged to get involved with the project and are offered real life experience in a ‘virtual community internship’ with the opportunity for tutoring, training and careers references.

Ireland also told the Boar that there is the possibility of running a competition with WBS to support a business in one of the refurbished units of the Old Town.

Business students are encouraged to get involved in starting up their own businesses in the area as part of the start up scheme, which will see empty properties brought back into use. Volunteers will refit vacant premises ready for businesses to move in and viable businesses and units will be sold on.

Ireland also hopes to talk to the University about the possibility of housing the delayed ‘Leamington Learning Space’, which was due to open in term three of 2011/12, in empty property in Old Town.

It is hoped the project will attract new visitors to the area south of the railway bridge that cuts off Bath Street and the Parade beyond from Clemens Street.

The area, home to many Warwick students, has many empty shop units and the project aims to fill these vacant properties with viable businesses.

The bid aims to transform the Old Town area into a “centre for arts, creativity and innovation” with a thriving ‘café culture’. Two huge artworks are planned for the empty plinths of the railway bridge on Clemens Street to attract new visitors from the nearby railway station.

Students can find out more and get involved with the project by joining the Facebook group.