Next steps underway in Leamington’s Creative Quarter regeneration

The next steps in the ongoing project to revitalise Leamington’s Creative Quarter are set to get underway after planning permission was granted on the former Stoneleigh Arms pub.

Since closing in the 1990s, the pub, which sits on Clemens Street within Old Town, has become derelict and inaccessible, with a lot of the ground floor having fallen into the basement below.

Complex Development Projects, Warwickshire District Council’s partner on the project, intends to gain access through the read of the building so that work to clear the site can get underway, the facades and side gables will be retained.

Behind the Stoneleigh Arms sits The Old School, which is, again, derelict, with CDP planning to clean up the building’s interior and board up the roof to allow surveying work to commence.

The project, which is expected to cost up to £60,000 is being funded through the Future High Streets Fund – part of the Government’s plan to reinvigorate town centres and make them desirable areas to live, work and visit.

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The initial enabling work will allow CDP and their team to begin working up plans for the long-term future reuse of the buildings, with CDP having recently consulted residents and businesses in the area on their expectations and hopes for Old Town and the wider Creative Quarter.

Cllr Andrew Day, the Leader of Warwick District Council, said: “It’s great to see a further step being taken in the regeneration of Old Town; unlocking the potential of these previously derelict buildings and transforming them into exciting and vibrant new homes for our creative and digital industries.”

Katie Burn, Senior Development Executive at CDP, said: “Stoneleigh Arms and the Old School have been boarded up for many years and have been a blight on the streetscape. Making both buildings safe to enter will enable us to really understand them to start reimagining what this area could become.

“We are excited to be making a start on the next phase of the Creative Quarter, following the commencement of works at Spencer Yard earlier this year. We will continue to work closely with our partners at Warwick District Council and other stakeholders to link all of the Creative Quarter projects together, including the planned revitalisation of the Town Hall.”

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