Work set to start on New Bilton pathway network

Rugby Borough Council joined forces with the New Bilton Community Association to successfully apply for a £25,000 grant from the Government's Pocket Parks programme to fund the project. The work to create a new pathway network at a New Bilton open space looks set to start next week.

And Fields in Trust has also backed the plans for the Freemantle Road open space with a grant of £8,400, with work on the pathway network set to take four weeks to complete.

The informal route through the open space has proved popular with dog walkers, runners and cyclists for many years, despite suffering from severe boggy conditions during spells of wet weather.

But thanks to the Pocket Parks programme and Fields in Trust, the council plans to lay a tarmac pathway on the route, creating a circular link with the footbridges over the Sow Brook.

The pathway plans also include a connection to the existing path from the Western Relief Road and Lias Line, creating a connected network of paths linking Freemantle Road open space with Addison Road Recreation Ground, the Somers Road industrial estate and nearby homes on both Freemantle and Cornwallis roads.

Four years ago the council and New Bilton Community Association secured a £10,000 grant from the Pocket Parks programme to create Gladstone Green Pocket Park, which a year later secured its first Green Flag Community Award and in 2019 was a winner in the Year of Green Action Bees' Needs Awards.

The bids for funding were supported by Rugby Disability Forum, Rugby Cycle Forum, Warwickshire County Council and Sustrans, a charity which supports initiatives to promote walking and cycling.