The first trees have been planted towards the development of a community garden, marking the completion of work on major improvements at two busy town centre junctions.
The garden is being created for residents of East Close, Burbage, with members of the local community group joining councillors, officers and representatives of the construction contractor at the tree planting event.
Two fruit trees, a white cherry blossom in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and a crab apple to mark the accession of King Charles III, are the first of the plants that will be tended by the group.
During the junction improvement works, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council agreed to the use of their land for a site compound, following which the contractors Eurovia were tasked with creating an enclosed area for the local community to develop as community garden.
I’m really pleased we are leaving this community space in such a good condition. It was an important location for us to be able to carry out our work improving the road network in Hinckley.
We are thankful for being able to use the space during the works and hope this garden will thrive in the coming years to be an area residents can enjoy.
Person:Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, county council cabinet member for highways and transport
Improvements at the Hawley Road and Brookside junctions of Rugby Road in Hinckley are expected to improve air quality and accessibility, reduce congestion and provide resilience on key routes. It will also provide new traffic signal controls and signage as well as providing enhanced push button crossing facilities for pedestrians.
The £5m junction improvement works have been funded by £3.5m coming from the Government’s National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) and £1.5m coming from county council and third-party contributions.
Funding from the scheme will also go towards other works across the Hinckley area, including traffic calming at the Spa Lane and London Road junction.
We felt it was important to leave something behind to thank the residents for their patience when we used this space to carry out the roadworks nearby. Hopefully this community garden will become something everyone can be proud of and we’re delighted that we’ve been able to play a part in starting it.
Person:Brendan Brennan, Contracts Manager at Eurovia
The community garden is a great initiative for people living in the East and West Close and Brookside part of Burbage. It is good to see the improvement to this community space and the trees are a tribute to the late Queen and current King going forward.
Person:Councillor Michael Mullaney, Executive Member for Housing at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council