Residents furious over council's ‘custard corner' paintwork in historic market town
Residents in a historic market town have criticised the council for painting a public space bright yellow.
Warwickshire county council spent £42,000 repainting the space in Kenilworth as part of efforts to 'renew and refresh' the area.
But many people have questioned the choice of the paint scheme, which has been described as 'vile', 'nauseating' and 'overpowering'. The pedestrian area along Station Road has since become known locally as Custard Corner.
Residents have criticised the council for wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money on painting a 'gigantic double yellow line'.
Georgina Tibbits, a 69-year-old retired pastel artist, said: 'It's not appropriate for here, it's a little bit overpowering.
'If you've ever done colour theory, yellow is supposed to cheer you up.
'I don't know if that was supposed to be the idea behind it but I find it jarring, it's not relaxing is it?
Niall Halfpenny, 32, added: 'It's become a bit of a local joke and lots of people just call it the custard corner now.
'It's pretty vile isn't it, just looks like a gigantic double yellow line to me.
'I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea because it was clearly a waste of money.'
Benjamin Elks, the grassroots development officer at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said this type of spending 'does nothing for local services and everything for council PR'.
He added: 'Councils should be focused on fixing potholes and emptying bins, not splashing cash on bizarre paint jobs'.
The road was shut off to motorists permanently during the pandemic, and reopened as a pedestrianised area in 2023.
Steve Penny, a 62-year-old resident, said the new pedestrian zone has interfered with his cycle routes and described the colour as 'nauseating'.
He said: 'I hate it. I see no sense in closing a perfectly good road, roads are there for a reason. It means I can no longer cycle into town directly, I now have to go out of my way to get into town as there's no clear cycle route.
'Disregarding the idea that it's a stupid idea in the first place, I mean the colour shows the dirt really badly. Choosing a darker colour would have been more sensible. It's not very convivial for a conversation.'
A spokesperson for Warwickshire county council said: 'The initial closure of Station Road, Kenilworth was funded by the Government and implemented to assist with social distancing and encourage outdoor seating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
'When restrictions were lifted, it was identified that the area would still benefit from improvements to further enhance the space for pedestrians, so £42,000 was allocated from the Delegated Budget to renew and refresh the old road surface; the yellow surfacing was chosen as the most cost-effective option.'
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