No date set for main road revamp
PLANNERS have yet to set a new date for when a £5 million project to improve a main road through Hinckley and Burbage will begin.
The major scheme to improve Rugby Road will involve reconfiguring its junctions with Hawley Road, Hinckley, and Brookside, in Burbage.
The project has been twice delayed, once because of the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, with Leicestershire County Council previously saying the works would start this spring.
The Hinckley Times has asked County Hall for a date for when the works will begin, but officials have said they cannot yet confirm the details.
Work was originally set to start in May 2019 and finish in the summer of that year.
Councillor Trevor Pendleton, cabinet member for highways and transport at Leicestershire County Council, said previously: “Rugby Road is a key route in Hinckley and it’s important we continue to invest in our transport network as the borough grows, with new homes, jobs and communities.
“Starting the work in spring 2021 will ensure the work will be completed before the busy Christmas period where highway works are typically halted.
“This scheme will improve sustainable transport options in and out of the town with quicker and more reliable journeys and improve air quality by encouraging more people to walk and cycle.”
A left turn lane onto the road will be added from Hawley Road, meaning additional land is needed from the corner of the junction.
A new lane is also planned at the Brookside junction, with a second lane to be built southbound immediately after Rugby Road meets
Brookside. Changes to the scheme were approved in March 2020, including retaining a line of trees that run parallel to the southbound road immediately after the Brookside junction.
The trees were originally to removed to create the new lane.
However, the second version of the plans includes removing a footpath on that section, and there are concerns that as the road goes up a steep hill, cyclists could find the incline too hard to pedal up and then have nowhere to dismount.
The project will also include other transport upgrades in Hinckley, with pedestrian and cycling improvements be at Granville Road, Spa Lane, London Road and Coventry Road.
A new parking zone for residents will also be created and there will be a review of town centre parking facilities.
The scheme is being funded with £3.5 million from the Government’s National Productivity Investment Fund, a funding pot for upgrades to essential roads.
The remaining £1.5 million will be provided by Leicestershire County Council and third party contributions.
More information on the scheme is available on the Leicestershire County Council website.
A PLASTERER, who nearly gave up on his dream of writing a children’s book, has become a successful author.
Daryl Baldwin is on a mission to show children it is okay to celebrate their differences.
His debut book, Freddie Finds His Shell, was released in November and has proved to be a hit.
Born without a shell, the story follows young tortoise Freddie’s journey of acceptance, where he meets friends along the way and discovers how to be happy just as he is.
You might think such fantastical tales are a far cry from the day-to-day of a plasterer, but spinning a yarn is nothing new for Mr Baldwin, who lives in Burbage.
“I’ve always had a really good imagination, he said. “I have a son called Archie who’s 14 now. When he was younger I always made up stories for him at bedtime.
“Last year my wife said I don’t know why you don’t have a go at writing it down, so I did.”
Mr Baldwin’s vivid imagination also stems from childhood experiences.
He said: “I think my mum was the most pleased about it. I was born deaf and I could only hear very high pitched voices, so she thinks my imagination has come from that because she said I went into my own little world.”
Mr Baldwin nearly gave up on hearing anything back after sending the book off to a publisher, but nine weeks later he got the call from his wife while out on a plastering job that they were going to publish.
“It was lovely,” he said. “I just wanted to come straight home. It was early on in the morning as well, it was hard to finish the day’s work.
“Archie couldn’t believe it, he was straight on to Facebook to his mates. He was very proud.”
So what prompted him to put pen to paper? “I wanted to write something about kids being happy in the skin they’re in,” he said. “With social media and television, everyone seems to be perfect.”
Mr Baldwin left Coventry a few years ago to settle in Burbage, and said he can’t wait to see his book on sale in Coventry, which has already been spotted by some of his eagle-eyed friends.
“I’m a Coventry lad all my life, but we moved out here a few years ago. A friend of mine texted me to see he had seen it for sale in WH Smith in Coventry, but with the lockdown I haven’t been across to see it.”
He hopes to leave the plastering trade at some point and is already planning his second book – Albert Swansie’s Onesie – about a little boy who becomes a polar bear.
“I want to say it’s okay to be a bit different and be who you are, be the best person you can be, it’s people being different that makes the world such a wonderful place to live in,” he said.
Freddie Finds His Shell is published by Austin Macauley and can be found on Amazon.