It was a great pleasure to present Leicester City Council with the first SCAS Enhancement Award for the improvements to the junction at Knighton Road and Knighton Drive. The society’s AGM held at Congregational Church Hall on the 26th May 2026, was a perfect setting for our chair Nick Knight to present the award to Nimisha Mistry from the Active Travel Neighbourhoods Team who accepted it on behalf of her colleagues at the Council.
This project was in competition with six other nominees which are all featured in our April newsletter. The judging panel, made up of the SCAS committee members had a real challenge to select the winner, as all had made a striking contribution to the street scene of the conservation area.
The improvement to the layout of the junction at Knighton Road and Knighton Drive influences the way people and vehicles move through the area and the way that residents and visitors are able to enjoy the experience. Created by close cooperation between a number of City Council teams and local people, we see this as a potential model for public space improvements.
A spokesperson for the City Council said, “This is wonderful news. It means so much that it has been local people who have voted for the scheme; the very people that we endeavour to design and build for. The scheme was requested by local people and they have been very patient whilst we took it through an experimental phase and sought funding to make something more permanent”
The following City Council teams were responsible for the consultation, design and build of the improvements, and all deserve our congratulations for delivering a brilliant project:
Central Area Team and Landscape Planners – responsible for the design.
City Highways for the construction, traffic management and maintenance of the experimental scheme.
Trees and Woodlands team – for the planting
Active Travel Neighbourhoods Team – bid for funding, concept, engagement, monitoring and project management.
A special mention is due to St Thomas More Catholic School for their support and helping with the engagement of local people in the project.
We will look to a new competition for the Enhancement Award again. Have you seen a project or improvement that you think deserves a nomination? Drop us a line and let us know.