Tag: Swindon

There has been a lot of talk from the leader of Swindon council about re-opening the Wilts & Berks Canal through Swindon. What seems strange is the choice of route. Rather than going along the old route (Canal Walk) straight into the town centre (most of which is intact as pedestrian routes), the proposal is to run the canal from its current end, along roads parallel to Canal Walk (Westcott Place, Faringdon Road and Fleet Street) and then rejoin the route of the North Wilts Canal. This route may well be more picturesque (passing the Park and the Railway Village), but is much more disruptive. It’s also lower than the line of the old canal, so new locks will, presumably, need to be built. Very pretty. The leader of the canal trust says nobody he has spoken to is against the idea, ignoring the comments of some of his local members. Selective hearing, methinks.

Walking to work today, there were several boulders strewn around the local park which weren’t there yesterday. There was also the local BBC radio outside broadcast car there. Fortunately, the local newspaper has explained

Four giant sarcen stones – weighing a total of 21 tonnes – have been delivered to Faringdon Road Park in a bid to improve its appearance.

The huge rocks were unloaded yesterday as part of the New Mechanics’ Institute Preservation Trust’s plans to restore the park to its Victorian splendour.

Now, apart from the fact that there was nothing like that in the Park in Victorian times, so it bears no relation to Victorian splendour, it does seem to be quite a good idea — something for children to clamber over in a park which, except for the daffodils, is rather featureless. (Sadly, something for the graffiti taggers to deface too.) The source of the stones was revealing too.

The rocks were provided by Swindon Council which, it is understood, dug them up some years ago during a building project.

The giant stones were kept in storage and are now finally seeing the light of day.

Amazing the things that some people keep….

It’s nice to see that my local MP has such a good grasp of a significant issue in her constituency. According to the local newspaper, she said

Alan [Johnson, Education Secretary] echoed my disappointment and Michael Wills’ disappointment, and of course the council’s, that the university is not coming here and has decided to pull out.

And I think he explained his scepticism that the university is quoting the Stern report on climate change as the reason why it should not come here.

Err… climate change affecting university development? Not quite. In fact, nowhere near. Neither of the University of Bath’s recent press releases mention climate change nor the Stern Report. They do mention

the Government’s priorities for the future development of higher education are shifting towards increased opportunities for study whilst in the workplace.

as set out in a letter to HEFCE from Alan Johnson and the government commissioned Leitch Review of Skills. But nothing to do with climate change (except for the political hot air quoted here).

Having taken my parents for a walk yesterday (which has only a few similarities to the same with a dog), I have noticed some planning applications and building works that are filling in some of the few unused spaces around here. Visible from my front window, two flats are being built at the end of a Victorian terrace. Progress, if  you   can    call     it      that,       is        very         slow. No more than one course of bricks per day.

From my rear window, I can see an old car repair business and bungalow. Both are now vacant with the latter boarded up and the garden wall recently demolished (either the work of vandals or a sign of preparatory work) and the walls of the former smothered with graffiti tags. Not pretty. The planned 22 flats will be, in some ways, an improvement, if they are ever built — it is almost two years since outline planning permission was granted with a string of conditions to mitigate against the risk of flooding. The Environment Agency charts show the risk of flooding to be less than once every 100 years.

At a corner nearby, there’s a planning application for three new houses. Having thought “They won’t fit!” I have checked. They will fit, but only because the gardens of the Victorian terraced houses behind (long since walled off when the houses were converted to flats) have been added to the plot. So three new houses complying with current housing regulations, but only at the expense of ensuring that four older houses never will.

There’s a time and a place for anonymity, but one place that isn’t is in a shop. Now I am sure that the owner of a local off-licence from which £3000 was burgled in a distraction burglary is very embarrassed about what happened and how it happened (one of a group speaking in unrealistic foreign accents distracted the owner whilst another just walked through to the back of the shop and took the money, with it all captured on CCTV) but his wish, as reported in the local newspaper, to remain anonymous is not likely to last long. It’s a small off-licence, not part of a chain, and is both named and pictured in the newspaper article. Unless he emigrates now, most locals will know exactly who he is.

I can’t help thinking that petitioning the Prime Minister to relay a full sized pitch at Greendown Community School so that Swindon Hockey Club (and other sports clubs) will continue to be able to play there, is probably not the most effective use of prime ministerial time. Whilst it is clearly very bad news for the hockey club, to describe it as ‘an outrageous abuse of local funds’ is rather out of proportion, especially as the current pitches are past their prime and the school is getting several new pitches built. The claim used to back up the petition ‘Swindon Hockey Club – one of Swindon’s premier hockey clubs.’ is, after a little thought, quite modest.

The University of Bath has now confirmed its decision not to build a new campus in Swindon. The response of one of our local MPs, as reported by the Swindon Evening Advertiser, seems a bit OTT:

Mr Wills said he was very disappointed. “It’s a great shame that the town has gone so far in trying to accommodate the University of Bath,” he said.

“It’s a real blow that without any real notice to anyone in the town that they have pulled the plug on the project. This raises significant questions about other projects in the town and the region.”

One organisation has cancelled its plans owing, it says, to a change in government policy, and suddenly all other major developments are in doubt… not just in Swindon but across the south west. ’Tis a bit like claiming that, as it rained today, there is a serious risk that we will never see the sun again.

Walking to work through Faringdon Road Park this morning, it was nice to see the daffodils coming out. Not so good to see so much standing water. It’s hard to believe it is less than two months since the hosepipe ban was lifted.

I also noticed that the path on the side that was not resurfaced and widened a couple of years ago is now badly broken up. It is a pity that the money cannot be found to finish this work. Walking round the park, half is very good and the other half looks uncared for.

In 2001, a report to Swindon Borough Council concluded that an area near the town centre called North Star should be developed as a university campus as part of Swindon’s regeneration programme. The Swindon Urban Regeneration Company was set-up the following year, with the University of Bath having a seat on it’s board. The plan was for the site to accomodate 1,000 students along with accomodation. Then a change of heart led to the University of Bath wanting a more traditional campus, and a site near one of Swindon’s main leisure areas, Coate Water, was selected. There was much local opposition, as the plans (paid for through major housing development on the site) would encroach on the currently open landscape. As a consequence of a change in government policy (towards more workplace learning) and of the housing developers wanting too much of the site, the university has changed it’s mind, again. Now Swindon College is offering to share their campus at North Star with the University of Bath. So we are back where we were six years ago.