Page 8 - link magazine

WESTLEA DOWN
About a month ago, Thamesdown Council
and E.H.Bradley & Sons Ltd. presented a-
' master plan' to Wiltshire County Coun-
cil for the development of a massive
570 acre site adjoining Toothill. The
County have since approved the plan and
t
'WESTLEA DOWN" overnight became more
than just a pipe-dream.As this develop-
ment will affect all of us in one way
or another, here's a brief summary of
the proposals contained in the master
plan.
HOUSING has been allocated 266 acres(as
a rough guide, an acre is about the size
of a football pitch). Three private com-
panies, Bradleys, Barratts & Costains
will be building a wide range of house-
types from one bedroom bachelor flats to
four bedroom houses, whilst Thamesdown
Borough Council will provide council
accommodation. An extra 11,000 people
are expected to occupy these houses.
EDUCATION : To cope with the expected
demand from the increased population,
sites totalling 44 acres have been alloc-
ated for several primary and one second-
ary school.
INDUSTRY has been allocated 71 acres of
land providing over a million square
feet of space for warehouses, factories
and offices. Several national companies
have already shown an interest in expan-
sion in this area and it is anticipated
that the first factory units will be let
and occupied during 1980.
LEISURE Two public houses have been pro-
posed and 87 acres have been allocated
to woodland and designated public open
space. Two community centres are also
included in future plans.
In addition and perhaps most important,
a major 'district centre' is planned on
a 25 acre site, which will include shops
offices, community buildings, health
services and other public facilities
which are sadly lacking at present.
The first stages of this development will
involve the laying out and construction
of roads and drains.
As soon as these are in, tree-nlantino
and landscaping is programmed to follow
in conjunction with house building,
shopping, social facilities and job
opportunities.
So that, very briefly , is WNestlea
Down.
If you have any thoughts on any part
of the scheme, for or against, write
and tell us about thee ; if you have
any ideas as to the sort of provision
that you'd like to see in the District
Centre, for example, a coffee-shop
or some squash courts etc., write and
tell us about those; the addresses
for all correspondence albeit letters
articles, advertisements, events or
whatever are;
13 Beaulieu Close or
23Longthorpe Close
++A word about Bradleys++
Whilst most of us know about the
activities of Thamesdown Borough
Council, where they are and what
they do, Bradley's sphere of oper-
ation may not be quite so well known
so......
E.H.Bradley and Sons have been estab'
lished in Swindon for about 90 years.
In total they employ about 1,600
people in this area.
As well as building houses they spec-
ialise in the manufacture of building
materials and are the major suppliers
of the U.K's total national require-
ments.
Bradley Engineering is involved in
commercial vehicle fabrication, light
engineering and operates the area
franchise for Chrysler U.I.Ltd.
In addition, the Group's Planning
Services provide Ian extensive land use
and development consultancy service
to countless companies from all over
the United Kingdom and abroad.
i.