Page 4 - link magazine

The Link Magazine ' April 1998
4
Is continued growth and expansion inevitable?

In the March edition of The Link, Bristol the opinion that further major expansion of are alternative solutions to creating more
University Professor Martin Boddy, joint Swindon is inevitable. urban sprawl into the countryside and that it
author of a new book about Swindon's ex- But Jean Saunders, co-ordinator of Swin- is time for the town to concentrate on quality
pansion City for the 21st Century, expressed don Friends of the Earth, believes that there and not quantity.

Can anyone seriously believe the of the increasing numbers of peo-
New hospital debate set predictions for England that we ple, including the gay population
need to increase the number of and divorcees, who share their
for Saturday meeting houses by 25% over twenty five homes with others, or the missing
years when the population only million of people who escaped the
Months of argument for and against the siting of Swindon's new grew by 4% in the last twenty? 1991 census in order to avoid pay-
hospital at Commonhead, to the east of the town, comes to a head at There is no question that there is ing the unpopular Poll Tax.
a mammoth 7 hour public council meeting to be held on Saturday 18 a national priority to house the If there is a huge demand for
April starting at 9am and ending at 4pm. homeless and to ensure that peo- more single households, how come
Swindon Council's development control committee, will meet in the ple are fully employed in worth- we see 3-4-5 bedroom houses be-
main hall at Swindon College, Regents Circus to consider the plans put while jobs. However, there are ing built around Swindon? From
forward by the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust and to hear thousands of empty homes, offices 2016 onwards it is predicted that
viewpoints expressed by the public. and buildings that should be re- the number of households will
Questions to the committee will heard before committee members used along with other wasted land, drop. What will become of the
debate the issue. Requests to speak should be made in writing to Mr such as ground-level car parks, empty houses and property val-
Whitfield, Swindon Borough Council Planning & Transportation De- before more countryside is bull- ues then?
partment, Premier House, Station Road, Swindon by Tuesday 7 April dozed and concreted over. The northern expansion of Swin-
Below: a model of the proposed new hospital at Commonhead. Signs of growth: the new Motorola factory looms on Swindon's skyline
over the new houses of Abbey Meads, beyond the older Woodhall Park area

ST4DP! Not only are the urban fringes of don was put on the drawing boards

Swindon important for wildlife, during the 1980's housing boom
they provide a vital resource for era. This was expected to be the
people to escape the hurly-burly last major growth area for the town
of town life without having to providing 10,000 extra houses. So
travel far. far only 1,200 houses have been
LOOK and LISTEN before you commit yourself to any Can these characterless monsters built.
major home improvement. New windows, doors and of housing estates, business parks Now we are told that this won't
especially a new conservatory or superstores that are springing be enough and that a further 8,500
up around Swindon ever be part dwellings will be needed by 2011.
can transform your home... of fond childhood memories or What tosh! It will take that long to
but it's worth using this CIIECIQJST engender a sense of community complete the Haydon plan alone.
simpre checklist: 0 OiOICE:j. pride? Is it possible to create a Yet waiting on the side-lines,
Y.Ir they offeringag od
range of des better Swindon when its expan- biding their time, land speculators
igns and various
locking Options? sion leads to more traffic on the have ear-marked every field
roads? Did you know that, be- around Swindon in order to 'get
0°UTATION./sit ,
We//k,j,,,,,,, cause of its size, fewer people walk rich quick' at the expense of our
LQCA firm, Well esfablfrhed to work in Swindon than any other precious environment.
F." with a reputation to pro tf? town in Wiltshire? Does it have to Swindon Friends of the Earth
00
get bigger when far smaller towns are on stand-by ready to fight off
0 are prosperous? more greenfield site development
QUALJfl#s Are the product,
the y
install supplied by major
The northern development alone and we call upon the people of
nat/onalmafl j
AvAvAY4 Coastal? ufturer ike will cater for almost as many Swindon to join us in order to save
IrAVAVA
houses as in Salisbury. West Swin- our countryside.
0 don with over 11,000 homes is al- For more information contact me
GUAR,ijij.15
my in vestment
Properly proted,
ready larger than that city. on 783040.
&AA So where is the pressure for all What are
these extra houses coming from?
We are informed that eight out of your views?
ERMIN WINDOWS ten new households will be made We'd like to hear what you think
up of people living on their own. about Swindon's continued ex-
Call Brian Smith on 824419 This statistic is based on, among pansion and its bid to have city
other factors, fewer marriages and status. Write to The Link at the
A supplier and installer of
(Windows, doors and conservatories
more divorces. No account is taken address on page 3.