Page 4 - link magazine

4 The Link Magazine • February 2001 www.swin
Swindon City. Did we stand a chance?
PARKING
The Link was at the printers when the announcement was made in December that Swindon's bid to
CENTRAL SWINDON become a city had not been successful. Brighton, Wolverhampton and Inverness were chosen from 40
contenders.
Despite protestations of disap- We used the headline above last satisfy the demands of the grow-
Annual long stay
pointment from civic leaders and April when a leaked Home Office ing population. There is unease
parking only brave words of defiance in the document cast doubt on Swindon's about what further growth entails,
evening paper, most people would credentials to become a city, de- the strain on already overstretched
£45.50 per month have been greatly surprised if scribing the application as 'poorly facilities and the growing gridlock
Swindon had been made a city. constructed' and giving 'the im- on the town's roads.
Contact: In contrast to the optimistic gloss pression of a particularly materi- New Statesman journalist Judy
proclaimed in the Evening Adver- alistic town, rather than a rounded Jones, who wrote a highly critical
Alison ,/ t tiser, The Link has taken a sceptical community.' view of Swindon last August, sug-
Kearney l l ,N view that Swindon is ready for a gests that the lack
change of status. No doubt there Marketing relic or aspiration for the future? of an integrated
GWCE are some who resent our imperti- transport system
PROPERTIES nence at continuing to suggest ^^ means that the town
there is an alternative viewpoint. is now a cluster of
distinct urban areas,
each doing its own
thing.
Ononeofthegen-
I(O PARTNERS I( SWINDON C1' F FOR THE 21,E CENTIIR U erally agreed crite-
ria for being a city,
HAIR & BEAUTY she says, "the Uni-
l . The whole process of seeking versity of Bath in Swindon is clearly
city status has been shambolic and better than no university at all. But
HALF PRICE secretive. No criteria were laid as a concept, it's a bit colonial and
down by the Home Office, Swin-
patronising - like importing lots of
don's bid was not made public, academic 'missionaries' from the
MANICURE and people were not invited to 'civilised world' to try to educate
engage in the exercise, which prob-
the locals. Swindon needs its own
ably explains why it only cost £300. university which sets its own
with any cut `n' blow dry or treatment over £20 Apparently Brighton and Hove agenda."
council spent £30,000 and raised It is thought that a city will be
Town Square, West Swindon Centre another £300,000 in business spon- created by the Queen in 2002 to
Tel: 01793 870462 sorship to back its successful ap- celebrate her Golden Jubilee on
plication. the throne. But with all respect to
We believe the majority of Her Majesty's impressive reign of
townspeople are still not clear what her subjects in the last fifty years,
makes a city, or why Swindon how relevant is it to await the Royal
should be one. The arguments in patronage?
favour seem to be based on acquir- It's the 21st Century and Swin-
ing prestige and kudos, and en- don should just go ahead and call
hancing the standing of business itself a city if that is what people
in the town. In economic terms want. Yet the town's leaders per-
Swindon probably qualifies. But haps should concern themselves
as a 'rounded community' do we with 'citizenship' rather than
have what it takes? 'cityship' and engage the popula-
The town's rapid expansion has tion in a debate as to what being a
created a sense of discontinuity, Swindonian means nowadays.
compounded by Swindon's strug- What do you think? Write to The
gle to fund essential services and Link at the address below.

the link Magazine

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