Page 12 - link magazine

12 The Link Magazine • March 2002

THE Priory Vale needs to be a green community
IREPLAC say Friends of the Earth
Environmentalist Jean Saunders of Swindon Friends of the Earth is calling upon house developers in
CENTRE North Swindon to think to the future and build environmentally sustainable houses with higher levels
OFFICE & SHOWROOMS of heat insulation, solar panels to reduce energy demands and water recycling systems.
Specialists in fireplaces, gas FoE are largely
effect fires with or without flues, responsible for the much the same as we
have seen in the past;
electric fires, gas & multifuel improved design of externally different per-
stoves, baskets & accessories the 5,500 home ";\y haps, but still energy and
Priory Vale develop- resource inefficient in-
, Dare to ment which was of- side."
ficially launched in
be Eddie Bedwell from
November. Hayden Wick agrees.
different Construction 'There is more to good
should have started
r7 house design than look-
twelve months ear- ing good. A recent report
lier but was delayed for the European Policy
after FoE success- Forum states, 'compared
or stick fully appealed to the
A part of the new and updated North Swindon reap to be to our EU partners, hous-
newly elected La-
with ing in Britain is often ex-
3~., published by The Link in April. See page 30 to advertise.
bour government in pensive, badly built and
tradition 1^
1997 to look again at Development at Abbey Meads often of poor quality of design.'
the North Swindon environment. and St Andrews Ridge, to the east "In Priory Vale (or the Front
There had been minimal consid- of Lady Lane, was well underway Garden for that matter) will there
0
PERCY ST O HAWKINS ST eration in the early 1990s, after a at the time of the 1997 election, but be any attempt to build to higher
planning enquiry into Swindon the Secretary of State for the Envi- than minimum requirements of
C THE
Z I F[R ENTRE P Council's (then Thamesdown) ob- ronment John Prescott took the energy and water use efficiency.
R1
jections to private sector expan- unusual step of reversing an ear- Or even offer buyers these options?
CENTRE P.
DOLPHIN M sion in the north. The Secretary of
O OUTLET VILLAGE lier ministerial decision and de- The additional costs of such fea-
PUB D NORTH
0 CAR PARK State had agreed to the 10,000 home manded a study of the land to the tures could be small and would be
development without any assess-
VISIT OUR SHOWROOMS AT: ment of the impact that such a west of Lady Lane which has be- paid off in a few years."
1 RODBOURNE ROAD, large urban area would have on come Priory Vale. Priory Vale will cover 640 acres,
SWINDON SN2 2AG A statement on highway and en- 390 of which will be used for resi-
TEL/FAX: (01793) 612288 the environment and the town in vironmental issues such as nature dential purposes. Using new gov-
general. conservation, archaeology, drain- ernment guidelines on urban de-
age, open space provision and pub- velopment set out in the document
lic transport had to be produced Better Places to Live the layout will
which influenced the design of the be very different to anything yet
master plan for the area. seen in Swindon. There will be
As a result open space areas, three character areas: an urban core
isolated in earlier plans, were area with higher density town
linked to provide wildlife corri- houses with a village centre de-
dors. More bus routes were desig- signed along the lines of a small
nated, and the amount of car park- country town, a formally designed
ing in area, and a less densely built semi-
Priory Vale rural part.
MEAL DEAL FOR 2 is going to one of the major house builders,
Liz Lewis for Crest Nicholson,
be lower
than previ- said developers are very keen to
Quarter Sesame chicken on toast, ous new ensure environmental protection
aromatic OR stuffed crab claws & urban de- at Priory Vale. "Crest Nicholson
crispy duck sweet & sour spare ribs velop- have undertaken a variety of key
ments to measures to protect wildlife at their
encourage Braydon Mead development at
people to Priory Vale. An important
Lemon Roast pork with ginger use public meadow is to be retained and is
chicken OR & spring onions transport. now designated as Haydon
However Jean Saunders, above, Meadow SSSI and they have pro-
Beef with green peppers in black bean sauce is concerned that house builders tected the majority of existing trees
Deep fried shredded chicken in chill sauce could do more. "Whilst the Friends and hedgerows. In addition, tens
of the Earth intervention may have of thousands of new trees will be
Fried rice, prawn crackers, fortune cookies
led to a slightly better deal for wild- planted.
"Ponds and suitable habitat have
Special offer price £ 17.33 life, the development west of Lady been retained and created through-
Lane is a wasted opportunity to
create a self-contained community
Please note: the special menu cannot be changed out the area to ensure conserva-
that is not dependent on travelling tion of Great Crested Newts in their
b j b out of the area by car. The devel- natural habitats, whilst newt and
;.s II
opers could have provided a model badger fencing and tunnels have
for housing of the future by build- been provided under Thames-
LJ ing the most energy and water ef- down Drive."
ficient homes, and using designs Several builders will be on site
that are more sympathetic to the by the end of the year. Crest have
environment. opened a show site and a Priory
"I'm afraid the housing will be Vale visitor centre opens in July.