Page 4 - link magazine

4 The Link Magazine • April 2003
Whose town centre?
The March Link featured two pages on the changing horizon for Swindon's town centre. Martha Parry, former resident of Toothill and Freshbrook,
and well known campaigner to save the Mechanics' Institute, reflects upon why all Swindon's citizens should be involved in these changes.
I remember how relieved we However as my fam- . r" but for ourselves as we the days of the Mechanics' Institu-
were in Toothill when the West ily grew up, I came to move from one cycle of tion. And they are the things that
Swindon District Centre opened realize the importance life to the next. are being promised from the re-
in 1981, including a Carrefour of a town centre that It can deepen our generation of central Swindon.
superstore. As the Link Centre, met the needs of teen- sense of connectedness What do you want from the cen-
Shaw Ridge and the Health Centre agers with expanding to our community, of- tre of Swindon? Make sure you tell
followed, the area had pretty much horizons. By the time fering the prospect of the New Swindon Company dur-
everything a young family needed. we moved into the town new friends as well as ing public consultations. This is
I never missed the weekly strug- centre, my boys didn't personal development. the best chance you will have of
gle to town with a pram and two even have a cinema to Teenagers are not the changing the horizon for the bet-
babes, there and back on foot. attract them. They com- only age group who get ter. Many people have lived else-
Many across suburban Swindon muted to hang out with bored. Ina good town where, perhaps quite recently.
will have had similar experiences. mates in West Swindon. Not until centre, we can seek creative op- Please, think about the best you have
It has been the same story dur- they were 18 could they find any- portunities, not just shoes. experienced and offer your ideas, as
ing Swindon's history over the last thing to do in the town centre. I associate the city of my own citizens of Swindon, not tourists.
160 years - a hard slog for women Thinking back on my own youth, youth with libraries, art galleries, Your ideas please
trying to establish a family frame- I recall how crucial it was to take and theatres - as well as cinemas New Swindon Company planning
work in an ever-expanding envi- that first step into a new environ- and department stores. Every one consultants will be in the former
ronment, let alone those expecting ment that challenged me to con- of these offered new experiences,
to find childcare to back them up if tinue to grow beyond the perspec- and the excitement of the un- railway museum in Faringdon Road
they went out to work to pay the tive of childhood. known. These are the things older on Saturday 12 April, 10am - 4pm,
mortgage. The shops were never So, if you live in an all-shop- Swindonians say they used to en- to hear your comments on the re-
there before the shoppers. ping, all-teaching, all-cosy mod- joy in Swindon's town centre in generation of the town centre.
ern suburb, why should you care
what a renewed town centre of-
uklinks4 fers? Because life is a series of cy- New - on the edge
cles, each with its own challenges
and needs, and opportunities for Images of the proposed village centre at Priory Vale were exclusively
featured in the February Link. Now developers Crest Nicholson have
growth. And we can all hope to
There are some benefit from a wider range of op- released more details of the project now in for planning permission.
The village centre will be built ber 2004 and the North Swindon
great resources portunities just a bus-ride away, around several squares, creating a secondary school, is planned for
whenever we want a change.
on the Internet. Our own town centre should variety of environments contain- 2006. Also there will be a special
provide a refreshing day-out, no ing shops, offices, housing and a school, and major sports facilities
But do you know matter which side of Swindon we church. for the area.
live in, and no matter what our age A medical cen-
where they are? group. tre, a 50 unit shel-
Shopping aside, more special- tered housing
We do! ised educational and cultural op- scheme and a day
portunities can deepen our satis- nursery are pro-
faction with the lives we live in posed.
www.uklinks4.com Swindon; not just for our children, An education
campus will be
found off School
Square where a
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