Page 10 - link magazine

10 The Link Magazine • April 2004
Front Garden fight to continue to the bitter end

On 24 January a public meeting of Swindon Council's planning committee took place at the Wyvern Theatre to consider a developer's outline
application to build 4.500 dwellings, a small industrial site, four schools, three village centres, and a park and ride site, on the land between Old
Town and the Great Western Way and the M4. Building is proposed to start in 2006, taking about 15 years to complete. Ardent protester against
the scheme Terry King explains why the Front Garden Action Group (FRAG) are continuing to object, even to the extent of telling house buyers
why they should avoid the area.
Was the planning committee they did not want logical argu- regulations or advisory documents unbiased recommendation regard-
meeting on 24 January well at- ments to get in the way of their which had been ignored by the ing future housing development
tended by the public? No; less than preconceived ideas. This was not council or the developer. in Swindon.
100 people turned up. Why? Be- democracy, it was the council do- On 26 February 2004 after the No reply has yet been received,
cause most people were of the opin- ing what it usually does because it planning meeting, FRAG wrote but the Government Office for the
ion that the council had made up has to - consult with the public - again to Mr Prescott, outlining the South West has asked for a three
their mind long ago and that no but long after major planning has unsatisfactory nature of the plan- month extension to the normal
views from the public would taken place and most decisions ning meeting, emphasising the period allowed for consideration,
would be allowed to interfere with been made. No wonder the public amount of public opposition, and so the signs are that the appeals for
the decision. How right they were. are apathetic and no longer bother listing major concerns which had an independent decision may have
There were 17 objections by the to turn up at 'consultations' or to either been glossed over by the been effective.
public on the day, including one challenge the council. council and the developer or ig- Meanwhile the Front Garden
by Julia Drown MP, and one sup- What now? On 23 December nored altogether, eg sustainability, Action Group continues to fight
porting the proposal, from the de- 2003, a month before the planning noise, pollution, traffic, flooding, against the development and have
veloper's agent. Unsurprisingly meeting, Councillor Mike Bawden and (not even mentioned in any recently received encouraging evi-
the committee rejected all the ob- and four of his Conservative mem- documents) the danger to infants dence supporting their views from
jections and voted 9 to 2 to accept bers wrote to the Deputy Prime of living in a wet boggy area, and the Environment Agency regard-
the outline application. Minister John Prescott, asking him the absence of a Health Impact ing flooding, and from the Asso-
Was it a democratic meeting? to call-in the application and hold Assessment. He was again asked ciation of British Insurers about
No. It was evident from the 148 a Public Local Enquiry. Coun to arrange an independent public insurance of buildings and con-
page document, made available Bawden said he did this because enquiry to: tents in a known flood risk area.
only at the meeting, that the coun- the council own about 75 per cent • examine the council's in-house If you have views on this pro-
cil had already made a decision. of the Front Garden, and with a Technical Appraisal of 1998 on posal it is not too late to make them
What also made it obvious was probate income of about £200 mil- which the original decision to de- known. Write to Director of Devel-
that two weeks before the meeting lion expected from its sale could velop on the Front Garden was opment, Government Office for the
the council had given notice of ter- not be regarded as impartial. based, and which has since been South West, 2 Rivengate, Temple
mination of leases to the tenant On 9 January, the Front Garden proved to be completely biased; Quay, Bristol BS1 6ED, copy to Mr
farmers on the Front Garden. It Action Group also wrote to the • consider the many factors which M Trewhella, Planning Depart-
became even more obvious when Deputy Prime Minister, asking him have changed since 1998 and since ment SBC, Premier House, Station
some councillors poured scorn on to call-in the application, and draw- the E.i.P. in 1999; Road, Swindon SN1 1TZ.
objections and made it clear that ing attention to six government • give an up-to-date objective and To contact FRAG call 487154.

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