Page 23 - link magazine

23
Swindon wide

A stadium for Swindon Town on Shaw Forest Country Park

A developing story of dividing the Swindon community and betrayal of its people

A football team is part of the life- Overleaf resident Brian passed away... (This) was
blood of a community and Swin- Toft spells out some of going to be a great country
don Town FC is no exception. the lethal consequences park one day for children,
However the proposal by the of disturbing the site; and future children such as
club, in league with developers St 3. Access is a major prob- my own.";
Modwen Properties plc, to move lem. St. Modwen imagine 6. There is merit in seeing a
away from the confines of the Mead Way will cope with range of sports facilities
County Ground, in the middle of a the volume of traffic trying brought together to en-
residential area, to impose itself on to get to the site. In fact hance opportunities avail-
another residential area in West every verge, cul-de-sac able to Swindon residents.
Swindon is wrong. and shopping centre Yet one thing is for cer-
Swindon Council own both the within a mile and a half tain. Swindon Town FC
County Ground and the country will be jammed with cars won't be paying for them.
park site and are willing to engage because the roads are Nor will St. Modwen Prop-
in discussion. But at what cost to inadequate. Supporters erties plc. They are not in-
the environment and the social will walk to the stadium, vestors: they are property
cohesion of the town? stopping off for pints on developers and expect a
The idea should be dropped now the way. Many arriving by significant fee for pulling
and another site identified before train will walk from the togetherthe project. There-
Swindon is split into warring fac- town centre. fore who will pay for it all?
ti ons which will inevitably attract What they will get up to Overleaf councillor Nick
national media attention. on the way back does not Martin looks at some of the
Overleaf is a scheme to be pre- bear thinking about. See- financial issues:
sented by St. Modwen at local'con- ing the number of police 7. Most importantly. by
sultation' gatherings. Apart from a in full riot gear at the Swin- even entertaining develop-
planting belt around the edge of don v Bristol City derby ment proposals for one of
the site every square inch of the clash on 10 April makes its country parks. Swindon
country park site is proposed for you wonder: Council is in the process of
development. Not only is there a 4. Just thinking of the betraying its people.
23.000 seat stadium. there will also noise from the pop con- As a council deemed to
be an athletics track, as well as a certs in the summer and be failing. what greater fail-
cricket ground, rugby pitches, a from the speedway track, ure is there to sell-out on a
speedway and dog track around a it is not surprising people policy which it has worked
lake, an Olympic-sized swimming living in the 2.000 houses so hard, and successfully.
pool, restaurants and two hotels of Sparcells. Peatmoor, to get people to buy into?
with conference facilities. Shaw and Nine Elms are
So why does The Link object? outraged. For nearly 18 years they posted at www.swindonlink.com This is notadone deal. Theemerg-
1. Swindon Town FC and St. have moved to the area on the express the anger people feel that ing opposition and the major envi-
Modwen and a few people in Swin- understanding that the former the trees they planted could be ronmental concerns will make it
don Council still think of the area landfill site could not be built upon ripped up. They believe the time. very difficult for the project to get
as Shaw Tip. for up to 100 years: commitment and trust they put in the go-ahead. Expect to see the
But this is not the case - this is no 5. This is not a'not in my back yard' Swindon Council to create a legacy Government Office of the South
longer a tip. Thousands of people situation: people all over the town for the town's children and grand- West and the Deputy Prime Minis-
across the town regard the area as are angry. In 1993 Thamesdown children is being abused. ter's Office involved, and appeals
a country park, not as mature as Council's planning committee To quote Katie Cfrom Sparcells. to European Courts.
Lydiard or Coate Water, but Swin- agreed a change of use from a a Swindon Town supporter for 16 This could be a long, very messy
don's new park for the 21st Century. landfill site to create a new country years. "I was only 11 when I planted and expensive exercise. The coun-
In 2000 Swindon Council won park close to the town centre. my tree and ...which I dedicated to cil tax payer should not have to
an award for what it is doing and In 1994 a'planning for real' pub- my granddad who had previously bear the cost, nor should Swin-
numerous Government Ministers li c consultation exercise Is this an alternative site by Junction 16? Excellent don's reputation.
have been shown this example of engaged people in the location with good transport links and possibilities for a In the immediate future.
best practice in land restoration. project and the site was park and ride. The only problem is it is privately owned. the plans are to be presented
Until 19 March nobody had a included in the Great q , w y to the public see overleaf.
clue that the country park was be- Western Community < Then on 10 June there are
ing considered for redevelopment. Forest 30 year plan to ' the local elections for seats
It does not appear on any local or green the landscape. ! ry ~ x^^' on Swindon Council.
strategic plans: Since then threeco ^j or "' ^' ^\ ,,,.^^'^ s So here's thechallen eto
g
,' ^
y f Ja
2. Nobody knows what material is m unity tree pi a ntin :,g `t om`, Swmdon'sthreepoliticalpar-
under there. There are no records days have involved °^• a ,.'^ ^^F ties. Are you behind the pro-
nor information on toxicity. thousands of people in :^ 1i '. R j - ^?:, posaltoturnoneofthecoun-

The St. Modwen model is de- creating 'their' new — = cil's major policies on its
signed on a beautifully flat land- country park. ; head and allow a country
scape. But anybody driving by will Some 46,000 trees park to be developed for
know the steep banks on the edge have been planted and t ,- ^;a1;:; _` ^^,:; commercial gain? Or do you
of the site. On top you realise that the site has been colo- oppose it'?
hundreds of thousands of tons of nised by a range of wild i Write an article for the
Swindon's domestic and industrial life. i,. r -_ June Link and let everybody
rubbish from between the 1940s The Link has publi- + mo` '' w know where you stand.
and the late 1970s is buried there, cised and reported all of For the full version
capped with vast quantities of clay these events. of this article go to
from the northern development. The many e-mails ^- ( www.swindonlink.com