Page 6 - link magazine

The Link Magazine • September 2004
Restoration. Been there, done that - not getting very far
Heritage is at the heart of Swindon and the town is always keen to play on its history and its contribution to the industrial revolution, but
seems equally keen to rid itself of responsibility for its most important buildings, says Swindon's Mechanics' Trust, reflecting on the results
of the BBC2 Restoration competition in August.
In the national vote to save his not helped the Trust acquire the
toric buildings on 8 August, view- building through compulsory pur-
ers placed in third place the efforts chase.
of volunteers who are trying to i ^ ' "On TV the chief executive of
save the South Wales Workers' In t English Heritage advised people
stitution. totalktotheirlocalauthorityCon-
The volunteers who support the #,. a9 ^ •• Q _ save Officer if they wanted to
restoration of Swindon's much s Jt g nth ^ tl s^ Te save a local building. Well, we
t^►^^
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larger Mechanics' Institution, say ^! r ' - _ 1 11!? started by doing that 9 years ago
the TV programme illustrated the i' Ir and we're still trying to convince
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public support for such buildings, flIF v i1s^ f I the council that the Mechanics' has
w ,I e I
hich they have been arguing fo I q no viable commercial use which
nearly ten ears ( ll^{ %.;li'l ,ie^ tdV t would not result in destro m $ t e
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Th eGradeII^listedbuildingwas — qua 'Ill 9! I ^f t^ill ul^li , ilLtUfwu7uw building's character.
'
excluded from the competition mid-September whether to allow chanics' has been woeful. "The "The really important issue,
because it is no longer in public the planning application to go council asked the trust to say what however, is that the original cul-
ownership. Swindon Council re- ahead or set up a planning inquiry the building could be used for and tural and educational uses are still
fused to buy it from British Rail for when all the arguments on the fu- we presented ideas and drawings essential aspects of society. Swin-
£1 in the mid-1980s and now pri- ture of the building will be aired. in 1998. Despite the Heritage Lot- don needs the Mechanics' back in
vate developer Matthew Singh is Trust coordinator Martha Parry tery and other sources of financial use as a community resource - at
trying to get permission to convert said Swindon Council's reluctance support for buildings in public its centre - if it is ever to regain a
part of it into appartments and to do something about the Me- ownership, Swindon Council has heart and soul."
offices.
The decision on his earlier plan- Working water for the town
ning application to demolish part
of the building and build a nine Jean Saunders reported in the August Link on the recent public enquiry into the Swindon and Wiltshire
storey glass hotel was taken away Structure Plan which looked at the expansion of the town to 2016.
from Swindon Council by the Gov- Of the many submissions to the could be reached if the town con- A process called 'biological nu-
ernment Office of the South West planning inspectors, the contribu- tinued to grow in the long term. trient removal' is being installed
earlier in the year after English tion by Thames Water engineers However, in reaction to the arti- to substantially reduce the amount
Heritage lodged an objection. Gov- was particularly striking when cle, Thames Water want to make it of phosphates, commonly found
ernment ministers for the environ- they stated that the limit of water clear that recent major investments in detergents, being released into
ment are expected to decide by supply and treatment of sewage mean that the quality of service the river.
will improve in the medium term. The work is due to be completed
In December a £32 million in time for the site to meet new
project to lay a second pipeline to treatment standards which will be
supply water from Farmoor Res- introduced by the Environment
ervoir in Oxford will be completed. Agency in April 2005.
This will also provide an alterna- The capacity of the works, which
tive source of water before the com- treats sewage for 190,000 people in
pany's ground extraction licence Swindon and Wroughton, will be
Holder of the Seafish runs out at the end of March. increased by 25 per cent.
Friers Quality Award Award Winning
The Barnfield Road sewage However Thames Water are ap-
works is also getting a £17 million pealing to households not to dis-
THREE GOOD REASONS TO USE upgrade to improve the quality of pose of rag and plastic into the
water discharged into the River sewage system which cause block-
OUR GREAT MONEY OFF VOUCHER Ray and the sludge recycled from ages. Currently a skip full of this
the works as soil conditioner for material is removed every day in
If you've not used us for a while local farms. the sewage treatment process.
2 If you've never used us before - Try us
3 If you used this voucher last time Government keen for town to grow very big
Also in response to Jean's article the Leader of Swindon Council coun
- HERE'S ANOTHER Mike Bawden phoned to point out that Swindon could become an
even faster growth point in the South West as part of the Sustainable
REMIND YOURSELF WHAT NATURAL Communities Plan published by the Deputy Prime Minister in 2002.
UNPROCESSED FOOD IS LIKE Some 26,000 houses will be built At this early stage the regions
in Swindon between 1996 and 2016 are outlining their proposals for
Chips from real potatoes and top quality fish from the sea as specified in the current Struc- long term growth which could at-
- all with fewer calories than chicken tikka masala, sweet & sour pork* ture Plan, but the government tract government funding for in-
and more nutritious and satisfying than burger and fries. wants feedback from regional de- frastructure development. The case
velopment agencies and local for the South West is being pre-
We now have a seating area so you can enjoy your
councils about accelerated expan- pared and a consultation document
fish & chips at a table with a hot cup of tea or coffee
sion. is expected at the end of August.
* Source: Carlson Bengston Consultants Ltd The town has been identified Three regional consultation
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — because of its track record of em- events are being proposed, the
ployment and productivity growth nearest being in Weston-Super-
T £1 off all orders over £3 and its large labour market, and Mare, in advance of a national con-
also its strategic position close to ference to review the Sustainable
^•m^, mh K„a^,a^^s^,^,wen with this voucher
the booming South East region and Communities Plan organised by
growth areas around Bristol and theOfficeoftheDeputyPrimeMin-
West Swindon District Centre. Tel: 870 455
Birmingham. ister in early 2005.