Page 5 - link magazine

The Link Magazine • June 2005 5

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The Link is overwhelmed with stories for each month's edition.
Reluctantly we cannot include everything, so some of the
articles behind the headlines can now be seen on the website.
Council chooses more offices and blocks culture centre
Community Crossroads idea hits the buffers of bureaucracy
A great chance for Swindon Council
to do something dynamic for town
centre regeneration will be lost if it
pursues a plan to convert the old rail-
way museum in Faringdon Road into
yet more offices.
The Link February 2004 argued the
huge space, where railway engines
once stood, presented a fantastic op-
portunity for cultural development.
People could come together to pur-
sue interesting and unusual projects,
which would extend community and
cultural interchange.

What's the point of being a citizen?
Having just had a general election, and with groups of Swindonians
battling against green field development, as well as the proposal to turn
the Mechanics' Institute into a hotel, the big question is, can anybody do
anything to influence the decision making process?
One of the speakers at May's Swindon Festival of Literature was
former MP and political thinker David Marquand who explained the
thinking behind his recently published book, 'The Decline of the Public:
the Hollowing Out of Citizenship.'
John Monniot, chairman of the Swindon Civic Trust, found reso-
nance in his views in relation to Swindon.

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Swindon Council has signed an agreement to allow the development of the
Front Garden, including the building of the Southern Relief Road, which
exits in the west through a tunnel under the M4 to Hay Lane. Swindon
bound traffic will be routed via Junction 16 and Great Western Way.
The road and tunnel were not included in the Structure Plan and they
have recently been discussed at the Local Plan enquiry into future devel-
opments across the town. The Council for the Protection of Rural
England (CPRE) believes Swindon's decision could be illegal because
it has not waited for the Local Plan inspector to make his report.
Charmian Spickernell of the CPRE said, "despite vast numbers of
objections, the council has railroaded this decision before planning
processes were completed. Where is the democracy?"
University plans for Coate revealed
The proposals for the development of land between Coate Water
Country Park, the Great Western Hospital and the M4 motorway were
put on display at the end of April and comments are being invited by
Swindon Council's planning department.
The Gateway Project identifies sites for a campus for the University
of Bath for 9,000 students, space for 1,800 houses and a business park.
A primary school and a local shopping centre are also planned.
Opponents to more green field development say the site should be
kept free of building to preserve the historic landscape that has connec-
tions with Coate-born writer Richard Jefferies. The Swindon Civic
Trust argue for a university in the town centre.