Swindon Council leader David Renard: Looking after Swindon's wonderful open spaces

Swindon Borough Council Leader David Renard's monthly column...

The lockdowns we have been forced to endure as part of our efforts to suppress the spread of covid-19 have given many people a renewed appreciation for our parks and open spaces.

They are often a haven where you can escape the confines of your house and forget about the dark days of the pandemic.

Now whether you use them to exercise, to walk the dog or just as a place to get some fresh air, one thing is clear – we have some beautiful country parks within the borough and we need to cherish them.

Most of the time, it is Lydiard Park and Coate Water that grab the attention, but we are so lucky to  have some hidden gems such as Stanton Park, Barbury Castle, Mouldon Hill, Shaw Forest and Pentylands Country Park.

In December, the council’s cabinet supported our first ever country parks improvement plan, which aims to improve and enhance the many jewels in Swindon’s crown over the next few years.

The key focus of the strategy is about making our parks viable and sustainable assets using funding from grants, Section 106 contributions, and other funding sources. It is important we protect these green lungs for the benefits they bring to people’s health and wellbeing, especially during the current time.

The improvement plan has already identified a new waterside restaurant and café at Coate Water as a key priority and there are plans too to clean the diving board, which is such a striking feature at the entrance to the lake.

At the time of writing, the finishing touches are being made to the new equipment which is being installed in Lydiard’s children’s play area. A £30,000 investment, which is sure to bring so much joy to young children from across Swindon.

In fact, that is why this improvement plan is so important. Our parks are there for everyone in the borough to enjoy and we want to hear what you think about them and how you would like to see them improved.

Swindon Link readers can contribute to the improvement plan by filling in an online survey, which will capture people’s views on all our country parks.

The survey is open until Sunday, 7 March so please tell us your views so we can use them to inform the wider strategy.

The survey is available at: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/swindonparks

The investment in our parks is part of a wider plan to improve our open spaces and the biodiversity in our communities. These include our Swindon Forest Meadow project, which aims to create wildflower meadows in partnership with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

We also aim to plant 350 hectares of trees through the Trees for Climate programme over the next few years. By investing and planting trees today we are creating the much-loved parks and open spaces of tomorrow.