COUNCILLORS outraged at the proposal to split their parish have launched one last bid to persuade the borough to ditch the controversial plans.

Members of the Blunsdon St Andrew Parish Council have been fighting the proposed split for the past year and are running out of time before the plans will likely be passed by the borough council next month.

Swindon Borough Council has suggested forming a new St Andrews Parish Council that would cover a significant area including Ash Brake, St Andrew’s Ridge, Groundwell West, Redhouse and Abbey Meads, with the A419 acting as the dividing line.

At a borough council cabinet meeting last week, Ian Jankinson, chairman of Blunsdon St Andrew Parish Council, asked: “How is removing many experienced and committed parish councillors from their parish improving community cohesion?

“How is being divisive a good demonstration of community cohesion?” a comment which drew a storm of applause from members of the public, most of whom had no involvement in the split.

He added: “This is a clear intention to abolish Blunsdon St Andrew parish and its council by tearing it apart and renaming it.”

The split was first proposed in 2015 when a petition was distributed to residents.

However, the petition, which gained more than 890 signatures, has been described by parish councillors as “a campaign of misinformation”.

Coun Alex Marasco said: “It is not just the final decision that people disagree with, it is the process as a whole.

“The rules regarding the Community Governance Review state that there must be a clear benefit to residents before any changes can take place. It is obvious that no benefit will come from splitting the parish.

“The cold hard facts are that people will have to pay more as a result of the split, and it will leave the parish weaker.”

However, St Andrews ward councillor Vera Tomlinson, who sent out the original petition to split the parish, claimed that she had done so because people had described the current arrangement as “unfair and unjust”.

She said: “A few years ago I was challenged by a group of residents in my ward as to what I was doing about the unfairness that saw Blunsdon parish accept a precept from the new build houses in our ward and spend an unfair proportion of that money in the village of Blunsdon.”

Coun Tomlinson claims that it was only after her petition became known that parish councillors began to take an interest in her ward, an interest she describes as “too little too late”.

She added: “The petitions from both sides have not been the deciding factor. There is little or no commonality in the needs of residents in St Andrews and those living in the village of Blunsdon.

“I take my responsibility as an elected ward councillor very seriously. I give my word to the residents of my ward that we will work tirelessly to prove it [the split] was the right decision to make. Residents will have a better deal in future from a more caring parish council.”