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'Outskirts of Swindon can't cope with new homes'
7:50am Wednesday 14th May 2008
CENTRAL Swindon should be the town's new housing hub, not green fields on its outskirts.
So says the Council For The Protection of Rural England.
It is lobbying the town's MPs to get them to back a drive to slash the number of new homes built in Swindon by Government order.
Charmian Spickernell, the chairman of the CPRE's North Wiltshire group, said: "There needs to be a major investment in water supplies, sewerage and public transport to support the proposed increase of 36,000 more houses in Swindon and an additional 13,000 new homes in the surrounding areas.
"Already there are instances of severe sewage overflow; the existing infrastructure cannot cope.
"It is time the Government listened to our concerns over building in the flood plains, for the protection of Coate Water, and for maintaining the separate identities of Swindon's neighbouring communities.
"Expansion outwards has left a dead centre and a fall in the economy, the need now is to support the move for regeneration within Swindon itself."
Under the Regional Spatial Strategy, Swindon has to supply 36,000 new houses by 2026.
Swindon Council has already told Government it has major worries that it does not have enough funding to provide infrastructure, such as roads, schools and public buildings for planned projects.
Now the CPRE has begun lobbying MPs to get the town's housing total reduced by the Government.
And it is calling on members of the public to send their thoughts on the plans to the Government Office For The South West.
"If we don't make our voices heard now it will be too late," said Mrs Spickernell.
"This summer is the last chance for people to let their MPs know what they feel about housing development before housing levels are set for every district in the south west for the next 20 years."
To see details of the Regional Spatial Strategy, and comment on the plan, visit the website at www.gosw.gov.uk.
Your Say YourSwindon
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:23am Wed 14 May 08
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:23am Wed 14 May 08
docklander, swindon says...
8:35am Wed 14 May 08
"Already there are instances of severe sewage overflow; the existing infrastructure cannot cope".
Does it all still flow to Barnfield Road and then into the River Ray. I hope not.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:55am Wed 14 May 08
Polymath, Swindon says...
9:13am Wed 14 May 08
Frontier(s), says...
9:31am Wed 14 May 08
Any suitable land has long since been turned into 'luxury' blocks of flats, many of which now remain unsold and even long-term unfinished as the economy worsens.
Swindon currently has a population of c.180,000.
36,000 new homes means an influx of at least 70,000 new people - where on earth are they going to come from?
mkeen61267, Swindon says...
9:32am Wed 14 May 08
Tobz, says...
9:37am Wed 14 May 08
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
9:40am Wed 14 May 08
john c, swindon says...
10:11am Wed 14 May 08
(I do not mind if my own home is worth a little less as a result)
Frontier(s), says...
10:22am Wed 14 May 08
oldtownbloke, Swindon says...
10:52am Wed 14 May 08
Good luck to them. If they can get our MPs to tow anything but the party line and actually serve the interests of the town, then they deserve a large medal.
Al Smith, Swindon, UK says...
10:56am Wed 14 May 08
Polymath, Swindon says...
10:56am Wed 14 May 08
www.tinyurl.com/3obz
vh
(Portland, Oregon, USA.)
There are pros and cons to focusing growth within an existing urban area, and I suppose in the end it all comes down to individual point of view.
Swindon town centre and the suburbs can accommodate new housing on undeveloped and brownfield land. This is known as intensification. A higher population density makes public transportation more feasible and therefore (a little paradoxically) reduces congestion. However, without large urban extensions (i.e. new suburbs), the housing supply in Swindon may be overly limited and therefore house prices will remain prohibitively high.
Frontier(s), says...
11:09am Wed 14 May 08
Remember the late 60s and 70s - when high rise blocks of flats were seen as the answer to all our housing problems?
As it turns out, all intensification causes are ghettos, crime, drugs and deprived inner city areas.
Why oh why are we ignoring the lessons of recent history?
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:10am Wed 14 May 08
Polymath, Swindon says...
11:30am Wed 14 May 08
I'm talking of adding an extra house here or there. It's about making better use of existing land and infrastructure. Perhaps also adding housing above local shops. It's all about infilling and/or building up when appropriate to the local community.
The council will then have more council tax income per square mile and this used more effectively for resident for amenities such as parks. Communal space where people can actually meet each other. Society has become too insular and it's causing a lot of problems.
I'd say that a lack of education and a poor economy is to blame for ghettos, crime, drugs, deprivation.
Polymath, Swindon says...
11:32am Wed 14 May 08
See, my lack of education. It's criminal!
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:34am Wed 14 May 08
Polymath, Swindon says...
11:53am Wed 14 May 08
mkeen61267, Swindon says...
12:03pm Wed 14 May 08
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:16pm Wed 14 May 08
NIGE, PURTON says...
12:47pm Wed 14 May 08
Robert Feal-Martinez wrote:actually 1% of 70 million is 700,000
70,000 new people - where on earth are they going to come from? What is 1% of 70 million, solve the riddle and you will have your answer.
but you were close
Frontier(s), says...
1:10pm Wed 14 May 08
The council will then have more council tax income per square mile and this used more effectively for resident for amenities such as parks.
Oh yes, I'm sure the additional tax revenue will be used to fund... parks.
Re. my earlier point, it seems that people are keen to ignore past planning mistakes.
Forcing lots of people to live in over-developed areas has never, and will never, result in anything but the kind of places that those areas have always caused in the past.
While, of course, it is people who create ghettos, it is possible to encourage and discourage such behaviour through socio-economic policies. One aspect of that is town planning.
You rarely seen ghettos full of farmers, now do you?
Harry, says...
1:37pm Wed 14 May 08
It will need serious investment, but investment has been sadly lacking over recent years.
Frontier(s), says...
1:53pm Wed 14 May 08
The simple fact of the matter is that the UK, as a whole, is under-developed.
Therefore it's ludicrous to suggest a town like Swindon shouldn't spread but should instead become some built-up, town-wide inner city type area.
Many sociologists believe that flat dwelling is actually bad for human mental health - why are we seemingly hell bent on ensuring that our chickens are not kept in battery conditions and must be free range yet seem to want to force ourselves to live in the kind of conditions we wouldn't wish on animals?
Al Smith, Swindon, UK says...
2:22pm Wed 14 May 08
Have a look at who owns the flats built in the centre of Swindon, I suspect it's BTL landlords and property speculators.
Al Smith, Swindon, UK says...
2:47pm Wed 14 May 08
Taxpower, Swinetown says...
3:33pm Wed 14 May 08
Grumpy, Swindon says...
4:10pm Wed 14 May 08
Taxpower wrote:Now you're talking! Let's start with the ever moaning lot from Wootton Bassett and move on from there.
Council For The Protection of Rural England quite happy to go to Towns, park their cars to shop there. Or maybe we should bar rurals to come to town!
The CPRE have never been fans of any town or city developing regardless of where in the country it might be. I would be interested to look at the social structure of it's members. I suspect they wouldn't fit in with the majority of people who live and work in large towns. In an expanding population people will have to live somewhere, would the CPRE prefer them to live in expanding villages? I suspect not, so the only option is to expand towns and lessen the development in the villages surrounding the towns and cities.
Al Smith, Swindon, UK says...
4:38pm Wed 14 May 08
They're probably the same ones who complain about the noise from tractors and the smell from muck spreading - failing to realise that the countryside is just a big industrial estate (or the agro-industrial complex as the communists called it).
Finally, they probably fall into one of these catergories:
- City/town worker (and/or spouse) who wants a nice house in the country and commutes to work everyday shops in the big town and has some bygone vision of what the countryside is
- 2nd home / holiday home owners who have some bygone vision of what the countryside is
- retired to the country who have some bygone vision of what the countryside is
Rant over...
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
9:18am Thu 15 May 08
Intro to reality, Peartree Enclosure says...
7:47pm Thu 15 May 08
However,unless,a huge amount of drainage infrastructure is built, Cricklade and its envirions will be under water at times of heavy rain. The River Thames developed its pathway over thousands of years to support and allow the passage of normal rainfall, once again we are changing this and expecting nature to cope. If our great myopic councils/government wish to continue with their strategies for building, so be it. I hope they have enough helicopters/tents/em
ergency equipment etc. to help the populace when it happens.
Your sayYourSwindon
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H, Up the Hill says...
8:21am Wed 14 May 08