Thamesdown Drive extension

This is in spite of local residents and drivers from further afield having suffered various problems for two decades or more.

They have long clamoured for improvements, and they could be forgiven for thinking they currently hear the faint rustle of their hopes disappearing into the long grass.

As an alternative to the extension, the local authority has announced improvements to the Cheney Manor Industrial Estate. Quite how this is supposed to constitute an alternative, however, is beyond us.

Yes, it will perhaps improve the long-term prospects of the industrial estate, but it will do nothing to alleviate the traffic-related suffering of many people in North and West Swindon.

Surely it would be better to address the most readily-apparent problem first, even if doing so carries the greater expense.

Not doing so makes about as much sense as investing in a new door knocker for one’s house when the roof has fallen in, or buying new wheelnuts for a car whose engine has fallen out.

There is a lot to be said for freshening up industrial estates and making them more appealing to potential tenants, but if the estates sit in a town where traffic regularly grinds to a crawl or a halt, those same potential tenants are likely to be put off.

The council, which everybody can acknowledge is under severe financial pressure, would do well to reconsider its strategy here before things get worse.