The area includes the popular Designer Outlet – but the retail venue's success has come with a heavy price.

Queues of cars trying to get into the centre at weekends, particularly during busy shopping times like November and December and for special events, cause very long tailbacks. Many neighbours describe how they have felt trapped in their own homes, or say they have had to restrict their activities to avoid trying to drive to or from their property on certain days. 

Candidates will have been made very aware of the strength of local feeling on this. 
Similarly, those living in the area will want a solution to what has become known as the Rodbourne pong – an unpleasant smell that drifts over the district, often driving people indoors. 

Its source has not been identified – but the ward councillors would dearly like the issue to be resolved. Similarly – although it is not a decision for the borough council to make – ward members will be trying to persuade health authorities to keep the pharmacy in Rodbourne Road open. 

While the Rodbourne area grew up around the GWR works in the late 19th and early 20th century, the residential areas of Toothill and part of Westlea, to the west of Great Western Way, are much later additions to the town and part of its post-war expansion. 
The ward was created in 2012 when Swindon had its boundaries radically redrawn and the large Western ward was chopped into two – Rodbourne Cheney, and Mannington and Western, with the latter picking up some of Toothill and Westlea. 

But whatever its make up or name, the area has been solidly Labour. In  2012, when all three of its seats were contested, the party won them all with more than 50 per cent of the votes. 

There are two independent candidates standing here this year, one as part of the anti-Covid restriction alliance and one for the right-wing For Britain Movement. 

Those candidates might have an impact on the voting – but this is a still a seat Labour will be counting on if the party has any hope of overturning the Conservatives' majority in the council chamber.

Meet the candidates

Ian Baxter (The For Britain Movement)

No response to requests for information or photograph.

Deborah Fine (Independent)

"I care passionately about civil liberties, democracy, and human rights, which is why I am standing as an independent candidate to call for an immediate end to the current Covid lockdown which has disproportionately restricted our freedoms to travel, mix with others, congregate and protest peacefully, and express our opinions freely.

"Individual liberty and the freedom to shape our own lives according to our own choices is the most precious gift we have, which is why I am also saying No to discriminatory and undemocratic vaccine passports. 

"I am a strong supporter of small, independent businesses, and should I be elected I will campaign tirelessly for additional financial support for local businesses to assist them to reopen in Covid-secure environments without the need for vaccine passports. 

Suresh Gattapur (Conservative)

"I have lived here in West Swindon for the past 16 years, my children attended Westlea Primary School and my family enjoy local amenities like Lydiard Park. 

"As a parish councillor I have worked hard to improve our local community and deliver value for money to taxpayers. I have taken part in a number of ‘clean and green’ projects, helped plant thousands of bulbs in local parks and successfully worked with local food outlets to invest in new bins to help minimise litter. 

"I also recently organised a walkathon to help raise funds a BMX track to be installed in the Rivermead Industrial Estate and have helped distribute meals to frontline workings during the pandemic. 

"I want the best for our community and if elected as your borough councillor I promise that I will continue to champion our area and ensure that our collective voice is heard."

Nicky Iddon (Green)

"I have lived in Rodbourne for more than 25 years and am proud to call Swindon my home. 

"I am passionate about protecting wildlife and the environment. I’m also dedicated to delivering an equal and inclusive society in which everyone thrives.

"Nearly 25 per cent of people in Swindon are under 20 and need green jobs to secure their future. Our older and disabled residents need services to allow them to live to their highest potential. Our cultural diversity enriches our collective life and should be celebrated.  

"Some of the immediate issues I’d tackle if elected would be: retrofitting our aged, leaky housing and working with local education/business establishments to train up a local workforce with the required expertise; implementing a regular, reliable electric bus network and joined-up cycle and walking paths to reduce dependence on cars; and protecting and restoring wildlife habitat through wildlife corridors across and beyond the borough."

Deborah King (Liberal Democrat)

"I have lived in Swindon for 13 years but have known it for much longer as my husband is Swindon born and bred. 

"I work as a wedding registrar in Wiltshire. I volunteer for Prospect in retail and during the lockdown I was a Covid-19 tester at a local secondary school. 

"Central areas of Swindon – like Mannington and Western – have been set back by the lockdowns. 

"The Conservatives' expensive road schemes will not deliver a greener, safer environment nor do they have a plan to provide good jobs for our young people, who have been especially hard hit by the pandemic. 

"Only communities working together, based on the Liberal Democrat policies of fairness and putting people first, can do that. So, vote Lib Dem on May 6 – for projects and policies that work for Mannington and Western."

Kevin Small (Labour)

"I have represented Mannington & Western ward since 2012 and lived in the Rodbourne part of the ward all his life. 

"Until recently I worked as referee development officer for the Wiltshire Football Association. 

"During my time as councillor, I have saved Rodbourne’s allotments and the Even Swindon library from closure; campaigned for improvements to the Toothill Village Centre, funding for which was cut by this Tory council, as well as being a strong voice for residents in Westlea over the council’s disgraceful delay in completing Mead Way and calling for urgent action to be taken to tackle the subsidence and resurfacing needed on Whitehill Way. 

"I am also leading the campaign to save the Rodbourne pharmacy, and as Labour’s finance lead, I found the £5m of real money to save the Oasis, at no extra cost to council taxpayers. Swindon deserves better – a Labour council will deliver this."