Building a new community

They said that Wichel was the original name for the area recorded in the Doomesday Book of 1086 and Stowe is an old English word meaning a meeting place.

Planning permission was controversially granted to build 4,500 houses on the 300-plus hectare development between Old Town and the M4 in 2006.

Set out across three neighbourhoods known as West Wichel, Middle Wichel and East Wichel, the area is set to be completed by 2020.

When finished, Wichelstowe, which was previously known as the Southern Development Area, will include employment space, public open space and a country park, shopping and community facilities for residents and three primary schools.

Contractors began building in May 2006 and infrastructure work for the whole site is now well under way.

East Wichel is the first phase of the project delivering 835 homes, 235 of which are provided by Sovereign South+West for affordable rent and HomeBuy schemes.

And one of the top priorities for Sovereign has been to help a new community develop and take shape.

For more than a year they have been working on different community initiatives and the first community group to be formed by local people in the area was the Little Stars toddler group, aimed at helping young mothers who have recently moved to the area.

Terry Black, the neighbourhood investment co-ordinator for Sovereign+West, has been pivotal in helping build the community.

He said: “My role has been to support our residents moving in and living in East Wichel.

“There is a very distinct lack of infrastructure in the area at the moment so I am there to give them a heads up on what is there for them and how they can access local services and facilities.

“The residents are delighted with the housing they are getting but the practicality of living there can be difficult as the development is not completed.

“At the moment there is a bus which goes to the centre of town but, for example, if you have a key meter and it runs out late on a Saturday afternoon it can be quite difficult because you don’t have a local shop just down the road.

“There are difficulties in living there but the housing is really nice and a lot of residents have got used to it. There are three shop units ready and the first one about to be taken up, and a retail centre is currently going through planning so within 18 months East Wichel will be well serviced.

“The area already has a very strong sense of community spirit. Because there aren’t the facilities that there are in other areas, residents have come together and are very supportive of creating community groups, in particular the toddler group – mums often find it difficult to get out and about and meet other people, so this has proved very popular.”

East Wichel Community Primary School, which is being built on land at Croft Sports Centre in Old Town, aims to be complete by September ready for the new school year.

The school opened in a temporary building on the Croft site on September 1 last year and now has 15 reception children on its books.

Headteacher Sue Marshall said starting from the beginning has been exciting for staff and pupils.

“The children have had a fantastic start to their school years,” she said.

“Obviously it is a small classroom for them but they have got some brilliant new equipment and there is plenty of space.

“They have all settled in really well and are very excited about having a new school built which they will move in to in September.

“For me, it has been very exciting starting off from scratch because everything is new and all the parents are very supportive. We have held lots of fundraising events and, for such a small school, we have been able to set up a fundraising group to help with this.

“The children haven’t missed out on anything, they have had some fantastic opportunities.

“I think Wichelstowe is an exciting development. I am sure the new school will provide the hub for the community which it really needs – somewhere central for parents to meet.”

Brian Cleightonhills, capital and asset manager for property services at Swindon Council, said building work of the new school is well under way and on schedule “I am pleased to report that the project has continued to progress on schedule since work started to prepare the site and complete drainage and foundation work,” he said.

“The external construction is now taking shape. The main focus of work at the moment is to complete the external brickwork and roofing to ensure that the building is wind and water tight before the onset of winter and the bad weather.”