Feckless & Cowardly Conservative Councillors Hang Parishes Out To Die

There's an awful lot of skulking happening around Swindon's Civic Offices at present and with good reason.

The biggest transfer of power at local government level in Swindon since the creation of the Borough in 1997 is currently afoot with the foisting upon of Borough responsibilities to current parishes and the newly (yet to properly be created) ones.

As a result of this, there's a scramble to set the parish precept (the amount with the annual council tax bill that covers the services carried out by the parish within your area) with all these newly foisted upon services suddenly having to be taken into account. This is quite a shock administratively and politically as many simply cut the grass until recently.

Haydon Wick has voted a 50% increase in tax.

Stratton has voted a 27% increase in tax.

Wroughton has voted a 16.5% increase for a band D property.

Meanwhile the Borough Council has not raised council tax in Swindon since 2007, teetered on the brink of service-provision oblivion, dumped said services into the laps of parishes (and where they've not existed, just forced their undemocratic creation), and seen them have no choice but to raise tax to eye-watering levels.

Other authorities have and are doing it differently. Surrey County Council is proposing a 15% council tax increase, it, like Swindon, is Conservative-run and has had enough of government nationally sticking it's fingers in it's ears and thinking if it can't hear, everything's fine.

Swindon Borough Council's ruling Tories have done nothing of the sort, they have axed, cut and closed services while they could have been lobbying parliament nationally with the help of their Conservative MPs and putting their heads above the parapet and fighting for the people of Swindon.

But they've not. They've done nothing.

Swindon Borough Council's Conservatives are feckless, cowardly and irresponsible with the future of the Borough.

But I'm sure in the next financial year those three talents will be devolved to parishes.

Welcome to the Rotten Borough (now with 50% more parish for 50% more money).

Roads to Nowhere?

Stagecoach in Swindon is rejigging routes, numbers and times in the regular merry-go-round of Swindon bus routes. Remember that Thamesdown passengers in East Swindon have seen their 1/1A in the last few years go to a split route number 2, rejoined to the 1/1A and restoring the link to West Swindon and recently again cut back to be it's own number 2 East Swindon-only service.

Merry-go-round indeed.

Stagecoach's changes which come in next week has already raised the hackles of Wroughton folk for rerouting the number 9 via Wharf Road (a dicey road if ever there was one), but it will service Waitrose and Wichelstowe, which is to be welcomed.

However, scant details on other routes and times seem to have gone unnoticed, but passengers in West Swindon are in for a shock as the 8 and 9 serving Freshbrook and Toothill are renumbered to the number 10, and continue from town to Kingsdown. 

It doesn't seem so bad, until you finally find a map and discover what's in store. The number 10 will run from town to Toothill, Freshbrook and then terminate at the Link Centre, returning to town via the same route.

You can see, on paper, at least, the sense of removing as many route miles as possible from the main roads, which at peak times, all over town, throw all operator's times into a cocked hat. But passengers will now find that whereas Freshbrook to town passengers will have a faster journey time to town (taken as Freshbrook Centre to the Bus Station, currently 27 minute weekday daytimes, changing to 22 minutes), their Toothill neighbours lose out. Journey times for Toothill passengers to the Link Centre will now more than double (taken as Toothill Village Tavern to Link Centre, currently 5 minutes, changing to 13 minutes). 

The frequency remains at every 10 minutes weekday daytimes, but all buses will now travel directly along Station Road to the Bus Station, abandoning Farnsby Street, Commercial Road, and Regent Circus. 

Is Stagecoach shooting itself in both feet? Once in Wroughton, and for good measure, once again in Freshbrook and Toothill?