The Battle for Coate Is Lost

The battle for land close to Coate Water Country Park has been lost, the planning decision, which went to appeal, has now been granted.

890 homes will be built on land at Commonhead and the decision to build the Great Western Hospital over a decade ago unlocked the land and made any planning refusal difficult to justify.

52,000 people did not want this, the MP for South Swindon did not want this, some majority councillors privately did not want this.

Apart from Persimmon, who in Swindon wanted this?

Swindon Centric Says ; The battle for Coate is over, but the battle for Swindon's other green fields is just beginning. Long term planning now demands voters become heavily involved and stand over the shoulders of Swindon Borough Council and it's councillors watching their every move and decision.

They work for us.

Forward Swindon Makes Worthy Nod To Richard Jefferies Past

Swindon's literary son, Richard Jefferies is to gain a piece of long-overdue official appreciation on Monday in the form of something he would have been wholly in favour of, a footpath.

Led by our town's regeneration company, Forward Swindon, a simple footpath linking Coate Water with the Richard Jefferies will be formally opened by Mayor Ray Ballman.

The footpath is part of a longer-term plan to preserve, protect and promote the many links Swindon has with the author and naturalist, Richard Jefferies.

Swindon Says ; "I began to breathe a new air and to have a fresher aspiration..."

Coate Water To Have Its Day(s) In Bristol

The decision on whether to allow houses to be built near Coate Water will be made at a planning hearing which is due to start in Bristol on Tuesday 15th November.

Swindon Centric Says ; Is Coate Water as we know it living on borrowed time?

Does Swindon Need A Fanfare For The Common Land?

The Coate building decision is now in the hands of officials in Bristol, the Core Strategy response stunned the council, so now's time to step back and consider the bigger picture.

Swindon needs to expand, for a collection of reasons, but sustainability is increasingly coming to the fore. Is now the time for Swindon to seek to designate land as 'common land' and prevent development or inappropriate use of it for the long-term?

Our town has many pockets of land that the Borough owns, Coate Water, Lydiard Park, Lawn, the open spaces of the post-war developments at Covingham, and Nythe, the list goes on. But should we now consider letting a ring around our town to stay as it is, green and made public for all?

Swindon Centric Says ; Swindon does not have a greenbelt, but that doesn't mean we can't protect those areas of land that the town wants to protect. It would make a statement about our town's environmental credentials.

Thoughts anyone?

Coate Building Plan Turned Down!

Unconfirmed reports are that Swindon Borough Council's Planning Committee has turned down the application to build on land near Coate Water.

Swindon Centric : A great big, massive hand to those who voted against the building, Councillor Dale Heenan, in charge of the committee, well-bloody-done Sir!