THE NEW SWINDON COMPANY, UNION SQUARE and the BSACC

Following a New Swindon company (NSC) forum meeting attended last night by the BSACC chair Karen Leakey (10 Dec. 08), it would seem that plans are afoot for them to work with SBC and turn one of the boarded up areas that will not be redeveloped for at least 3 years, on the recently renamed Union Square site* (bus garage, Davis House etc), into some sort of short term adventure playground for youngsters.
A move in the right direction? Let’s hope so. At least if this does happen it will be an improvement on the views we have to look at now.



With regards to the relocation of Carfax Street health centre, this will be moving to the old Police Station site but not until 2012 and the present building will not be closed until the new one is open. Carlton Street car park will also be moving to the same site.

In the past couple of years representatives of the NSC have attended a number of our monthly meetings, they have also recently joined the Broadgreen Police Tasking Group and have offered to visit the Community Council once again in 2009 to keep us updated on the regeneration progress.



*About Union Square, from the NSC website:

Union Square will be a flagship regeneration project for the town centre, which will provide up to 160,000 sq m of high quality new offices and new homes. It will also help to rejuvenate the town's leisure opportunities, providing new shops, restaurants, cafes and a new hotel, creating a safe and vibrant family friendly area throughout the day and into early evening.
In addition to delivering new buildings, Union Square will include a range of new public realm and facilities to improve local people and the visitor's experience of Swindon. These include the provision of walkable streets and attractive new open public spaces, a new and improved bus interchange, a new facility for the Primary Care Trust, and high quality car parking in a new multi - storey car park.

COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE

SBC started converting a small area of the Broadgreen Centre for use as a community garden back in the middle of October HERE
Two months on and some progress has been made:

CHRISTMAS MEAL, 4 DECEMBER 2008

Members of the Community Council partook in their annual Christmas Meal at the Grove in Drove Road, and all had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Many thanks to Karen Leakey for organising things.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 5TH NOVEMBER 2008

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, John Banville, John and Vi Clark, Karen Coulthard, Stella Edwards, Pam Freegard, Elizabeth Grady, Olive Hitchcock, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Val Purvis, Derek Sutton, Ros Timlin, David Webb.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor, Councillor Derique Montaut, PC Crouch, PC Sophia McIntyre Vice Officer, Matt and Sue O’Sullivan, Tony and Joanne Felstaed

AGENDA - BSACC Monthly Meeting 03 December 2008

WEDNESDAY 03 DECEMBER 2008
7.30 PM in the LOUNGE, BROADGREEN CENTRE.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 1ST OCTOBER 2008

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, John Banville, Karen Coulthard, Stella Edwards, Pam Freegard, Tim French, Elizabeth Grady, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Mr and Mrs Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Sue Osbaldstone, Val Purvis, Ros Timlin.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor, Councillor Derique Montaut and Chris Hunt SBC Community Manager.

Community Garden

Street drinkers, have in recent years used this rather neglected corner of the Broadgreen Centre as a drinking haunt.

Unfortunately,as can be seen from these two pictures, they failed to see the need to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.

The area has even been used as a car park for the Children’s Centre. Pictured Below

Which is one of the reasons some residents thought that the removal of the bushes, bench and fence by Council workmen, on the 13th of October, was in fact for a new car park. Below.

Thankfully, it turned out that the work was simply the beginning of the promised Community Garden, the very last leg of the Streets For Living Project. Unfortunately, the Council failed to inform the residents that they were going to be making a start on it!

Initial works, 15 October 2008 below:

BROADLY SPEAKING OCTOBER 2008

Having seen major alterations to both Gladstone and Salisbury Streets through the Streets For Living project, the final stage of work started a few weeks back. This came as a bit of a surprise to some residents, who thought the removal of old bushes and the digging up of a neglected corner of the Broadgreen Centre signalled the beginnings of a new car park, upon land designated for a garden. After some frantic phone calls fears were allayed when it was discovered that it was in fact being transformed into the promised community garden. When completed the idea will not only be to give residents a pleasant area to relax and socialise, but also to become an ongoing gardening project for the whole of the Broadgreen community to be involved in.

Police recently spent 2 consecutive nights carrying out high visibility operations to clamp down on prostitutes and kerb crawlers who still feel it is acceptable to carry out their ‘business’ on certain roads in the Broadgreen Area. The impact that prostitution and kerb crawling has on the community is devastating and the appointment of a dedicated vice officer is a very welcome move.

Police also recently closed down a property in the area, which had constantly been troubled with drug activity and anti social behaviour. The house is due to be renovated by the landlord, so a close eye will be kept on this house to make sure it is not used again for these purposes before the work is undertaken.

Reports to the Community Council (BSACC) concerning dumped rubbish have slowed a little recently. A couple of months ago the BSACC organised a residents ‘clean up’ day and since then, although pockets of fly tipping are still occurring, it does not appear to be as bad.

Skeetz youth club has now re-opened having been closed for six weeks by the Youth Service. Skeetz opens on a Wednesday evening 6.45pm – 9.15 pm at the Broadgreen centre – all young people between the ages of 13 and 19 are welcome to come along.

The next monthly residents meetings are on 5th November 2008 and 3rd December at 7.30 pm in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre. There is no charge to attend meetings, all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatic members and are invited to come along.

Regeneration at Union Square.

Way back in February 2005 the old Post Office building in Merton Street (which closed in October 2002) was demolished and the Adver hailed it as the start of regeneration in the town centre: HERE and believe it or not, the Police Station and bus garage hit the ground between January and April 2006, now over two and a half years ago.

Since then all we have seen is further demolition taking place, with Davis House being raised to the ground back in February.

No doubt we can look forward to the bus station, Carlton car park and the Health Centre going the same way in the not too distant future, as well. Unfortunately, anybody who may be hoping to see a vast array of new buildings quickly rising from the ashes on this site may be a little disappointed because if you read the New Swindon Company Chief Executive Peter James October update on his blog HERE you will see that he writes about Union Square as a:
very large scheme and will not be fully completed for at least 10 years as it will be built on a phased basis dependant on overall demand.

This regeneration lark certainly isn’t a quick operation is it!

Let’s hope when the new bricks are laid (or more likely concrete poured) it is of better quality/design and last far longer than the attempts to regenerate this area have been in the past. After all Davis House, the bus station and the car park, none of which were particularly inspiring in design, were only put up in the 1980’s and have not had a very long shelf life have they!

Wouldn’t it be nice if the now boarded up areas mentioned above were at least opened up and grassed over, albeit temporarily?
This is something a resident of Central Swindon posted some months back on the Talkswindon Forum to Councillor Phil Young whose responsibilities as a Cabinet Member include regeneration. Councillor Young said at the time it was something he was looking into, but it doesn’t seem to have moved on so far. HERE

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 3rd SEPTEMBER 2008

PRESENT: Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, Maria Carchedi, John and Vi Clark, Stella Edwards, John and Pam Freegard, Tim French, Olive Hitchcock, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Rebecca McIntosh, Sue Osbaldstone, Val Purvis, Peter Thelwall, Ros Timlin.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor, Councillor Derique Montaut

Report on the Progress of the Broadgreen Community Plan

With thanks to Community Planner Holly Huber for this report.

On Saturday 27th September, Community Plan members met to look at Health and Well-being, both physical and mental, and why this is important for ourselves and the communities we live in. We had two guest speakers: Ann Mooney from SUNS, a charity promoting the rights and interests of people suffering from mental health illnesses. We also welcomed Cheryl Heynes from Lifestyles, (part-funded by the Primary [Health] Care Trust), who focus on increasing adult participation in activity or 'exercise', up to the recommended target of 30 minutes, 5 times a week.

They were both inspiring speakers. Those who were there said that they felt they now understand far more about mental health, (which can affect 1 in 6 adults at some point in their lives), and the knock-on effects that it can have on the lives of those around them. As well as being the Director of a charity, Ann Mooney is the first mental health patient in the UK to become the Chairwoman of a Mental Health Trust. This is by any measure an achievement, but even more remarkable for someone who very openly and honestly talks about her own situation: Ann has brain-damage, takes up to 50 pills a day, and still suffers from mental ill-health and a physical disability. The route to Ann's successful career was through becoming a volunteer, and Ann now has a very important - and paid - job which she loves.

Cheryl Heyne showed us all how easy, fun and social it can be to get involved in physical activities, whether this be walking, dancing, or swimming, or even just playing with a ball while sitting on your sofa watching TV! Any form of movement that gets you a little short of breath and a bit warmer, helps to build up strength, flexibility, mobility. Better health keeps you well in mind and body, and helps to prevent illness. You can also do 10 minutes of activity at a time, if that suits you better.

The aim of the day was to show how we all in our communities can use the Broadgreen Plan to promote better health, prevent ill-health, or reduce the inequalites in health experienced by people living in different areas. We can do this in two main ways. Firstly we can improve the environment and the factors which affect our health from outside. Secondly, we can take a lead in promoting good health for ourselves by ourselves by trying to meet the eating “five fruit & vegetables a day“ target, and taking some gentle form of exercise to built up our health to prevent, manage or reduce the impact of illnesses and conditions. Both of these aims are affected by the quality of environment around us, which is why the Plan can help support better health in Broadgreen.

The Community Plan Partnership meets again on the 15th October 2008 here, in the lounge at 6.30pm-7.30pm. All those who are interested in making a positive contribution to improving the area, and building up the strength of this community to see these changes through, or would just like to know a bit more about how they might be able to help will be most welcome. No one will be asked to do anything they don't feel comfortable with, and there are many different ways you can be part of the plan's success. We will start by forming small groups to tackle important issues like crime, traffic, litter, open space, local skills, and better activites or facilities for young people. Please join us if you want to be part of making a real difference to this area.

The next Community Plan Saturday event will be on Saturday 25th October from 10 -1pm, in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre, when we will be looking at the local economy of Broadgreen. Jobs, training, skills, and opportunities affect the earnings of people living in this community. Improving the chances and income of people would alter the reputation of Broadgreen, begin to chip away at some of the discrimination people living in this area might suffer from those outside it. Beliefs about the area affects market 'confidence', which IN TURN can affect house prices, local shops and services, life chances, jobs and earnings, among other things. We will also be doing an exercise called "The Yellow Brick Road" on how to set up a Community Shop/ Cafe/ IT point, which will be enjoyable, and your ideas are important, and will be valued.

So that's Wednesday 15th October 6.30-7.30pm for the Community plan group meeting and Saturday 25th October 10-1pm for the Improve your Local Economy event. I hope you can join us. If you want more information please call Holly Huber on 01793 466415.

Monthly Community Plan public event. September 27th 2008

The topic for the morning is 'Health and well-being'.

This will be held at the Broadgreen Centre in Salisbury Street, between 10am and midday.

There will be two guest speakers, one talking about mental health issues and the other from the Lifestyle Unit.

Any Broadgreen residents wishing to attend and input into the plan are very welcome to do so, infact we positively encourage people to attend!

SBC Open Space Audit. Central Ward - Open space being eroded.

This audit was only adopted four years ago, and yet between then and now, Central Ward has lost five hectares of outdoor sports facilities. It went from 13.82ha to 8.83ha.

How did this happen? Well originally SBC included the GWR sports ground in Shrivenham Road, which will allegedly one day become another bland housing estate.

With no chance of replacing any of this lost open space within the Central Area, it is important to protect what is left, and what is important to the Broadgreen Area is of course The County Ground.

This is why creating a Community Plan is so very important. It is up to the residents of Broadgreen to become involved and define the issues that are important to this community.

One of the issues will surely be retaining all the green open spaces at the County Ground. Even though people may say the cricket field and athletics track are not open space because they are fenced and do not allow public access, the fact is when you are over there you have the perception of open space, something most people appreciate especially when living in an area like Broadgreen, where there is high density terraced housing and little greenery.
To pinch an 'official' description, the County Ground is a visual amenity for many people and needs to remain so.


Top. Existing recreational areas in 2004. With the GWR sports ground artistically outlined!

Bottom. The more up to date version (2006)

Feed back from July Community Plan public event

The Uses of Outdoor Space: Community Plan Open Space Day , 26th July 2008

These are some of the ways Broadgreen community members and guests defined the ways in which public and private outdoor space can be used.

Positive associations of public open space
· Peace & quiet, Enjoyment
· Seating, Congregating, (i.e. open air religious services)
· Sleeping,
· Walking the dog,
· Courting
· A variety of things to do and places to do them in, including
· Multiplayer parks
· Fresh air & exercise
· Freedom: From traffic, to run/play, to relax
· Permission to use: fences, impediments, Access to & thru paths, etc

Wildlife habitat:
Loss & re-establish to connect with wildlife: Birds, squirrels
Water – natural and artificial features

Sporting & leisure activities and adventure:
Football, games, cheering on, watching sports, camping, caravanning
Play - in playgrounds & informally, supervising grand/children’s play activities. Holiday locations often chosen for vistas and views.

Celebrations & Social Activities:
Festivals & events i.e. the Mela, Community Cohesion Day.
BBQs, People watching, Meeting / gatherings

Sensory:
Noise, Colour, Metaphoric / Symbolic meanings of plants, landscape and seasons etc, Smell of fresh cut grass, Smell/ feel of damp leaves in autumn,
Public to private spectrum: Parks – formal, well-managed places – through to “wilder” informal spaces, then Private spaces: Gardens. Unadopted space (land not apparently owned by anyone) has questionable ownership usage & control.

Negative Associations:
Abuse / lack of care for public space
Dumping/ broken glass/ litter
Conflicts between age groups
Development pressure on “Brownfield” sites – parks sometimes included!
Caution, pollution, Shrubberies hide rubbish
Drug taking paraphernalia badly disposed: Litter – needles
Anti-Social Behaviour: drinking, urinating

BROADLY SPEAKING SPTEMBER 2008

As reported last month, a Designated Public Place Order now covers the Broadgreen, County Ground and Tescos area, giving the Police extra powers to arrest or confiscate alcohol from people who may be drinking and causing a general nuisance to residents. This is something the BSACC put forward to the Council for consideration last year, and we are pleased to report that the DPPO signs are now being put up around the area.
Back in July, in the hopes of improving the prostitution problem, the BSACC organised a meeting with Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett and the Broadgreen Police Team. At the time people felt the outcome fell more sympathetically on the side of helping the prostitutes rather than the residents, but the good news is the Police have listened and have implemented a dedicated Vice Officer who will work with the Proactive Crime Target Team.
Throughout the summer we have received a string of complaints concerning the activities from the clients that use the Broadgreen Breakfast Club (BBC), which operates from St. Luke’s Church. It would seem that an hour or so before it opens, people are congregating outside, drinking and disturbing residents and when it shuts a group then move to the Broadgreen Centre play area where they continue drinking and being a nuisance. The BBC and the church have both been made aware of these problems, but they feel that their responsibilities only cover the Church Hall, its immediate environs and the hours of opening, so we will be pursuing these problems further.
The Broadgreen Community Plan has been moving forward since the first planning event back in January. On Wednesday 15^th October at 6pm in the Broadgreen Centre there will be a meeting to form a steering group, discuss funding and look to employing a project manager to take the plan forward on a more professional basis. If you live in the Broadgreen Area and think you would like to be part of the steering group, you are most welcome to attend.
The next monthly residents meetings are on 1^st October and 5^th November 2008 at 7.30 pm in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre. There is no charge to attend meetings, all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatic members and are invited to attend.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 6th AUGUST 2008

PRESENT: Chair person Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey.

Also Present: 17 residents, John Taylor, John Bishop St. Luke’s, Nick Conlan and Leslie Knott – Compliance Officers – SBC Parking Services, Councillor Derique Montaut, 2 drug workers from DHI.

BROADLY SPEAKING AUGUST 2008

In our endeavour to highlight the major problem of prostitution that blights a number of roads in our area, we arranged a meeting between residents that are particularly affected by this and Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett, Broadgreen NPT beat manager PC Paul Crouch and Richard Palusinski of the Crime and Disorder Team, to see if the problem could be eradicated once and for all. The outcome of the meeting was not exactly what the residents wanted to hear because a quick fix through the judicial system, CS Paul Howlett insisted, would not give us a long-term solution to street prostitution, but by tackling the underlying problem of drug dependency that most of the prostitutes have, along with targeting kerb crawlers and other associated crimes, he was confident that it could be successfully stopped. The Broadgreen Neighbourhood Police Team has already worked extremely hard to substantially reduce the number of ‘girls’ working on the streets.

Three SBC Cabinet Members also spent time in the Broadgreen Area recently. Deputy Leader of the Council Fionuala Foley, Cllr. Brian Mattock and Cllr. Colin Lovell met with a group of residents, walked the area and had a discussion about some of the problems here. We very much appreciate their visit and enjoyed a positive and friendly meeting. All three cabinet members have offered to come back and re-visit us in the near future.

The Community Council has organised a clean up day for the area on Saturday 2nd of August, this is in association with Swindon Council and the Broadgreen Police Team, as this column will probably not be published until after the event, a full report will follow in the September edition.

A couple of weeks ago the Goan Association put on a festival at the County Ground to celebrate their culture. A number of members of the Community Council were invited and had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. So congratulations to all concerned in organising this, their first festival in Swindon, and we look forward to many more.

The next monthly residents meetings are on the 6th August when the Parking Department will be guest speakers and the 3rd September. Meetings start at 7.30 pm at the Broadgreen Centre. There is no charge to attend meetings and all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatically members and are invited to attend.

MINUTES OF THE BSACC MEETING HELD AT BROADGREEN ON WEDNESDAY 2nd July 2008

PRESENT: Chair person Karen Leakey, Secretary, Kevin Leakey.

ALSO PRESENT:- 12 residents, Holly Huber SBC Community Planner, PCSO’s Stuart Bird and Rees Turner, John Taylor, Councillor’s Derique Montaut and Junab Ali.

BROADLY SPEAKING JUNE 2008

Following on from last year’s Cohesion Event and thanks to a grant from the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation, and generous donations from Planet Bollywood and John Taylor MBE, the Community Council were able to put on another highly successful afternoon at the Broadgreen Centre. Officially opened by Swindon Borough Councils Director of Communities Chris Sivers, many people from the area came together and enjoyed an afternoon of top class entertainment in the hall from the Great Western Youth Band and the Charlotte Johnson School of Dance and Musical Theatre.
Once again we were blessed with marvellous weather and in the park we were able to hold not only a cycling safety event, but also Jake the Juggler and his unicycles, juggling clubs and diablo’s amongst other things, for all to try out plus Swindon Town’s Football in the Community team who held a target practice session.
Unfortunately the bouncy castle didn’t turn up, but enthusiasm didn’t wane because the 5-aside football competition, organised by community sports coach Doug Imrie, kept dozens of youngsters entertained in some hard fought battles of skill and determination.
Finishing off with free multi-cultural food, which was enjoyed by young and old alike, community poet Tony Hillier captured this and the whole afternoons events in his own unique style.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who gave up their time in organising and putting on the event and equally all the residents that came along and made it a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Please note our monthly residents meetings are now held on the first Wednesday of every month in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre, Salisbury Street, 7.30 pm start. Don’t miss out on your chance to have your say about the area, there is no membership charge or fee to attend the monthly meetings and all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatically members and are invited and encouraged to attend. Residents who cannot attend the main meeting or would rather speak privately to a Community Council representative will now have the chance to do so as we will be available between 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm, before our monthly meetings.

BROADLY SPEAKING JULY 2008

The Broadgreen Centre play park and recreation area is provided for all residents to use and enjoy. Unfortunately there have been a number of worrying reports that people are being made to feel very unwelcome by some of the young people that use the area. We request that parents whose children use the park without adult supervision, make their offspring aware that they should not expect to enjoy exclusive access to the area and that it is there for everyone, no matter who they are.
Following talks between Swindon Borough Council and the Community Council, SBC have agreed to a resident clean up day for the Broadgreen Area and have offered their support. Fly tipping, bin bags and litter only serves to give a negative perception of our area and so we hope residents will be prepared to give up a couple of hours of their time to spruce up the area. You never know, it may encourage other residents to be more considerate to their neighbours and take a bit more pride in the area that we all live in. Further details of date and time will be forthcoming in the near future.
The Broadgreen Community Plan meetings are continuing on the last Saturday of each month. The July meeting will be held on Saturday 26^th, in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre and the theme will be Landscape & Open Spaces. All residents from the area are invited to come along and join in.
A number of residents in the area have started Neighbourhood Watch Schemes in their roads. As well as the more obvious benefit of knowing that people are keeping a closer eye on what is going on in the immediate vicinity of their homes, it is also a great way for neighbours to get to know each other a bit better and tackle problems together. The NWS liaison officer is Margaret Anscombe, any residents wishing to start their own scheme can contact Margaret directly on 01793 507864 www.nhw-wilts.org.uk
The next monthly residents meetings are on the 2^nd July and the 6^th August, 7.30 pm at the Broadgreen Centre. There is no charge to attend meetings and all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatically members and are invited to attend.

BROADLY SPEAKING MAY 2008

The Broad Street Area Community Council has been representing the residents of the Broadgreen area for over 35 years. In this time the area has seen many changes, and in recent years the biggest change has been the influx of people from all over the globe, making this area the most ethnically diverse area in Swindon and indeed probably Wiltshire. The community council is your local residents association and despite the many changes, remains the one body striving for improvements in this area for everyone. All people living in Broadgreen are automatically members and are welcome to come to our monthly meetings and bring their problems and concerns to the table, so we can continue improving the quality of life for all.

We have re-launched our Broadgreen Community Archive project and are pursuing funding from the lottery. We are looking for a wide participation in this project, encompassing both young and old, male and female and across the spectrum of cultures, in a bid to conserve and enhance our diverse heritage and leave a lasting history for future generations.

You may have noticed that the old fence around the Broadgreen Centre has been removed and is being replaced by shorter looped top fencing, this is part of the final stage of the Streets For Living project and will also include replacement goal posts and a community garden at the Centre.

Please note our monthly residents meetings are now on the first Wednesday of every month, instead of the second Wednesday. They will still be held in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre, 7.30 pm start and all residents in the Broadgreen area are invited and encouraged to attend.
Residents who cannot attend the main meeting or would rather speak privately to a Community Council representative will now have the chance to do so as we will be available between 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm, before our monthly meetings.

MINUTES OF THE BSACC MEETING HELD AT BROADGREEN ON WEDNESDAY 2nd April 2008

PRESENT: - Chairperson:- Karen Leakey; Vice Chair & Treasurer: - Richard Coates;
Secretary: - Kevin Leakey; Minute Secretary: - John Phillips;

ALSO PRESENT:- 10 residents, Ward Cllr. Derique Montaut; Holly Huber; Ray Aldridge, Canal Trust.

BROADLY SPEAKING APRIL 2008

Last year the Community Council put on a really successful Cohesion Event at the Broadgreen Centre, and once again, thanks to a grant from the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation, on Saturday the 26^th of April between 2 and 6 pm we are having another one and all residents of the Broadgreen Area are invited to come along, join in and mix with each other.

This year in the main hall, as well as entertainment and an under 10’s fancy dress competition, there will be displays promoting the Community Plan that residents are working towards, with different departments from the Council available to talk to residents about associated problems and ideas. With such a big interest being shown about the possibility of a new canal in the centre of Swindon, the Canal Trust will also have a stand and they will be able to explain the plans first hand and answer any questions and concerns. Outside, there will be another 5-aside football tournament as well as children’s sports and tug of war. The afternoon will finish with a free multi-cultural food event. Look out for leaflets with full details of the event.

The next Community Plan meeting will be about transport and movement, this will take place on the morning of the Cohesion Event, 26^th April, in the Lounge at the Broadgreen Centre between 10 am and midday. Open to all Broadgreen residents, we encourage everybody who has an interest in the future direction of this area to come along have their say, after all would people prefer the Broadgreen’s future to be lead by ourselves, the residents, or people from outside the area with their own agenda’s?

Please note, from April onwards, our monthly residents meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of every month, instead of the second Wednesday. They will still be held in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre, 7.30 pm start, all residents in the Broadgreen area are invited and encouraged to attend.

BROADLY SPEAKING MARCH 2008

There will be no Saturday meeting in March for the Broadgreen Community Plan, however on Saturday the 29^th of March, 10 am to 12 noon, there will be a final celebration to mark the end of the Streets for Living project. A parade through the four streets will be followed by a marching display by the Britannia Majorettes. Then at 11 am in the main hall there will be a band concert by the Great Western Youth Brass Band who will be joined by a singing group from the Swindon Youth Service. Refreshments will be available and all Broadgreen residents are welcome.

On Saturday 26 April we will once again be putting on a Cohesion event at the Broadgreen Centre. Having obtained some of the funding for this from the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation, to which we are extremely grateful, we were hoping that the rest would come from SBC’s Grassroots grant, especially as the first priority for eligibility was for Community Festivals: ‘The Council wishes to fund projects or activities that fund festivals in local neighbourhoods or that celebrate the diversity of local communities of interest & identity’.

Unfortunately despite ticking the boxes and putting on such a successful event last year, bringing together as it did, many different diverse areas of the community in an afternoon of fun, food and sports, the powers that be decided that as there were more applications than funding available, organisations which had not previously received any sort funding from the council should take priority, so we were deemed to be one of 5 applications out of 35 to be unsuccessful. However, we will not be beaten that easily and private donations have assisted in the funding of this years event.

Our monthly residents meeting is held in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre on the second Wednesday of every

BROADLY SPEAKING FEBRUARY 2008

The first public meeting looking at resident’s views on the content of our Broadgreen Community Plan took place on Saturday 26^th January. If you have any views or comments about the future direction of this area, want to find out what it is all about or simply wish to socialise, then please come along to a future meeting. They will hopefully be held on the last Saturday of each month at the Broadgreen Centre in Salisbury Street. We are optimistic that these meetings, which are open to all Broadgreen residents, will be well supported and become a monthly feature in people’s diaries.

A decision on the planning appeal for the George Whites site in Manchester Road has now been made. Despite the planning committee turning the plans down on a number of points, the planning inspector didn’t agree and has now given permission for the site to be demolished, and in its place a 3 and 4 storey flat complex to be built. The 4 storey building on the corner with Corporation Street was deemed as an “appropriate feature, marking this prominent ‘gateway’ in a satisfactory manner”! No provision for affordable housing need be included in the redevelopment and 24 off road parking spaces will be included. With a precedent having now been set for taller buildings on a corner junction, we now have to sit tight and see if any other owners of prominent corner properties fancy following suit.

Whilst on the subject of planning, the owners of the old laundry site in Aylesbury Street recently had their planning application turned down and are now looking at ways to alter the proposed building to be more sympathetic to the surrounding 2 storey homes. They hope that a new plan can be put forward that will be more acceptable to all and one that will gain planning permission.

BROADLY SPEAKING JANUARY 2008

Firstly we would like to wish you all a happy new year and hope you enjoyed the Christmas break.
A Broadgreen Strategy, led by the Community Council, giving SBC and other bodies guidance and a clear direction on the way residents wish to see the area develop, is going to be implemented in our area within the next 18 months or so. For this to be successful, all residents will have the opportunity to input their ideas towards a document covering a wide range of issues. Broadgreen will be the first area outside of the Parishes to plan and achieve this.

At the December planning committee meeting the proposed plans for a 6-storey 72-apartment development on the former laundry site in Aylesbury Street was deferred until January. Although the plans had been slightly revised, they were basically the same. Amongst the concerns raised by a number of the committee were the size and design of the proposals and 106 contributions. As a community we should be very concerned about the creeping in of over bearing multi storey developments into what is a terraced area. Comments on the proposals by Thames Water were also rather alarming. They have concerns that the sewage system in Central Swindon is at capacity now and new developments will make it worse i.e. sewage flooding and an adverse environmental impact on the community.

On the 15th January between 7.30-9.30pm the Community Council are holding an informal drop in evening at the Broadgreen Centre Main Hall in Gladstone St. if you are interested in becoming more involved in community issues or just want to pop in and socialise then please feel free to do so, there will be free refreshments available. Also attending will be Forward Planning Officers from Swindon Council regarding the Central Area Action plan, a Community Planner who will be able to tell you more about the Broadgreen Strategy, Voluntary Action and the Broadgreen Police team.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 9TH JANUARY 2008

PRESENT: Chair person Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary, Kevin Leakey
Also Present:30 Broadgreen Residents, John Taylor S4L, Councillor Derique Montaut, Steve Harcourt - Director Environment and Health SBC, Bill Fisher – Director Swindon Services, Richard Crutchley New Swindon Company.

Broad Street Area Community Council

The Broad Street Area Community Council has set up it's very own blog page so everyone can access information and also just recently people have been knocking the hard work, time and effort the people of this area put in. We have decided to publish all the work which is undertaken by residents and record (photograph's) etc the work we are doing - this may also encourage other residents to join with us too.

Welcome

What's going on in the Broadgreen Area? Just keep looking here.

From west to east - Wellington Street to Copse Avenue and north to south - The railway line to Fleming Way/Shrivenham Road, the Broad Street Area Community Council will endeavour to keep you informed about anything and everything that may or may not be of interest to you about our area.