It is with surprise and disappointment that we learnt last Tuesday that the Conservative Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, gave the go-ahead for a 700 home estate at Ridgeway Farm. Local Councillors and community activists both in Wiltshire and Swindon have fought a strong campaign to try to stop this development and for this I think they should be thanked for the efforts they made.
It is with surprise and disappointment that we learnt last Tuesday that the Conservative Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, gave the go-ahead for a 700 home estate at Ridgeway Farm. Local Councillors and community activists both in Wiltshire and Swindon have fought a strong campaign to try to stop this development and for this I think they should be thanked for the efforts they made.
If he actually read the report which grants the planning permission, what it actually says is: “In the absence of a 5-year housing land supply in an up-to-date, adopted Local Plan, the [Conservative Government’s] Planning Framework indicates that planning permission should be granted”
In other words, because the Conservatives in Swindon and Wiltshire have been too slow in adopting a Local Plan, the Government felt they could justify granting this development.
Firstly, both Swindon and Wiltshire’s planning officers need to negotiate a fair level of developers’ contributions for this development so that we don’t have the same sham deal negotiated for this development as we did with the Moredon Bridge development, where Swindon eventually lost £2.7m of developers’ money. With significant amounts of developers’ money for this development, Swindon can start to build the infrastructure needed for an expanding North and West Swindon.
While these measures won’t ever be able to bring back the green fields now lost to the Ridgeway Farm housing development, it could prevent a disaster with further housing developments next door to Ridgeway Farm being granted and it could begin to address the traffic gridlock that is now commonplace on North and West Swindon’s roads at rush hour.
Swindon Labour Group Leader