Disappointing decision by Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, on Ridgeway Farm

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.

And following the decision of Eric Pickles there appears to be a consensus view across all groups that he got this decision wrong. That is with the exception of Councillor Dale Heenan, the Conservative Cabinet Member in Swindon. He blamed the Ridgeway Farm decision on the previous Labour Government. I have to say it takes some cheek for Councillor Heenan to blame a decision made by the Conservative Secretary of State on the previous Labour Government who hasn’t been in power for 30 months.
 

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.

But with the decision now made, residents don’t want the political parties to play the blame game, but instead want action. So what needs to happen now?
 

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.

And secondly, both Wiltshire and Swindon Councils need to act quickly to ensure that the Secretary of State is not given an excuse to be able to grant new applications for housing on other green spaces on Swindon’s borders, like at Pry Farm and Wash Pool.
 

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.

Cllr Jim Grant

Swindon Labour Group Leader