New Plans for Stagecoach Bus Depot
Churchill Retirement Living, a British retirement property developer, has exchanged contracts subject to planning conditions with Stagecoach for replacing their depot site with 61 retirement apartments. This is viewed as a good use of the site but there are some design & access issues that need to be addressed.
Council candidate for Eastcott Manetta Rodrigues comments:
"The sixty one retirement apartments proposed to be built on the Stagecoach Depot site will be positive assets to the Senior Citizens of Swindon. Some residents have raised concerns over some details of this development. I feel that once these concerns have been ironed out this project will indeed serve a good purpose of providing accomodation opportunities for Senior Citizens."
Creating Parishes
Swindon Borough Council is planning to divide Swindon into areas to be governed by Parish Councils. In addition to a 4% rise in Council tax announced for 2016/17, a new parish precept would lead to a rise in council tax bill of at least £120 & probably more. A public meeting has been arranged on the 17th February 2016 at 7pm at Conmonweal School to discuss this issue.
Proposed Euclid Street Children's Nursery Closure
Swindon Borough Council are currently consulting on the closure of the Children's Nursery on Euclid Street and have said that the reason for this is to eliminate the expensive maintenance costs of the nursery. The deadline for the consultation is the 9th February 2016. A petition has been launched.
Lydiard House & Park
Swindon Borough Council is proposing to lease Lydiard House & Park to an external organisation which will seek to make profit from the site. The council say that they want to do this to eliminate the running cost of Lydiard House & Park. The petition launched by Friends of Lydiard gained momentum which resulted in a public meeting being held and this was attended by over 600 individuals. At the meeting it was agreed to have a 3 month pause from February to allow Friends of Lydiard, the council and others to discuss future plans.
Closure of Swindon Children's Centres
The Swindon Borough Council had 12 Children's Centres, out of which 7 were closed last year and they are proposing to close the remaining 5 centres to make savings. The Council's Children's Centre Consultation ended on 21st January 2016 and the outcome is yet to be known.
Demolition of Tented Market
22 traders based in the Tented market face eviction if the move by the Council to demolish the Tented Market, and replace it with a number of new restaurants, goes ahead. The traders have found a covenant which seemed to say a market must remain on the site. However, the Swindon Borough Council has said that the document is no longer valid. Traders have said that they want more proof it is no longer effective. A petition has been launched.