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.