The Town Centre Cluster covers Central and Eastcott Wards. The map below illustrates the area covered.
The Cluster Chair is Cllr David Wood (pictured below) and the Cluster Lead is Mark Walker, Policy & Regeneration Manager, Swindon Borough Council.
Town Centre Tasking Meeting 4th September 2011
The Town Centre NPT tasking meeting took place on the 4th September 2011. Minutes
Town Centre Tasking Meeting 1st July 2011
The Town Centre NPT tasking meeting took place on the 1st July 2011. Minutes
Kara Meeting
The next Kingshill Area Residents Association (KARA) meeting is at 7pm on Wednesday 27th July at The Clifton There will be lots to talk about please come along and join us.
Eastcott Parking Project
The Changes in Residents' Parking in Zones D and E in Eastcott commenced on 1st November 2011. Further information is available at http://www.swindon.gov.uk/zonechanges
We have carried out consultations over recent months and influenced plans with feedback from the local community. Officers of the Council have now undertaken an assessment of the proposals put forward
Queen’s Park Community Cafe
The cafe continues to be a great asset to the park thanks to the sterling efforts of a few volunteers, but we still need more help. We are open Tues – Friday 10.30am- 2.30pm and 10.30am –4.00pm weekends. Our aim is to increase our operating hours. Will you volunteer, for a few hours in the week, or an occasional weekend? The more individuals we have on our rota the less each one has to do. Food hygiene awareness and cash handling training is provided. Learn new skills, meet new people, boost your confidence, make a difference and have fun.
We are a non-profit-making venture run for the benefit of the local community. All money raised from food and drink sales is used to enhance the park and cafe area. Recent purchases from cafe sales include a new fridge, a toaster, a grill for our lush bacon sandwiches, and also a blender to make our mouth-watering ice cream milkshakes. We are also replacing the cafe chairs and tables.
Sample menu: hot drinks from £1, cold drinks from 50p, home-made cakes 80p to £1.50, bacon, ham or cheese sandwiches £1.50, a cream tea for £1.50 – a scone with cream and jam, plus a mug of tea or coffee.
If you are a people person, happy to have a laugh and want to contribute some time and energy to your local area, why not join us?
For more information talk to Matthew on 07884 285777 or follow us on Facebook - 'Queens Park Community Cafe'
Swindon Rail Road Rebels
Wiltshire’s first and only roller derby league is organising a party in the park on Saturday 23rd July and you're invited! From 11 am 'til 4 pm there will be a BBQ with fresh local produce and veggie delights, cupcakes, sweet treats and ice cream in association with the Queen's Park Community Cafe. There will also be a contemporary craft fair, live acoustic music, roller girls (and roller waitresses), face painting, family entertainment, competitions and prizes.
Bring your friends and family to enjoy the festivities, meet the team and learn about this exciting new sport. Contact railroadrebels@ gmail.com or call 07799611000 for more information. Or follow us on Facebook - The Swindon Rail Road Rebels.
Queen’s Park Love Parks Family Fun Day
As part of the national Love Parks Week Queen’s Park Community Council are holding their annual Family Fun Day at the park on Sunday 24th July starting at 11.00am with official opening at noon with the mayor Ray Ballman and town crier Fred Ferris. Hosted by Ron Travolta of Radio 105.5 there will be live music from Elvis alias Bobby B, Wickstead Solution, Anibal and the sensational Nathan Jones Jazz band. Lots of attractions including Shetland ponies, Swindon croquet, bouncy castle, games, Swindon Town Football Club in the Community, Wayne Armstrong martial arts, vintage cars, Bobby van, lots of stalls including the Samaritans, art, face painting, games with the highlight of winning a £100 hamper from Aldi. Lots of food including special burgers, candy floss, pop corn, Goan food, Mexican food, homemade cakes and the community cafe. Plus the opportunity to visit the park’s SecretGarden. For more details contact Stan Pajak 07711039789 stanpajak@ymail.com
Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD)
The Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) is now out for consultation until 5pm on the 8th August 2011. The Waste Site Allocations DPD sets out firm proposals for locating the new waste management facilities across Wiltshire and Swindon. The draft plan represents the final key document within the Wiltshire and Swindon Minerals and Waste Development Framework; and clearly identifies sites with the potential to deliver waste facilites in line with the policies set out in the adopted Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Core Strategy DPD.
This final round of consultation provides the opportunity to comment on the soundness of the plan before it is submitted, subject to Council approval, to the Secretary of state in November 2011 for independent examination and scrutiny.
To view the document online and to make representations:
consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal
Hard copies are available in the Council offices and at libraries across Swindon.
If you would like a planning officer to talk to your community meeting about this please contact the planning department on 01793 466513.
Police Tasking Group
The Town Centre NPT tasking meeting met on the13 May 2011. Minutes
Westcott Area Survey
This map shows the results of recent consultations in the Westcott area to find issues and discuss people's feelings about a local sense of community. A number of people expressed interest in setting up a residents group.
Highways Project
We have been working on a highways project in Eastcott (Parking Zones D & E) with an invitation to the community to speak to their neighbours and help us improve parking in the area.
Broadgreen Community Partnership
A new partnership has been formed with Swindon Town Football Club, Tesco's and local community in the Broadgreen area to help improve the local area.
Kingshill Residents Association update
Kingshill Residents Association (KARA) are doing lots of things in their area. Please see the details below for more information.
Police Newsletter April - June 2011
The Town Centre Police newsletter is now available.
Neighbourhood Policing Team Minutes 25 March 2011
The minutes from the Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team Tasking meeting are now available
Union Square Meeting
You are invited to a public meeting in the Broad Green Community Centre on Thursday 17th March 2011 6.30pm - 8.30pm. The meeting is to discuss the Union Square development with Forward Swindon and the developer, including Whale Bridge.
Other items for discussion will be
- Access and provision for entry into schools within the town centre and possible locations for the provision of a new school to meet local demand.
- Waste/fly-tipping and the proposed introduction of CCTV to help protect the local environment.
Central Ward Members and Council Officers will be present to discuss these issues and listen to local views.
Queen's Park Cafe
The Queen's Park Community Cafe is now open. The Cafe is a non-profit making venture run by volunteers for the benefit of the community. All monies raised will be used to enhance the park and cafe and help the surrounding community. Come along and try something from our menu or get involved.with the venture.
Town Centre Policing Team
The Town Centre Policing team will be available from April to June to talk to local residents in the Town Centre. Public consultation dates and times.
Swindon Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing team - Tasking Minutes.
Highways Project - Eastcott
Following the feedback from earlier consultation in 2010, the Council offered an invitation to the local community in the Eastcott area to speak to their neighbours and review the existing highway controls eg around parking, to see if the existing arrangements could be improved. Over the past few months local residents have been reviewing arrangements and all suggestions and ideas will be passed back to the Council for discussion and consideration.
As part of the process an open public meeting has been arranged for Saturday 19th March 2011 from 10.00am until 2.00pm at Savernake Hall for all residents living in Eastcott within the zones D and E. All residents will have an opportunity to comment and put forward their views on any proposed changes.
We will.also display the plans in the Central Library from Monday 21st March 2011 for the remainder of the week
Queen's Park Community Council Meeting
On Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Council officers from Highways Network Management and Transportation will be presenting the proposals for the changes to the Whale Bridge area to the Queen's Park Community Council Meeting. The Meeting will be held at 7.00pm in the Civic Offices. Cllr Stan Pajak.would like to extend an invitation to local residents, including those from Eastcott and Central Wards, to listen to the proposals and take part in disucssions.
Broadgreen NPT Meetings
Here are the dates and times for anyone in the community to meet with local police officers and discuss any issues that they may have within the community.
Police street surgeries, and briefngs
Week of action in the Town Centre 17-22 January 2011
The Community Safety Partnership held a week of action in the Town Centre cluster Monday 17th January to Saturday 22nd January 2011. The Council worked with the Police and other Partners to tackle environmental crime including graffiti and fly-tipping, gave advice to people on how to stay safe and take care of their property and improved the local highway and streetscene.
An Evaluation of the Week of Action is now available.
Westcott Area Survey
We are currently carrying out a survey in the Westcott area to find out what people think about their local area and what issues they would like to tackle. Issues that have been raised so far are included here
If you live in the Westcott area and are interested in completing the survey, download it here, if you would like a Microsoft Word version of the survey please contact Tom Robson at trobson@swindon.gov.uk
Wiltshire Police Authority Consultation
Wiltshire Police Authority's annual budget of £108 million must be reduced by £15 million over the next four years to meet government spending cuts. It is the police authority's responsibility to ensure the police continue to provide an effective and efficient service across the whole of the Force area. Now is your chance to tell us which policing services you value most. The following links will take you to the Wiltshire Police Authority website for more information and the questionnaire.
Community Residents Association
In August 2010 a group of people in the Kingshill Area met together to discuss the possibility of forming a residents association. An organisation to enhance local community cohesion and make Kingshill an even better area in which to live.
KARA (Kingshill Area Residents Association) is now up and running, the recent meeting at the Clifton Inn saw lots of people all getting together to discuss issues and how we can all work together better. Watch out for details of future meetings. More information is available from chair@kingshillresidents.org.uk
Outcomes and feedback from Community discussions
We have held a number of community engagement and participation events over the last couple of months, the outcomes are captured here:
Town Centre participation event
Backgarden virtual network
If you live in the area around Prospect Hill in Eastcott you may be interested in a virtual community network. Have a look at their website and blog at swindonbackgarden.wordpress.com
Place Shaping in Our Communities Participation Event
We held our Place Shaping in Communities event on 1st October 2010 at the Broadgreen Community Centre from 5.00 - 7.00 pm. The purpose of the event was to provide the opportunity for the community to take part in setting their own local planning priorities. People had the chance to influence the future provision of houses, roads, shops, parks and other facilities. The outcomes of the event will be used to shape local policies in on of the Council's most important planning strategies.
Tesco Community Fayre
The Tesco community fayre was held in the Town Centre on Sunday 19th of September, people were able to give their views on what they value in the community - see if you agree with the summary.
Town Centre Cluster Agreement - Your Comments Welcomed
Over the last couple of months we have been developing a Town Centre Agreement document which sets out our priorities for the next 3 years. We are now welcoming any comments that you may have. Please have a look at the Agreement and you will have an opportunity to comment at a number of engagment events as detailed below:
- Saturday 25th Sept 10.00am - 2.00pm Brunel Town centre
- Friday 1st October 5.00pm - 7.00pm - Broad Green Community centre
We want to invite all residents of Central and Eastcott Wards (Town Centre Cluster), to see if the draft plan reflects community needs and issues.
Community Events in the Town Centre Cluster
Broad Green Open Day - 14th August 2010
The open day was a great success and Cluster Assistants helped out to recruit Street Champions. Street Champions are volunteers who are the eyes and ears of the street. They will report things such as fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles.
Queens Park Summer Fayre
Sunday 18th July 2010. 11.00 am - 5.00 pmThe Queens Park Summer Fayre was held on Sunday 18th July 2010. Everyone enjoyed the entertainment and many gave their views on future developments at Queens Park.
Children's Fete - Saturday 17th July 2010
Mechanics Institute Preservation Trust held a Children's Fete on 17th July 2010 at the Park, Faringdon Road. Lots of Young People enjoyed the activities.
“Seen a Sodden Sofa? Trod on a Tepid Tele? Think Street-Based Rubbish is, well, Rubbish?
Residents of Eastcott, citizens and the Local Community Council came together on Saturday the 10th of July, to spring clean and spruce their local streets. With environment teams from Swindon Borough Council,designated dumping sites were plotted around the area and the waste was taken away.
Contact Eastcott Community Council for further details Eastcottcc@hotmail.co.uk”
Eastcott Community Council -planned events for the year
Eastcott Community Council Open Day took place on Saturday 19th June 2010 from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm at Savernake Hall.
Eastcott Community Clean Up Day will take place on the 10th July 2010 supported by the Council's Streetsmart Team. The team will provide litter pickers, bags and gloves and take away any waste collected. Come along and help out.
More details are available at www.sendspace.com/file/wcp3hs A newsletter can be downloaded this is a large file (26.3 mb).
Broadgreen Community Council - projects are planned for the year ahead. More information will be available soon.
StreetGames/Parachallenge 2010 This event was held on Sunday 4th July 2010. Further details are also available at www.challengeswindon.org.uk
Queens Park Community Council - meets on the first Wednesday of every month in the Civic Offices, Euclid Street, at 7.00 pm.
The meeting on the 2nd June 2010 was the Annual General Meeting, this meeting took place in Queens Park at 7.00 pm. Members walked around the area seeking the views of local residents and visitors. Results of this survey will be published here in the near future.
New Chief Executive of Forward Swindon Ltd
Members of Town Centre Community Groups were invited to take part in the recruitment of the new Chief Executive of Forward Swindon Ltd. This was felt to be a positive step for the groups from Broad Green, the Railway Village, Eastcott and Queens Park. The new Chief Executive is Karen Walker. The community group members felt that the chosen candidate would be very successful.
Queens Park Easter Event - Sunday 4th April 2010
An event was held in Queens Park on Sunday 4th April 2010, this was organised by Queens Park Community Council. Activities included an Easter egg hunt for the children. The sun shone and everyone had a good day out.
Broad Green Community Clean Up – Tuesday 9th March 2010.
Following a number of discussions with the local community council a clean up day was organised to help resolve the ongoing issue of early presentation of waste, fly tipping, graffiti, etc. Officers from the Council waste management, streetsmart, regulatory services and Swindon Commercial Services set about tackling some of these issues. Members of the local Neighbourhood Police team were present and helped identifying areas of concern and seeking permissions to help with the free removal of graffiti from properties.
Local Ward members Cllrs. Bob Wright and Derique Montaut also rolled up there sleeves to help improve the appearance of the community.
Following a number of home visits, visual inspection of the whole area and all the streets having a cleaner environment.
This is not the end of the Clean up, work will continue to remove the tags and graffiti from the local area. Officers will also look to educate local residents as well as to take enforcement action against anyone breaking the law. The Council will work in partnership with Broad Green Community Council to help improve the current situation. If anyone has any issues or wish to discuss matters they should contact there local ward councillors.
Central Community Centre Event 13th February 2010
An open meeting took place for local people to come along and discuss the future management of the Central Community Centre. This consultation event was organised in partnership with members of the Great Western Railway Village Residents Association.
Local Ward Members Cllrs. Derique Montaut, Bob Wright and Junab Ali were present throughout the morning to meet constituents, hear their views and be part of the discussions relating to the community centre.
Throughout the morning there was a steady stream of local residents coming into the community centre to discuss local issues.
Also present was members of the Kingshill Neighbourhood Policing team to listen to the issues of the local community and to assist the Police team to help set their priorities for the local neighbourhood.
At the end of the meeting, a number of agreed actions for local residents to move forward the proposition of returning the Central Community Centre back into local community management.
If you are interested in supporting the management of the central community centre, please contact one of your local councillors who will liaise with the local group progressing this.
Eastcott Community Council Event 20th February 2010
A really busy afternoon whereby local people had the opportunity to discuss any issues they had with members of the Eastcott Community Council who had organised this consultation event.
Local Ward Councillors Stan Pajak and David Wood were present to discuss local issues, concerns and help address them.
A number of Council services were represented and the local Eastcott Neighbourhood Policing team. This allowed local residents to look at options around the redevelopment of Savernake Park, this created a good level of interest from young people and their parents with lots of positive feedback. This will enable the refurbishment of the park to progress later this year. It is intended that later this year the Community Council in partnership with the Council will have a celebration for the opening of the refurbished park.
Residents Parking was also present to answer queries and to give advice and information to local residents.
Members of the Streetsmart team were also present with waste wardens to discuss issues relating to recycling, waste disposal, fly tipping, graffiti etc.
A number of people discussed using open space to improve the appearance of the area, removal of waste and fly tipping and enforcement whereby some people abuse the local environment. A commitment was given for further investment to be made to help address some of these issues and community events will be organised in the near future to help address the causes of some of these matters.
The event was successful in engaging with local people and Eastcott Community Council see this as the start of the process which will help transform community spirit in the neighbourhood.
Community Priorities
Over the last 6 months we have talked to many people in the Town Centre cluster, we now have a list of the priorities that have been raised by local people. Please have a look at these priorities and if you wish to make any comments please contact Mark or Cllr David Wood.
Mark Walker is continuing to talk to people and community groups within the Town Centre area. Mark's contact details are given below.
Queen's Park Community Council event
Christmas Carols and Fun in the Park event was held on Saturday 19th December 2009 in Queen's Park.
Town Centre Cluster joins in with First Birthday Celebrations at Swindon Library
As part of the first birthday celebrations in the Town Centre Library the Town Centre Cluster placed display boa
rds in the Library together with survey forms.
The Cluster Lead also met local people in the Eastcott area on Thursday 29th October 2009 to discuss local issues.
Open Engagement Event
The Town Centre Cluster held an Open Engagement Event at The Parade and Wharf Green on Saturday 3rd October 2009. Lots of people came along to discuss their views on living and shopping in the Town Centre; also people were asked to post video clips on a new Videoboo site being used to gather thoughts and ideas.
Family Fun Day at Queen's Park
The Queen's Park Community Council held a Fun Day on Sunday 26th July 2009. The Cluster Lead attended the Fun Day to talk about the development of the Town Centre Forum and people were asked to support the next meeting. The new Town Centre Forum was mentioned on the publicity for the day
Public Engagement Event 'Care About Education'
A public meeting about Education was held on Wednesday 15th July 2009. The meeting was open to all residents living in the Eastcott and Central wards. If you would like any details about further meetings please contact Mark Walker at mwalker@swindon.gov.uk or telephone (01793) 464605