A Ray of Sunshine In Swindon

From the Adver

Last summer the council slashed parking prices in the centre of Swindon from £1.20 for an hour and £4.80 for four hours, to £1 an hour, or £2 for four.
Now, a report coming before the cabinet on Wednesday has hailed the move a success, and the council wants to extend it permanently to stop town centre trade falling.
But it also states the cut-price parking rates take an estimated £500,000 out of council coffers each year.
The Brunel Shopping Centre says because of the move, there have been 286,000 more visitors so far in 2011, compared to the same period in 2010 when the car parking prices were still high.

Hoorah!

The whole point of parking charges isn't about raising council funds (which mostly comes from residents anyway), it's about rationing of something in short supply. I've been into Swindon since it changed, and the car parks are pretty chocka at 2pm on Saturdays, but there's still spaces (not too many though). Therefore, the rationing is about right.

It also makes the town more competitive. Perhaps not for people in Swindon itself, but for those people half way between Swindon and elsewhere, in Faringdon or Cricklade, this might tip the decision. And those are typically people with a bit more money.

Swindon NIMBYism

Nice to get a local story for once. From the Adver:-

Primegate Properties (Hooknorth) Ltd, on behalf of Bovis Homes, has taken its case to build up to 175 properties on land off Hook Street to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol after Swindon Council refused planning permission last year.
The news has rattled most families living close to the site who are opposed to the possible development of the area. 

Now, I happen to know Hook Street very well. It goes from near Freshbrook in the giant housing area known as West Swindon to the village of Hook. It's a good bike ride because it's not quite flat, but instead has a very slight incline, which means that you get some good exercise on your way out from West Swindon.

Robert Buckland, the MP for the area, has been vocal about his opposition to the plans and is urging anyone who wishes to make a comment on the proposals to do so before it’s too late.
He said: “There is a massive feeling in the area about this – people don’t think it is right.
“Swindon Borough Council refused planning permission but the developers have now taken it to the planning inspectors.
“We definitely feel that decisions like this should be made, and made to stick, at a local level and not by some external body miles down the road in Bristol.

Nonsense. All that inspectorate will do is to look at the planning application in terms of the law. I happen to think this is a very good thing, because I believe in essential liberty and that councillors should have a damn good reason to stop someone building on the land they bought, and not simply be able to stop it on a whim.

“The proposal would mean green space close to Lydiard Park becoming a housing estate. 

There's already housing estate backing onto Lydiard Park called Grange Park and it's massive.

“I am opposed to this development for a number of reasons.
“Firstly, it would mean loss of open space adjacent to the environmentally sensitive country park. Secondly, the roads in this area are totally inadequate to handle the extra traffic and thirdly, local infrastructure such as schools and community facilities could not cope with the influx of new residents.” 

Firstly, I have no idea what is "environmentally sensitive" about Lydiard Park, but considering that it already backs onto a housing estate, has a road going past it and one into it, has thousands of people walking around it or playing football on a summers day who can be served coffee and ice cream, and a couple of times a year has orchestral and rock concerts with fireworks, then I think it can cope with a few extra houses near it.

Secondly, Hook Street is pretty much empty. I used to drive on it and even in the morning, it's empty. As for community facilities, I think we can cope with the offspring of 170 households to go with the 75,000 we already have.

Massive Fisking Of This Statement

Regarding the attack on a boy at the Ridgeway School in Wroughton near Swindon, the boy's mother said:-

The review doesn’t mention what needs to be done to improve race relations in Swindon which is an urgent concern considering the increase in the vote for the BNP.

Let's be clear about this: there isn't a "race relations" problem in Swindon. It's mostly white with a small Bangladeshi population around Manchester Road and a few Indians dotted around the town. Is it perfect? No. I'm sure there are isolated incidents. Do people mostly just get on here? Yes.

And that "increase in the vote for the BNP"? That was in North Swindon, because the BNP put up a candidate this time, and so the vote went from 0% to 3.1%. They got 0% of the vote in South Swindon because they didn't put up a candidate.

Now, where do you think Ridgeway School is? In South Swindon. Where is Manchester Road? In South Swindon (the border is the railway line). So, areas affected by this incident, and the BNP are completely unrelated.

Councils Just Can't Nail That Market Thing, Can They?

From The BBC:-

The Lanterns on the Lake festival in Swindon will not be held again because it is too popular, the borough council has said.

The event, at Coate Water, had been held since the early 1990s to mark World Peace Day.

Last summer's festival and this year's event were both cancelled.

Parks manager Martin Hambidge said the festival had grown to such a size it was difficult for his staff and volunteers to manage.

For once, a council provide something people actually want, so they don't continue to run it.

Volunteers also attended on the day, so it was principally just about labour and the fact it took up an awful lot of volunteer hours and a lot of staff hours and we wanted to do different things.

Oh, I see. Never mind what the public want. You don't want to provide that, so you're not going to. You'd rather do the things that you want to do, never mind that people pay you.