Hopes for new South Swindon ‘country park’

A large swathe of green land sandwiched between Old Town East Wichel and the ever-growing Wichelstowe could become a new country park, in all but name.

Members of South Swindon Parish Council’s Leisure, Environment and Amenities Committee voted unanimously to instruct the council’s chief executive officer, Jake Mee to approach Swindon Borough Council about the parish taking on responsibility for East Wichel Open Space – also sometimes known as Westlecot Ridge Major Open Space.

This is a large area of fields, woodland and hedgerow north of East Wichel and south of the Old Town Railway path, bounded to its east by Croft Road. It stretches as far as to the west of Mill Lane.

It is being transferred from the ownership from the house builder Taylor Wimpey to Swindon Borough Council as part of the planning agreement which allowed the entire Wichelstowe development.

And the parish council is keen to take on the site in order to improve it.

The committee chairman, Linda Kasmaty said: “It’s land that’s never going to be developed – and we want to make it a proper open space.

“It’s open space now, but we’d want to put in things like a car park and toilets.”

The report to the committee by Mr Mee said the borough council has been positive about the parish’s approach, but there are a number of hurdles any transfer must clear.

A new East Wichel Landscape Framework Plan must be agreed, and funding for this work must be agreed by the borough council’s cabinet in July with a budget submitted by the parish before that meeting.

And Ms Kasmaty said the parish council would need money from the borough council to allow it to manage the land properly.

The report to the committee said there could be as much as £950,000 from three separately triggered Section 106 payments available.

Ms Kasmaty said: “Obviously, this would be costly, and the parish council can’t take all of that cost on itself, so we would need funding from the borough council.

“But the parish is pretty good and experienced at managing parks and other open spaces, and we’re keen to take this one on.

“It would be a wonderful space for so many people, it would just be great.”

At the full council meeting in late March, Swindon councillors agreed to ask Swindon residents which areas of green space in the borough they would want to see protected, maintained and possibly improved, including the possibility of some of those areas becoming “country parks.”

That is a legal designation, and only open spaces which meet standards of size, car parks, staffing, lavatories, signage and accessibility are eligible.