Beat the Street is returning to Swindon

Beat the Street is returning to Swindon on 15 September for a third time. Beat the Street is designed to get communities moving by helping people to make small changes, such as walking or cycling to school every day, to improve health and help embed physical activity into everyday life.

Swindon residents are well-versed in the Beat the Street game – in 2018, more than 32,000 local residents walked, cycled and rolled 313,000 miles and again in 2019, 25,978 participants clocked up 252,126.5 active travel miles.

The game is commissioned by our Public Health Team at the Council to help adults and children become more active and will form part of our COVID recovery plans, supporting the local community to get out and about safely. For more details, contact Fiona Dickens (fdickens@swindon.gov.uk) or visit the Beat the Street webpages.

Significant work is required to increase the life expectancy of White Hart roundabout

Major reconstruction work will start at White Hart roundabout this month to increase the life expectancy of the road.

Around £2.6m in contingency funding will be spent on the junction upgrade after the contractor for the White Hart junction scheme, Osborne, found significant defects in the road base underneath the roundabout earlier this year.

The additional work, which is expected to last an estimated 12 weeks, will involve digging down almost a metre beneath the surface to build a new structure for the road base. The nature of the work means it won’t be safe to keep all of the roundabout open to through traffic. Access will be maintained for emergency services only and diversions will be in place for all other road users.

For further information on diversion routes please visit the Council’s website.
Traffic will still be able to use the junction to leave the A419 southbound to join the A420 eastbound, or to leave the A420 westbound to join the A419 southbound only.
Work is due to start on 16 August. We anticipate motorists will be able to use the new roundabout in November.

We know this extra work is going to create major inconvenience to motorists and we can only apologise for the upcoming disruption. We have to dig so deep underneath the carriageway that it would not be safe to try and keep one lane of White Hart roundabout open. By closing the roundabout to through traffic it will allow the contractor to press ahead with the work and complete it in the shortest possible time.

If this work isn’t carried out, there’s a high probability the road base will fail in the short term, so it’s important we invest and do this work properly now.

For regular updates on roadworks as part of the New Eastern Villages scheme, sign up to the NEV newsletter.

We’re currently pulling together some FAQs for our website to answer residents’ questions. We’ll share further details of these once they’re available.

Residents encouraged to have their say on Swindon’s draft Local Plans

The Swindon Borough Local Plan sets out where, and how much development is needed in Swindon, up to 2036. The plan outlines the requirement for housing, as well as the development of employment land and infrastructure in the Borough, and how this can be delivered in a sustainable way.

We’re asking for the thoughts of Swindon residents on our revised Local Plan to help shape future development in our town. This is the last opportunity for residents to influence the content of the Plan before it is submitted for independent examination.

The Local Plan consultation is open now and will close at 5pm on Thursday 16 September. Further information, including how residents can share their views, can be found on the Council’s website. The consultation documents are also available for inspection at the Civic Offices and main council libraries.

Residents are also invited to read the draft Local Transport Plan, which sets out how the town’s transport infrastructure should look in the years to 2036, and give views on a number of key topics that could impact transport including climate change and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the town. Residents are encouraged to visit the Council’s website to share any thoughts and comments about the Local Transport Plan.

To read more about the Local Plans currently taking place in Swindon, go to the Council’s website.

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan Consultation

The Council is seeking views on the draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The plan sets out the scheme proposals to improve and increase usage of the network for cyclists and walkers across the Borough for the next ten years. The draft plan can be viewed here.
If residents would like to share their thoughts on the plan, they can do so by completing this survey. The deadline for feedback is 27 September 2021.

Electric Vehicle Charging Point Strategy Consultation

The Council is looking at different options to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points in Swindon, to make it easier for people to make the switch to greener transport in the years ahead. The draft Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Strategy can be viewed here.
If residents would like to share their thoughts on the plan, they can do so by completing this survey. The deadline for feedback is 27 September 2021.