What jewels does Swindon have?

Having been accused of basing the previous bid for city status on purely materialistic grounds, Swindon Borough Council now aim to pin their new hopes on the support of Swindonians and voluntary organisations to promote the town in order to gain this dubious honour.

The local authority certainly won't get any backing from me when it continues to follow a policy of economic growth of the town at the expense of the environment and social well-being. Of course people need employment and houses to live, but is it necessary to move people to jobs rather than direct new employment opportunities to where unemployment is high?

Who gives a damn, apart from multinational companies and politicians, whether Swindon is recognised for its regional importance? Swindon has been described as the power-house for the south-west but who wants to live in an engine and be part of a stinking machine where profits come before quality?

In just 30 years Swindon's main attraction, its' lovely countryside, has been gobbled up to the east, to the west, to the north and soon to the south in the name of economic growth. So far it seems the voices of those wanting to profit from developing more countryside or open spaces around the town have been heard more loudly than those wanting to see Swindon make the best of what it already has.

Swindon Borough Council has asked us to name Swindon's jewels as part of the city bid application. Does this mean that if we name irreplaceable assets such as Seven Fields Nature Reserve, wildlife habitats, the Mechanics Institute, the Corn Exchange, the Roman archaeological sites and the countryside around the town that they will be enhanced and protected? I doubt it.

If you want more new housing estates, factories, offices, supermarkets, car parks and traffic, then vote for City Status.

Jean Saunders, e-mail: foeswindon@hotmail.com