People to write to and issues to consider

Prepared by Councillor Nick Martin,
(Conservative representing Shaw and Nine Elms ward): nick@martinnmcm.com


Reasons for objection and target address list including the address of the Monitoring Officer from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Write to one and copy your letter to the others.


Celia Carrington Director of Environmental Services
Swindon B C
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon,
Wiltshire
SN1 2JH

When writing to the above individual don't forget to say "Please place this objection before the Planning Committee" and please send a copy to Cllr. Nick Martin 12 Gartons Rd, Swindon SN5 5TR.


Simon Birch Chief Executive
Swindon B C
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon,
Wiltshire
SN1 2JH

When writing to the above individual don't forget to say "Please place this objection before the Planning Committee" and please send a copy to Cllr. Nick Martin 12 Gartons Rd, Swindon SN5 5TR.


Stephen Taylor Director Corporate Governance
Swindon B C
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon,
Wiltshire
SN1 2JH

When writing to the above individual don't forget to say "Please place this objection before the Planning Committee" and please send a copy to Cllr. Nick Martin 12 Gartons Rd, Swindon SN5 5TR.


Thoss Shearer Director for Planning
Government Office of the South West [GOSW]
2 Rivergate
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6ED

Tel no 0117-9001700

Thoss Shearer may consider this planning proposal too significant to leave to Swindon Council - [the owner and the planning authority].


Adrienne Roberts
Deputy Director of Local Government Practice (West Midlands)
Office of the Deputy Prime Minster
Local Government Directorate of Practice.
Zone 4/G9, Eland House Bressenden Place,
London SW1E 5DU

Work 020 7944 5913
FAX 020 7944 3799
Mobile 078 8180 3027

• When writing to the above please send a copy to Cllr. Nick Martin 12 Gartons Road, Swindon SN5 5TR.
• Swindon Council is in Special Measures and Adrienne Roberts is the Monitoring Officer reporting to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister [ODPM].
• The Shaw Community Forest is an issue of 'Corporate Integrity' relating to broken promises and public trust (or lack of it) in the council. The ODPM Monitoring Officer can ask about Corporate Governance and defaulting on published council policy/commitments to the residents. This is likely to severely embarrass the council's three political group leaders and may persuade them to act with integrity.

You might also like to express your views to:

Mark Devlin
Chief Executive
Swindon Town Football Club
County Ground
Swindon

Tel: 01793 333700
mark@swindontownfc.co.uk


Bill Oliver
Managing Director
St Modwen Properties plc
Lyndon House
58 - 62 Hagley Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham BA16 8PE

Tel: 0121 456 2800
woliver@stmodwen.co.uk

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Reasons to oppose the St Modwen Property PLC and Swindon Town plan to develop a football stadium on Shaw Community Forest

1. Peatmoor Tip is a designated Community Forest, approved by planning committee and planted by former Mayors of Swindon and the local community.
2. The land is a 40-year-old tip the contents of which are not definitively recorded. Methane and leachates are key public health risks.
3. Tax relief was given [landfill tax] on the one and a half million tonnes of soil and clay used to cap the tip because it was being turned into a community forest.
4. Capping the tip has turned the Community Forest into a high plateau that overlooks Sparcells and Peatmoor and is on a level with Shaw. The proposed stadium will tower over the area becoming a visual eye-sore and generating significant noise polution.
5. IKEA considered developing the Renault building but decided that the road traffic problems at this location would be too great.
6. Thousands (over 11,000) trees have been planted on the site. Many of the trees have been grant aided and hundreds have been planted by local residents. St Modwen Plc plans to destroy this forest.
7. The forest is now the habitat of deer and badgers and is developing a pace.
8. Sparcells and Shaw are residential areas and not a place to locate a football ground and numerous commercial ventures.
9. St Modwen have offered residents parking to local home owners to compensate for the expected flood of on street parking that can be expected to arise from the football ground. This is a threat not a promise.
10. Meads Way grid-locks in peak period at present commercial development instead of a forest park will make the area impossible [at least two entrances are planned off Meads Way].
11. The benefits to Swindon Borough Council, financial and otherwise, have not been made clear?
12. The landowner at the County Ground and Shaw [Peatmoor] Tip is Swindon Borough Council. It is therefore unclear as to why St Modwen are involved.
13. St Modwen state that they will not be investing in Swindon and expect to be highly paid for their involvement. Since Swindon Town FC have no money who is going to pay St Modwen and from where will the money be raised.
14. The development plans fly in the face of good corporate governance. The Swindon Borough Council Corporate Plan 2004/2007 publishes the Community Forest. Councillor David Cox was the last Mayor 2002/2003 to be photographed planting trees at Peatmoor.
15. The Swindon Borough Council Local area Plan publishes the area as green space.
16. The forest is part of the Swindon Borough Council Community Plan.
17. If Swindon Town FC have problems paying their rent, who will be funding the new stadium? And who will own it? If the councillors effectively give council tax payers' money to the football club, a private company, they may be committing a criminal act.
18. The development plan is so significant and the Swindon Council involvement/interest so complete that I think that residents should be asking for the plan to be called in by the GOSW?

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