Update regarding the plans for developing South Marston and the area around it

1. The Village Expansion Working Group
Members of the group used the opportunity to consult further on their work
on the community facilities and open space. The Local Education Authority
was on hand to show the latest plans for expansion of the school and
discuss options with residents concerned about expanding the footprint by
a 10 metre wide strip onto the Recreation Ground.
Based on four different layouts showing how the new community space in
the centre of the village might be laid out, attendees were asked to
prioritise a number of factors that are crucial to finalising the design. The
results are shown below:
RATINGS GIVEN TO EACH PRINCIPLE
PRINCIPLES FOR VILLAGE CENTRE DESIGN FIRST SECOND THIRD
A
Minimise any building on the existing
Recreation Ground 19% 8% 14%
B Minimise traffic on OVL and Pound Corner 42% 29% 10%
C
Minimise distance to facilities for existing
residents 2% 14% 14%
D
Minimise the distance between school,
community facilities and elderly units 9% 16% 18%
E
Retain the rural feel by avoiding ribbon
development along Old Vicarage Lane 21% 29% 20%
F Shared car parking for hall and school 8% 4% 25%
The impact of traffic is, by a long way, the issue that most concerns
local residents, echoing concerns expressed in the wider
consultation.
Previous events had identified a number of different recreational uses to be
included in the new green spaces within the overall village design.
New ideas included a better balance between the use of green space
for sports and use as informal recreation and rural landscape. Ponds,
walks and picnic areas were supported rather than just vast areas of
grass and car parks. There were several requests to retain space for
wildlife and biodiversity to reinforce the rurality of the village.
The potential was outlined for developing a renewable energy system to
minimise the cost of future management and maintenance of public facilities.
Options of photo-voltaic cells on the new public buildings and ground source
heat pumps look to be the most promising.
Attendees were generally in favour of a renewable energy scheme, but
wanted to limit any visual impact.
Additional displays covered the options for a 20 mph speed restriction on
village roads. Options were offered for the extent of the area to be covered.
94% of attendees want the parish council to pursue a 20 mph zone in
the centre of the village straight away.
Extension to this would be considered as part of the housing development in
the village, and views offered at the event will help in its design.
The Developers
The companies with options on the majority of the greenfield land within the
village showed their initial ideas.Their plan largely conforms to the overall
design within the South Marston SPD, with some minor changes to housing
boundaries. However, the road layout shows a different access point from
the west before the industrial estate, and a double, rather than a single road
connection with Rowboroughjoining Old Vicarage Lane before the rail
bridge. The plans are not published, but the developers intend to submit
their formal application for South Marston and Rowborough before the end
of this year.
Many comments focused on the implications for traffic, particularly
with the change to the SPD road layout, stressing the importance of
village roads not being used by through traffic from Rowborough.
The developers were keen to continue the working relationship with the
Expansion Working Group, particularly on traffic calming and the potential
for renewable energy

2. .
Housing Development
Update
Were you one of more than 200 local people who attended the
consultation event at the Mercure Hotel on the 23rd
July 2013? If
so, thank you for giving us your ideas and views to help shape
the future development of the village.
This leaflet outlines the main
outcomes of the event and provides
information to help residents make
their own written responses direct to
Swindon Borough on their proposals
for the new Eastern Villages and for
South Marston in particular. See the
back page for more detail.
Swindon Borough Planners were consulting on their two formal
Supplementary Planning Documentswhich form part of the overall Local
Plan for the Borough to 2026. The first covers the overall Eastern Villages
area from the South Marston village to Commonhead; the second SPD
covers South Marston Village expansion in more detail.
The consultation closes on 16 September 2013
Both documents are available on the Swindon Borough Council website
and in hard copy in libraries and Council offices. For online access, try
searching for ‘Swindon Eastern Villages Consultation’ and thenclicking on
the Evening Advertiser’s information page.
Villagers are encouraged to make their own written response to
the Swindon Borough consultation. The more comments
received, the stronger the case for ensuring future
development takes account of local views.
Distributed by the Expansion Working Group of South Marston Parish Council, Aug 2013
Swindon Borough Council
Council representatives were on hand to answer questions at the
consultation event and take views on their SPD proposals. Although there
were inevitable queries on the scale of development, the numbers of
houses are already hard-wired into the overall draft Local Plan to 2026,
which went through public consultation early in 2013.
The Eastern Villages SPDidentifies the planned growth of South Marston
village and a number of new villages including Rowborough, adjacent to
Nightingale Wood and south towards Acorn Bridge. The remaining new
villages south of the A420 down to Commonhead roundabout will deliver a
new District Centre, employment land, and a secondary school.
At the event, concerns were raised about how the A420 and the
junction with the A419 would cope with traffic resulting from these
developments and similar plans for growth in Oxfordshire.
Concerns were also expressed on how infrastructure required to cope
with the scale of development could be guaranteed, when applications
were likely to be submitted in a piecemeal fashion.
The South Marston Village SPD provides for some 700 houses; 550 on
greenfield sites and 150 at Crown Timber. Consultation events in the past
have shown that residents consider the ‘rural feel’ can best be achieved by
creating significant open green space in the village centre with green
‘wedges’ retaining open views to the south. They also want village road
layoutsdesigned to make them unattractive for through traffic, particularly
from the new development at Rowborough.
These principles have been incorporated into the draft Village SPD which
will act as the blueprint for any future planning applications.Theaim is to
reinforce the separate identity of South Marston and its rural character, to
manage the impact on flood risk and mitigate the impact on traffic.
In their own responses, residents may wish to reinforce the comments
on the design of road layouts, particularly in the light of challenges in
keeping the A420 traffic flowing smoothly.