Swindon’s long-awaited Southern Connector Road has been stuck in limbo for over a year, but intervention from Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, could finally see some progress towards opening up the road.
The road, designed to link the 8,000-home New Eastern Villages (NEV) development with Commonhead roundabout, has remained closed following the collapse of the roads construction company the Buckingham Group, who went into administration in September 2023, stalling the project and leaving a series of unresolved issues in its wake.
Swindon Borough Council has been working with administrators Grant Thornton to determine the outstanding work required to open the road safely. However, the process has been fraught with delays, worsened by the discovery of multiple defects. Inspections uncovered serious faults in the newly built bridge, alongside issues with road surfacing, embankments, verges, and other key safety requirements.
To make matters worse, Grant Thornton recently sought a court-appointed independent conflict administrator, adding yet another layer of delay to an already frustrating situation. But Cllr Watts, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, has now had enough.
Determined to break the stalemate, he has authorised council officers to press ahead with crucial remedial work, including urgent bridge repairs, in a bid to get the road open to construction traffic as soon as possible.
Cllr Watts said: “This project has been stuck in a time warp since I took over as Cabinet Member in June 2023. Three months later, Buckingham collapsed, and we have been at the mercy of an incredibly slow and frustrating administration process ever since.
“The New Eastern Villages is one of Swindon’s key housing sites, and it is imperative that developers can access their land to build much-needed homes. Delays in opening this road are holding them back and, frankly, that is unacceptable.
“This is why I am saying enough is enough. I have instructed officers to press ahead with the remedial repairs we need to make in order to safely open the road for construction traffic in the medium term. This includes significant repairs to the bridge that was built.
“We are aiming to get part of the road opened over the coming months so developers can finally access their sites.”
As well as pushing for the road’s partial opening, Cllr Watts has instructed council officers to closely monitor construction traffic using Merlin Way. Developers working on the Redlands and Lotmead sites have been reminded of their obligations to local residents, ensuring that vehicle movements remain within the restrictions set out in their planning consent.
The completion of the Southern Connector Road remains vital to Swindon’s expansion, but it is clear that bureaucratic delays and construction setbacks have taken their toll. Whether Cllr Watts’ intervention will finally cut through the red tape and deliver the long-overdue road remains to be seen—but at last, action is being taken.
