Swindon Borough Council is set to discuss a transformative new plan at its Cabinet meeting on 17th July.
The Swindon Plan, outlining long-term priorities to enhance the quality of life for all residents, focuses on building a ‘fairer’, ‘better’, and ‘greener’ Swindon over the next decade. This comprehensive plan is the result of extensive feedback gathered from hundreds of residents, council partners, and council colleagues during a borough-wide engagement exercise earlier this year.
In light of the ongoing financial challenges facing public services, the Swindon Plan details how the Council intends to progress each mission in collaboration with communities and partners across the private, public, and voluntary sectors. A performance framework document, published alongside the Swindon Plan, outlines the Council’s actions over the next three years to advance these missions, including the completion of existing projects and the initiation of new ventures to positively impact Swindon’s residents.
Under the ‘Build a Fairer Swindon’ mission, actions include constructing a new, inclusive youth centre in Park North to support over 100 children weekly. Additional efforts aim to improve the oral health of Swindon’s children and help under-fives achieve a healthy weight. The mission also focuses on creating new primary school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities, alongside progressing plans for a new 100-place special school.
The ‘Build a Better Swindon’ mission encompasses plans for a new town centre entertainment venue and ensuring the success of the recently opened Museum & Art Swindon facility. The Council is also supporting a developer-led scheme to refurbish and re-open the Oasis Leisure Centre, with contracts already exchanged with SevenCapital on a new development agreement. Later this year, the Council plans to publish a new strategy to enhance the town centre, coordinating efforts among key landowners, developers, and other stakeholders. A major new housing scheme at Marlowe Avenue, including up to 450 affordable homes, is also in the pipeline.
Under the ‘Build a Greener Swindon’ mission, proposed actions include installing new on-street electric vehicle charging points using secured government grant funding. Thousands of new trees will be planted across the Borough, and further actions to increase household recycling, such as rolling out a food waste collection service to all communal properties in Swindon during 2024/25, are also part of this mission.
The Swindon Plan sets forth the Council’s ambition to reset its relationship with residents, aiming for more equality, respect, and trust. This builds on the engagement activities that shaped the final version of the plan. Additionally, the plan outlines organisational changes to deliver better outcomes for residents and ensure value for money. This includes leveraging data, assets, and council housing to support residents’ needs in more financially sustainable ways.
Subject to approval at the 17th July Cabinet meeting, the Swindon Plan will be tabled for a vote by all councillors at the Full Council meeting on 25th July.
Council Leader, Councillor Jim Robbins, expressed his commitment to improving Swindon, saying, “Swindon is a fantastic place to call home, but there are areas that need attention to enhance the quality of life for all residents. The Swindon Plan outlines our three priority missions to build a fairer, better, and greener Swindon. I’d like to thank all the residents and partners who contributed to this plan.
“While the plan has a long-term focus, we are also detailing the actions we will take over the next three years to advance these priorities. The plan acknowledges that the Council cannot achieve these goals alone; contributions from partners across various sectors will be essential. We recognise the financial constraints facing local government, but we are well-positioned to unify the efforts of everyone invested in Swindon’s future. We need to improve our engagement with residents and communities, building on the positive start that informed this plan.”
A copy of the Swindon Plan is available at: www.swindon.gov.uk/swindonplan
