Ridgeway Farm Developement

[Samdy Gray]

That's precisely what we've been talking about.

[Ticker45]

Unfortunately the previous incumbents in charge of the Council kept to the "Party" line when Abbey Meads/Redhouse etc. was built which was basically to get all us hoi polloi using public transport instead of cars. Hence the lack of parking for residents (maximum of 1 and a 1/2 spaces per house for a vehicle was the rule) so spending lots of money from the 106 pool for a road was used elsewhere and the link to ease congestion was quietly dropped.

The latest Council incumbents are no better as they are going to spend millions on changing the current roundabouts on Great Western Way but no real plans to resurrect the link road apart from "discussing it".

I do wonder what we pay the £46 Billion or so a year in road tax if it does not go on roads, but then again.......

 

[Samdy Gray]

I had a brief read of the report yesterday which basically brushed off the traffic/highways issue as a non-starter because the developer says that they will re-design the Sparcells roundabout. Like that's going to do anything about the 500+ extra cars that'll be clogging up Mead Way and the other through routes to J16.

What irks me more is that Ridgeway Farm sits outside of the Swindon Borough Council border and falls under Wilts County Council jurisdiction. So whilst council taxes will go to the Wilts County Council coffers, the biggest effect will be on Swindon Borough Council services, mostly Highways, who won't get a penny.

[Ardiles]

There's an article in today's Adver about redrawing the Swindon/Wiltshire boundary for precisely that reason.

Adver

Unfortunately, it happens in a lot of places.  Particularly bad in Reading (as I commented under the article).  Large areas of urban Reading are administered by West Berkshire and Wokingham...leading to some very poor decision making.

[Batch]

As luck would have it there is an article on the Thamesdown Drive - Great Western Way relief road in Decembers Link Magazine.

It doesn't seem to be available online yet (http://www.swindonlink.com/), but basically there are residents asking where the fuck it is.

The response seems to be that of had washing and negligence of duty:  the Council can't fund it, section 106 money has been diverted elsewhere and the estimated cost is £100M.

£100M, fuck off. There is a railway line to cross/go under. But to put it into context the entire Newbury bypass cost £100M.
----
Oh, and how mental does the Transfer Bridges roundabout improvement look:

http://www.swindonlink.com/news/roundabout-work-aims-for-smoother-swindon-traffic

[slinky]

The Oasis development mentioned in that article sounds quite exciting.  Finally a decent concert venue in Swindon.

[inept and tiresome]

Add to the mix is the 2 new fish bros salesrooms. Those transporters take up room but the good news is... maybe we can have some land on the dump/forest and have our brand new stadium..... Please.

[fatbasher]

Add to the mix is the 2 new fish bros salesrooms. Those transporters take up room but the good news is... maybe we can have some land on the dump/forest and have our brand new stadium..... Please.

The test centre will also add to the fun as mentioned before. Can you imagine the chaos down the bottom end of Swinley drive wher it bends? Well think of it like this. There smack on the bend as you come down from the Purton Road is a wait for it, easy tiger.................bus stop. And a few few yards back from that is one end of the entrance to the "ahem, village centre" where there are the shops, pub and primary school which can be accessed from the Chinese Restaurant side. So where the fuck will all the "L" drivers practice their three point turns and reversing around the corner into the back entrance to the shops? Beggars belief, Piccles you cunt forget me ever, ever, ever voting for the conservatives again and you smug communists, er, sorry Labour supports (notice how they have dropped the "new" bit) can fuck off also i'd rether lick the skin from my own shit.

Further to my above rant I notice the housing minister yesterday had the guts to confirm what most of us have long suspected in that thousands of acres of green belt "aka Ridgeway Farm" will need to be built on to provide housing mainly for the unchecked mass immigration allowed by Labour without asking the electorate if we were ok with it!!!

[janaage]

Heard an interesting rumour the other day. Apparently Penhill is to be flattened within the next 10 years or so and the land's been earmarked as a future home for STFC.

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Heard an interesting rumour the other day. Apparently Penhill is to be flattened within the next 10 years or so and the land's been earmarked as a future home for STFC.

Haha no chance.

[Shaw Rosso]

I live in Shaw (unsurprisingly), just by the Shaw/Nine Elms roundabout and the traffic from The old Renault building to Thamesdown Drive is rapidly getting worse and worse, the emergency roadworks last week made it even worse but it is generally a shit journey. Clearly much of this traffic would be reduced if the Pembroke Park to Barnfield road is built, but as Batch mentioned earlier, the fact the council are putting out figures of £100m in these times of austerity is likely to be a scare the taxpayer tactic, when most of us know that £100m to build this road is a bullshit figure scribbled on the back of a fag pack at the last council meeting. The new estate as you go up the hill (Moulden View), only has 95 houses so far with about 70 occupied, how many more they plan to build here is anyone's guess.

If by chance Council leader Rod Bleurrrrgh reads this, drop me a line and I will see if I can broker a more competitive quote for the Swindon taxpayer, I bet a large lump of Marmite flavoured cheddar I can

[jonny72]

I live in Shaw (unsurprisingly), just by the Shaw/Nine Elms roundabout and the traffic from The old Renault building to Thamesdown Drive is rapidly getting worse and worse, the emergency roadworks last week made it even worse but it is generally a shit journey.

Part of the problem is the crap road design from Bridgemead to Thamesdown Drive. Specifically the roundabouts - there are a number of them during rush hour that cause a build up in traffic on the main road due to a small number of cars coming from the side roads.

Even worse (as it affects me) is the Bridgemead roundabout coming from Sainsbury's. You can get stuck there not moving for 10-15 minutes during rush hour as by the time the roundabout clears there is more traffic coming on to it from the right.

You could improve things a lot by putting in some lights and yellow no stop hashing but I guess that could just move the problem to another junction. Think the same would happen if you put in the bypass, especially once you get to Rodbourne.

[Simon Pieman]

I'm not sure the relief road would help, you can go through Cheney Manor from the bottom of Thamesdown Drive if you want to end up that side of Bridgemead.

[Ardiles]

The Sparcells to Barnfield link road back in the news.  (See earlier posts from last year.)  Bizarrely, a single carriageway road is now being talked about.  Will probably save a few ££ in the short term, and then cost much, much more when they realise it needs dualling anyway within 4 or 5 years.  Always the cheap option.

Adver: Preferred Route for Ring Road Published

[THE FLASH]

Heard an interesting rumour the other day. Apparently Penhill is to be flattened within the next 10 years or so and the land's been earmarked as a future home for STFC.

It really WILL be like watching Penhill!