This is a documentary film I will be making over the next few months. It's about my home town Swindon and it's extraordinary growth. The small market town and the surrounding rural community was changed for ever by the coming of the Great Western Railway in the 1830s. Then came the influx of evacuees during WW11, and following WHSmith who relocated in 1967, many big companies have come, attracted to the town for its location, transport links and low rents. Now the disastrous 1970s town centre is to be "regenerated" once more, partly it seems to retain and attract these businesses. Without a more sophisticated metropolis they'll go elsewhere. True, a fine centre and a strong economy should benefit all Swindonians. But meanwhile their greenfield sites are being eaten up, despite protest, by the need to house a population predicted to grow from 180,000 to 250,000 by 2026. The Corporation's mentality is to expand and maybe Swindon's particular energy comes from this restlessness. But I fear the influx of business people with money making on their minds will be at the expense of an already shakey sense of place and community. Will the social divide get even wider here with the elderly, the "workless" and those on incapacity benefit pushed out even further? On the positive side Swindon Borough Council is channelling some of the money into ecological housing, affordable housing and improving biodiversity and nature sites. In my programme Richard Jefferies, born at Coate near Swindon in 1848 will "come to life". He was a nature writer and pioneer environmentalist who wrote of the evils of urbanisation when it was happening 150 years ago.Wouldn't it be great if I could persuade Billie Piper, Swindonian and household name, to join him in presenting the story. A huge thank you to South West Screen the Community Channel and Alternative Light for getting me started on this. Click on photo for more pix
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| How Green Was My Downs Valley |
