IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Windrush, SWINDON, SN6 7DT

This is a fairly routine image of a what might appear to be a pleasant but unremarkable area of public open space. However, there is more, much more to it than that. The tale begins in the late 1960s when the area of land west of the A361 in Highworth became subject to a planning permission to develop the land as a housing estate. In due course construction commenced and the area known locally as 'Windrush' came into existence. At some point in the 1970s the developers ceased trading. Nothing unusual in that except that, in this case, it happened before all the normal post-development loose ends such as adoption of roads, sewers and public open spaces had been tied up. The effect was that the areas of de facto 'public open space' i.e. areas of land not clearly associated with buildings, were, apparently, owned by an entity that no longer existed. This oddity notwithstanding the local authority started and continued to maintain the land by cutting the grass and other landscaping-type tasks. It isn't clear exactly when what happened next took place (it was post-December 2007 if Google Earth is to be believed) but it seems a collective decision was taken by some residents in houses in Barra Close that backed onto the space to assume possession of part of the land. This was accomplished by engaging a fencing contractor to build a fence around the part of the land immediately behind their houses. From a local resident whom I spoke to I gather that the fencing contractor completed the task within a day. In due course, and hardly unexpectedly, some residents not party to the land acquisition enterprise complained to the local planning authority. This culminated in a planning application being submitted and duly considered before being rejected. Two things flowed from this. First and predictably, the applicants' appealed to the relevant central government department and second, the other residents applied to have the land declared to be a 'village green' within the meaning of the Commons Act 2006. For the moment then the fence remains, visible in this image as the light-coloured section of fence in the centre of the image and the fence leading away from it. However on the 27th January 2010 the local authority granted village green status to the land in view - except the land appropriated as described above. If the planning appeal fails and those in possession of it hand it back, a further application to include the land as village green will probably be made. A local newspaper report on the village green application can be read here http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4876066.Partial_victory_over_green_area/ For a closer look at the fence please see this image Image It's different now (Sept 2010) http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2078855

The fence visible here should be viewed in two parts. The section of fence to the right of the right-hand tree is uncontentious and, so far as is known, unobjectionable. The rest of it between the two trees is both contentious and objectionable in the eyes of some residents and the local planning authority. That part of the fence may be living on borrowed time and, if the planners get their way, will soon be history. For a more detailed outline of the story please see the description for this image http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1681853 To see a small part of the public open space that has been enclosed behind the contentious fence please see this one Image

The viewpoint is near the one for this image Image and following action by the local planning authority the section of public open space which had been fenced in by some local householders in Barra Close and added to their gardens has been restored to its original condition.

View southward, towards Swindon, on the occasion in April 1954 when the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society ran a Tour from London (Victoria) to Swindon Works, with an ancillary trip up the Highworth Branch, which had been closed to passengers on 2/3/53 - to goods on 6/8/62. The 0-6-0 Dock Tank, No. 1366 (built 1934, withdrawn 1/61), was normally employed at Swindon Wagon Works. (Note the typical Railway Enthusiasts).

The scene has changed since this image was taken in January 2010 Image The bush in the centre and the three small trees just beyond it were then clearly fenced off and inaccessible to the general public and other residents.

The Hampton Hill part of Highworth, developed in the 1960's and 70's.

The viewpoint is about the same as for this one from January 2010 Image The public open space that had been appropriated by a nearby householder has been pretty much restored to its original condition.

Although this might appear to be a private back garden it is, in fact, part of an area of public open space that has been appropriated by the occupier of a nearby house in Barra Close. I would not normally take a photograph of what might seem to be a private garden but in this case, as the status of the 'garden' is as I have entitled it I have no qualms. If, in due course, the Planning Inspectorate (part of the Department for Communities and Local Government) decide that the local planning authority got it wrong by refusing to change its use from open space to residential then I shall, of course, ask for this picture to be rejected. For more information on the background to taking this photo please see the description in this submission Image

Opened in 1883 by the Great Western Railway as the terminus of a branch line from Swindon, this station closed to passengers in 1953 and completely in 1962. View south west towards Hannington and Swindon, from a similar viewpoint to Image The road known as Windrush appears to follow the track of the former railway at this point. No trace of the former station appears to remain here but the station sign does - see Image