West Swindon's
Magazine
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LINK No. 106 January 1991 • Circulation 10,500
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Dining for charity raises cash There was an alternative to turkey, tinsel and tv in the weeks leading up to Christmas when volunteers from churches all over the town worked at the Christmas Cracker restaurant set up to raise money for third world projects. Under the theme 'dine for mankind' the restaurant served snacks and meals to shoppers in December and ÂŁ4,800 was raised. All the food was donated, along with just about everything else required to run a restaurant. Sun Affiance paid for the premises, Southern Electric lent a cooker, the rates were waived by the council, a familyeven gave up its dishwasher for a few weeks. Surplus food was donated for Christmas care of the homeless at
West Swindon volunteers at the Christmas Cracker, from left, Shirley Boxhall from Shaw, Christine Dams from Toothill, head cook Audrey Hutchinson and Karen Walker from Freshbrook.
Swindon's Pilgrim Centre, tinned items will be sent to Romania.
Grange Park residents take lights fight to ombudsman A group of Grange Park residents are reporting Wiltshire County Council to the Local Government watchdog, the Ombudsman. The residents who live in Gower and Askew Close, and Mulcaster Avenue are protesting about the sitingof a flood lit all-weather playing surface surrounded by a ten foot high fence at Greendown School, within yards of theirhouses. They say they put up with construction during the long dusty summer last year, but when eight lighting columns each measuring 59 feet tall were erected around the playing area, they started to voice their protests with local councillors and their Member of Parliament. Swindon M.P. Simon Coombs, who visited residents on 15 Decemberto view the floodlights, said, 'The County Council deemed itself planning permission inl984,before the houses were built. There was a second application last year, when county councillors were given a
Operation Mirror to reflect on crime prevention
plan which did not show the proximity of the houses which had been built since the original application. "1 have been in touch with the Ombudsman and have advised the residents to take the matter further. Nobody wants to stop the improvement of leisure facilities, but it appears that a decision was taken without really knowing how much nuisance might be caused." MarkFisherofGowerClose said that residents were horrified when the lighting columns were put up in early November. "We have a letter from the County Solicitor stating that the 'floodlights are designed and positioned to illuminate the pitch area only, and every precaution has been taken to prevent spillage of light off the area.' 'The reality is that you are blinded when the lights are in use. It's like day time in our gardens. Three people have already lost house sales because of this and Continued with photo on next page
Inspector Steve Chandler takes a break in training at Intergraph for a mug shot
West Swindon is soon to be the scene of a unique computerised crime prevention project, the first of its kind in Europe. The area has been chosen to pilot an experiment called Operation Mirror which will use high-tech methods to identify how crime can be prevented in housing developments of the future, as well as in areas already built. Working with locally based computer mapping company Intergraph at the Delta Business Park, the police are setting up a systemwhich shows the streets and housing layout of West Swindon in detail. The places where criminal incidents take place will be plotted on the map along with information on the action taken to prevent similarcrimes taking place. Project Co-ordinator Inspector Steve Chandler explained that using a computer will allow the police to analyse patterns of crime and to look at the causes more closely. "West Swindon has not been selected because it is a bad area. The level of offences in the area are relatively low. But it is a large, separate area of Swindon, and secondly, the development of
the 'northern sector' of the town will be quite similar. One of our aims is to reflect on what has taken place in the west, and to consider what might take place in the north. "Once we have entered all the information we have on incidents into the computer, we will start to analyse the reasons why they took place," said Insp. Chandler. "Could it be that there is poor street lighting, should shrub beds be cut back or removed to increase safety, how can pedestrian subways be improved? 'The advantage of using a computer is that we can bring together a great deal of information on incidents, compare it and look for similarities - over a period of time. It will help us build a better picture and will allow us to go to the planners with good arguments for improved housing layouts. "We will also be able to press for changes in existing areas if we feel that safety in the community can be improved." Police staff spent a week training at Intergraph in December and the new computer mapping system is expected to be up and running by mid-January.
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