Labour leader Jim Robbins on a time for change in Swindon

It is time for change.

For too long, Swindon has been stuck. Stuck in the past, stuck between bigger towns and cities reimagining themselves, stuck in traffic and stuck with austerity. Stuck with a wasteful and failing Conservative administration for the last 20 years who have overseen the slow decline of the town.

It is clear that the Conservative administration are all out of ideas. They have racked up a massive debt of over £350m which is crippling our finances with costly repayments, whilst their Government crashed the economy, slashed our funding and they have broken public services across the country. Meanwhile, demand for the essential council services keeps going up.

It is clear that things need to change. It is clear the council needs to change, in order to be able to change Swindon.

Labour has a plan. We want to change the way the council works, making it much more responsive to you and your needs. We want to stop the feeling that the council does things to you, and make it start doing things in partnership with you. We’ll stop wasteful council spending and keep Council Tax as low as possible to help you through the Government’s cost of living crisis.

We want you to be guiding us to the best way forward for you and your family, and we’ll make sure that the council listens to you. A recent review of the council criticised the poor levels of engagement from the council. This needs to change.

We’ve been listening to residents all year round, as we carry out thousands of conversations on the doorstep. This is what you have told us to focus on so far:

Your Roads – We’ll get Swindon moving by stopping excessive roadworks

Your Parks – We’ll protect Swindon’s green open spaces from development

Your Economy – We’ll put Swindon businesses, jobs, and people first

Your Community – We’ll build a greener, healthier, safer and fairer Swindon

Your Money – We’ll relentlessly focus on making sure we spend money wisely We’ll keep listening and keep building our offer for the town as we continue to have conversations with residents in the lead-up to and after the election. We know Swindon Deserves Better, and we are determined to be that change.

Town centre arts and culture trail will be a yearlong celebration of creativity

By Barrie Hudson barrie@positive-media.co.uk

A new town centre attraction will celebrate the arts in the heart of Swindon throughout 2023. Building on the success of the Swindon Paint Fest last October, inSwindon BID has introduced the trail, which will include murals, statues and sculptures together with light and mosaic installations.

Visitors are promised an eclectic mix of stunning large scale artwork which will be both unique and thought provoking.

Having proactively funded local artists to create 12 murals in recent years in partnership with Swindon community charity Artsite & The Post Modern, inSwindon BID aims to continue to make art and culture free and accessible to all.

Anita Bellinger, inSwindon

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BID’s Executive Director, said: “The trail is for all to enjoy and the experience is an opportunity to be outdoors and explore the town whilst getting some exercise, stopping for refreshments and a little retail therapy along the way.”

There are printed and downloadable versions of the map for the art trail experience in the Town Centre.

The physical maps will be available to pick up from Artsite & The Post Modern in Theatre Square, Swindon Central Library in Regent Circus, The Community Hub in The Parade, Waterstones in Canal Walk, Sewcraft in Havelock Street and Love Brownies in Faringdon Road. A map can be found at www.swindontowncentre. co.uk