Over the past few days several residents have contacted me regarding the building of a depot in our parish and the closing of the adult exercise equipment at the Eastbury Way play park site.

There are so many and varying rumours circulating that I believe I must give you the St Andrews residents the facts of what is actually happening. Firstly, I would like to make it clear, we, the parish councillors have made no decision, all options are open to debate and scrutiny.

To start, I will take the problem of a depot: Swindon Borough Council passed over to every parish the responsibility of what is termed ‘Streetsmart’ because they could no longer afford to run its operation. We were told to run it out of the parish precept. We were not given a choice. Streetsmart consists of looking after open spaces, play parks, grass cutting, hedge trimming, weeding, dog and waste bins etc. In order to take on this function we had to employ five new workers who needed vehicles and all necessary equipment. We, the parish, are currently renting part of the Waterside depot but have been told to find a depot of our own because that space is otherwise needed and although we have been assured we will not be turned out Swindon Borough Council want us to vacate as quickly as possible. Whilst there, we are charged a very high rent.

In our parish there is very little choice of land suitable on which to build a depot, nor are there any premises suitable for use as a depot, therefore we have to build our own. We are currently viewing all available land of which Eastbury Way is just one of them.

Your MP Justin Tomlinson is helping in this quest and through him we are having talks with a developer in the north of our parish which initially appears quite promising. Thank you, Justin!

The outcome of these talks will be conveyed to you online, so I ask you all to please be patient with us over the next few weeks until we come to a decision.

Now to the problem of the adult exercise equipment at Eastbury Way play park. There have been many issues and problems with this equipment from the time we took over the parish several years ago. We have found it difficult and even impossible to locate new parts when the original ones break or rust away. This continuous problem was what prompted us to call in an independent assessor through Swindon Borough Council health and safety department. They obliged and I was telephoned with the result which was not good, hence, the notice going up and the equipment fenced off for safety reasons. We had no alternative but to put it out of use.

The reason this equipment was in such a dire state is due to that part of the park being constantly water-logged and the many repairs we did had only a short life due to the conditions.

Many of you have said we should provide an adult exercise park elsewhere; I and your councillors completely agree with you although as always, the problem is funding. We would need £50k-£70k, which could be raised in one or two ways. Either by a huge increase in the parish precept next year or by fundraising. I do not agree with increasing the precept as during this covid pandemic many residents have lost their jobs or had their paid overtime cut. My conscience tells me that we, the parish council, cannot add to that burden. So, that leaves fundraising, I am therefore inviting all those residents who desperately want this facility to join me in helping to raise this money. If you wish to help, please give your details to Emma, our Clerk.

In conclusion I apologise for such a lengthy explanation but I wanted you to know why we are seeking a solution to this dilemma.

We your parish council team will always endeavour to be fair and will continue to do the very best for our St Andrews parish.

Kind regards

Vera Tomlinson

Chairman