The Railway Village

The Railway Village is a unique residential estate located in the Town Centre. It was built in the 1840s by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for good quality homes for the workers of Great Western Railways.

We have over 350 residential properties located in the town centre accommodating our tenants, of which the majority are primarily based at the Railway Village. All the buildings are protected by English Heritage and are grade 2 listed.

The Village is a very popular location to reside and demand for property is high amongst our tenants and applicants due to its heritage and close proximity to the town centre.

At present the Council has invested in a programme of works over recent years to help modernise these properties, with the consent of English Heritage, in order to address issues our tenants have advised us of following public consultations.

This has included designing a new front door, bringing the design close to original doors that would have been on the properties in the 19^th Century. This has meant we had to seek approval from English Heritage and the Secretary of State. We should be seeing these doors being installed into our properties over the next few months.

Properties have also seen a programme to upgrade central heating, electrical re-wires and other improvements to the stock.

We are committed to continuing to improve the stock and over the past couple of years we have converted a number of bedsits back into 2 bedroom cottages, we have also redesigned tower blocks in Emlyn Square to modernise the offer to our tenants.

We still have a number of improvements to undertake and these improvements will continue over the next few years.

We have been committed to working with our tenants in the Railway Village and we have been speaking about forming a residents assocaiation specifically for the Railway Village.

Contact Us

If you live in the Village and would actively like to become involved with things that affect you, then please contact Paul Wilkins on 01793 463677 or email: pwilkins@swindon.gov.uk

If you have any enquiries about other issues in the Railway Village please contact your neighbourhood housing officer, Elaine House, on 01793 463551 or email: ehouse@swindon.gov.uk who will be able to assist with your enquiry.

If you would like more information about the improvements to the Railway Village please contact Mark Walker on 01793 464605 or email: mwalker@swindon.gov.uk

An action group for the Railway Village... All Residents Welcome!

If you want to help make your community a better place to live, and have a real say about the things that affect you, then Railway Village R.A.G is for you!

Here are just some of the issues that we will be discussing:

• Central Area Action Plan
• Proposed Reinstatement of the Canal
• Future use of the Central Community Centre
• Housing Improvements - Replacement Doors
• Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour
• Housing Regeneration Options Appraisal

Interested and want to know more? For further information please contact Paul Wilkins on 01793 463677

Housing Improvements - Replacement Door Project 2008/09

Residents of the Railway Village have been made aware that, we would like to replace the existing front doors and upgrade the security of the existing rear doors for tenants in the Railway Village.

About the New Door

As the Railway village is a Conservation Area, the replacement wooden door (pictured below), has received the necessary approval from the Secretary of State.

This is a framed ledge and braced door, fitted with a high security night latch, a high security dead lock, door chain and bolt, heavy-duty hinges and period letter plate, numbering and pull handle. The frame will also be fitted with draught strips and a metal weatherproof sill.

The view panel is 6mm thick clear security glass.

Above is an example of the proposed door, which has been fitted in Exeter Street. Please take time to go and have a look. So far the feedback has been positive and a survey to all residents of the Railway Village has recently been completed with over 70% in favour of a new door.

Please note that colour will vary from property to property.

For more inforamtion about the new door, please contact Steve Wilmot on Swindon 463439.

With special thanks to the STEAM Picture Library for the images of the Railway Village.

Did you know that STEAM Picture Library holds 1000s of archive images relating to the Great Western Railway? For further information on this service please contact Elaine Arthurs on 01793 466607 or visit www.steampicturelibrary.com