There are twenty-eight conservation areas in Swindon Borough, each having a character appraisal identifying the key elements which contribute to the special architectural and historic interest of the area. Their purpose is to provide a basis for making sustainable decisions on the future of the area, which will preserve and enhance the character and appearance of the area.

From time to time these appraisals will be need to be updated to take account of any recent physical changes, revised planning policy or new relevant information.  We are also intending to provide conservation area management plans for each area.  This will explain briefly how each area could be maintained, managed and improved.

To date, sixteen conservation area appraisals have been reviewed and adopted by Planning Committee.  Revised appraisals of a further four will be available in draft at the end of October (Chiseldon, Hodson, Badbury and Rodbourne Cheney).   If you wish to comment on these please contact Neil Buick, Conservation Officer by November 28^th on 01793 466325 or email conservation@swindon.gov.uk.

The Conservation Team are in the process of reviewing the remaining eight conservation areas.  These are:

• Castle Eaton
• Hannington
• Lower Wanborough
• Stanton Fitzwarren
• Stratton St Margaret (Lower Stratton)
• Stratton St Margaret (Kingsdown)
• Upper Inglesham
• Wroughton

Copies of all the existing appraisals (and drafts when obtainable) are available to view and download at:  http://www.swindon.gov.uk/environment-planning-conservation-areas.htm

We would like your views on the existing Conservation Character Appraisals for these eight areas, in particular:

• Do you feel that the current document is an accurate assessment of the conservation area?
• Are there any areas within the document that you feel have been missed out or are inaccurate or misrepresented?
• Should the existing boundaries be changed to incorporate or exclude certain areas and or buildings?
• Are there any buildings of historic interest (listed or not) that you feel should be included within any new appraisal?

Relevant Parish Councils and Ward Members have been invited to comment and a questionnaire will be delivered to all residents of the above conservation areas seeking their views.  In addition, the following drop-in sessions at which you can talk directly with a Conservation Officer have been arranged:

• Wroughton: Thursday 16th October, 4-7pm, Ellendune Centre
• Lower Wanborough:  Thursday 23rd October, 4-7 pm, Village Hall
• Castle Eaton: Tuesday 4th November, 4-7 pm Village Hall
• Stanton Fitzwarren, Wednesday 12th November, 4-7 pm Village Hall

Residents of Upper Inglesham and Hannington are invited to attend either the Castle Eaton or Stanton Fitzwarren sessions.  If you are unable to attend a drop-in session and wish to speak to a Conservation Officer please contact the Conservation Team on 01793 466325 or at conservation@swindon.gov.uk.

We are hoping to complete the review of these remaining eight conservation areas by the end of 2008.  This means that any comments and views need to be sent to the Conservation Team by the end of November.  This will allow comments to be incorporated into the new documents and approved by the Planning Committee in the New Year.

Printed Documents

Copies of current appraisals are available for purchase please see the ‘Obtaining Printed Copies’ page for details of how to obtain the documents.

Useful Links

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

English Heritage

Ancient Monuments Society

Council for British Archaeology

The Georgian Group

The Victorian Society

The Twentieth Century Society

This web page was last updated on Tuesday 14th October 2008.