RESIDENTS in the Broad Street area of Swindon, which is in line for a £1.1m overhaul, will be able to find out more about local projects during 2005.

The Broad Street Community Group has made communication its theme for this year and has set up three new initiatives to keep local people up to date.

A website will be launched tomorrow, six leaflets will be published through the year to outline projects and there are plans to set up a newsletter for the area.

John Taylor, co-ordinator for the new initiatives, is very excited about the year ahead, which will see the beginning stage of a major project to redesign roads in the area to reduce traffic speeds and make the streets more welcoming for pedestrians.

"This wide ranging programme of community information is all about improving the quality of people's lives by improving their understanding of what is going on around them," he said.

To start the programme which the group has called Cohesive Communities Communicate a website will be launched tomorrow by Julia Drown, MP for South Swindon, at the internet cafe on Man-chester Road.

The site aims to provide easy access to information of local, national or global interest. The website address is www.

broadstreet.ik.com.

Six leaflets will also be produced through 2005 to let residents know about projects in the area. About 2,000 copies of each leaflet will be published and delivered to every household in the area.

The first leaflet, out this month, covers the Street Watch programme, which organises night-time patrols to tackle prostitution.

The leaflets will be published every two months and other subjects to be covered include work to improve street lighting, recycling and the Streets for Living programme to redesign roads, made possible through European, Government and council funding.

Mr Taylor explained why it was important to highlight all of the projects.

"Whereas everybody is excited about the prospect of £1.1m European investment in the area it is the smaller projects such as an improvement in street lights and on-going recycling projects that are already bringing improvements to the day to day lives of residents in the area," he said.

"The commitment of local people is illustrated by the on-going campaign Street Watch which recently received national acclaim."

Mr Taylor also hopes to set up a local newsletter to be published quarterly.

He would like to hear from anyone interested in helping to produce the newsletter. Contact him on 01793 324150.

Isabel Field