Ref. 30771-50Around 1,000 protesters converged on Swindon Council's offices on Saturday in a show of unity against plans to build on our green spaces

THE fight to retain some of Swindon's best-loved green spaces was taken to the borough council's doorstep on Saturday.

Young, old, families and individuals converged on the Civic Offices after joining marches from Shaw and Coate. It was a concerted effort to make their views on development proposals for Shaw community forest, Coate Water and the Front Garden heard.

Around 150 people set out from Coate and another 250 from the Mead Way entrance to the forest on a five-mile trek into town. They were met by a small crowd at their destination in Euclid Street.

Alan Hayward of the Swindon Forest Protection Group and the Stop Alliance said: "I have such admiration for those people who walked five miles with pushchairs and small children. I think we have made an impact."

He said everyone who took part in the march would want councillors who expressed support for their aims to stick to their words after election day. "They must expect the electorate to hold them to what they have said. We don't want any more broken promises," he said.

South Swindon MP Julia Drown, who met the marchers on the steps of the council offices, said she supported Swindon Town FC and understood their need for development. "But this development on Shaw forest I cannot see how it would work," she said. She urged the protesters to keep making their voices heard.

Mark Wheaver, of the Save Coate group, said: "We are only here because we love our green spaces." He told the crowd he became a Swindonian the first time he looked out over Coate Water, but the image of it as a town park made him feel like weeping.

"Why break a Faberge egg to make a concrete omelette?" he asked.

Members of the New Mechanics Institution Preservation Trust joined the march to protest about the council's planning policies. Martha Parry said the building's future was also a green issue. "It is about sustainability and culture," she said.

Front garden Action Group organiser Terry King slammed the town as a "planning shambles" and said the council should be making decisions based on people's wishes and not on money.

Estimates put the number of marchers at near 1,000 not quite the turnout expected but council leader Mike Bawden admitted he was impressed. "That is a terrific show of concern about the pressures around Swindon," he said.

Tina Clarke

Andy Tate