Is swindon missing out?

THERE are suspicions among politicians that the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has a hidden agenda that threatens to marginalise Swindon.

The RDA is charged with promoting areas in its jurisdiction equally, but the south west region is vast and Swindon is seen by many as something of a gatecrasher, more at home in the Thames Valley.

Ever since RDAs were launched, Swindon politicians and business leaders have been pushing for more commitment to the town by those who have the power to inject a bit of oomph into the recovery strategy.

The simmering discontent has come to a head over the chance of a 10,000-student university campus to come to Swindon.

The RDA, along with the Government Office of the South West, has been angling for Bath University's proposed new campus to be included in Swindon's town centre regeneration blueprint.

Prof Glynis Breakwell, the university's doughty Vice Chancellor, has equally made it clear the new campus will be built at Coate or nowhere in Swindon.

Neither the RDA nor the South West Government Office has tried publicly to veto the Coate designation for the new campus, which council leader Mike Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawn) hails as "potentially the most important development for Swindon since Brunel pioneered the rail works here." But their silence and apparent inertia have caused jitters among those responsible for mapping out Swindon's future. Normally cool-headed and dispassionate politicians, such as North Swindon MP Michael Wills and Coun Bawden, have been driven to peppery rhetoric.

"If the RDA doesn't quickly declare its hand and puts its weight behind a new campus at Coate, then it will have blood on its hands," Mr Wills said angrily.

"I've already made this clear to them. If we lose Bath University to the town, it will be a tragic blow, setting us back years."

The fears are that the RDA might be secretly favouring a new university in Cornwall, rather than in Swindon. Certainly, Cornwall is benefiting from the RDA's big push both at home and in Europe.

In its official strategy document, the South West RDA says; "Although the region is one of the most prosperous in the UK, there are wide variations within the region itself. The EU works in partnership with the south west to tackle specific economic and social problems, particularly in Cornwall, which has Objective One status, and in parts of Devon, West Somerset and Bristol, which receive funding under Objective Two.

"The vision is to create a prosperous Cornwall and Scilly where all people and communities share in an improving quality of life."

The payout from Europe to Cornwall will be at least £800 million.

Objective Two status, worth around £108 million to each area, includes Bristol, Plymouth, North Devon, South Hams, Torquay the so-called British Riviera Torridge, West Devon and West Somerset.

Objective One areas are those deemed to represent the most deprived. Objective Two are those parts of the south west backed by the RDA as being in need of financial help from Europe but not to the same degree as those in the Objective One category.

Despite all its social and economic problems, Swindon has been virtually ignored for any major funding from Europe. Under the lowest Objective Three, which embraces the entire south west, Swindon receives a grant from the European Social Fund to help with training and employment. This money is managed by the council.

Swindon Council receives £750,000 a year from Europe under Objective Three to help promote employment and job training opportunities in the borough. This amount will grow to about £1.2 million in 2006, but there will be no more after that unless the council is successful with a new bid for a different funding project.

"The RDA has been looking for a big explosion of growth in the town centre and wanted a new university campus to be there," said Mr Wills. "That was undoubtedly the agency's position a year or so ago.

"But the university is adamant the town centre is definitely not the place for it and it must be Coate, providing easy access to the M4 and being near the Great Western Hospital, where there will be combined research work.

"There's no doubt that the RDA has been cool on this and I fear a political backlash."

In other words, Swindon could be punished for not being bowing to the will of the regional bureaucrats.

"We are simply not getting the necessary clout from the very people who should be in our corner," added Mr Wills.

"I am seriously afraid that Swindon might miss out big-time."

And Coun Bawden said: "Because Swindon has attracted many large companies, it's generally thought that the town is prosperous. Of course there is prosperity, but there's also deprivation."

Although it would be wrong to portray Swindon as Cinderella, the town would not be going to the ball unless the RDA and the Government Office for the south west started waving the magic wand, said Coun Bawden.

But South West RDA spokeswoman Katherine Haines commented: "No area, town or city receives preferential treatment. We make our judgments according to need nothing else."

Michael Litchfield