HOME FIRE SAFETY VISIT

From: Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service "Your Safety is our Concern"

If you would like a FREE Home and Fire Safety Visit, Please contact:

The Fire Station, Drove Road, Swindon, SN1 3AD

or call: 0800 389 7849

or visit: www.fire.gov.uk

or visit: www.fire.gov.uk

Please Note: Any alarms or advice given to householders is on a goodwill basis.
Responsibility for maintainance of smoke alarms lies with the householder.

ARE YOU READY - FOR A SMOKE FREE SWINDON

DONT LET THE LAW TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE!

Smokefree legislation will be coming to Swindon from 1 July 2007

Will you need to do anything to comply with the new requirements?
To find out, register at www.smokefreeendgland.gov.uk
or by calling the free information line on 0800 169 1697

DID YOU KNOW?

Smoking rooms will not be allowed. Most premises, even those
currently smokefree, will still need to display signage.

SWINDON ADVERTISER - LES HORN TRIBUTE

Tributes paid to Les the campaigner

By Matt Jackson

LES Horn, a tireless community campaigner and one of the town's most colourful political characters, has died, aged 85.

Friends and colleagues have expressed their sadness over the loss of Mr Horn, who was taken to Great Western Hospital last Monday with kidney problems.

He died on Saturday morning, and since then those who knew of his dedication to the people of Central ward and Broad Street Area Community Council have paid tribute.
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Former mayor Mike Bawden first met Les in 1970 during the dirty workers' strike, when the sewage works in Barnfield Road ground to a halt.

They negotiated from different sides of the political spectrum while workers and the council argued over pay and working hours.

"It was a time of crisis in 1970, the lack of work at the sewage works meant the River Thames was being polluted," he said.

"Les was the senior shop steward for the National Union Of Public Employees and I had to meet with him at all times of day and night to try and resolve the dispute.

"What became clear very quickly was that we were strong political opponents, not least when stink bombs were thrown into a council meeting about the row.

"But we formed a very strong personal friendship which carried on for more than 35 years.

"Les was very straight with people he dealt with.

"If he didn't agree with you he would fight tooth and nail to obstruct your plans, but if he thought it was the right thing to do it would be done with no fuss at all.

"He cared deeply for the Broadgreen area of Swindon and was always there at council meetings to make sure that his ward got a fair hearing."

John and Beryl Phillips worked with Les for years on Broad Street Area Community Council.

Beryl will remember the work Les did to tackle prostitution in the area.

She said: "He was a great, straight-talking Yorkshireman and he took that into the work he did.

"If he thought there was a problem or something that needed to be done he would get to work straight away.

"He campaigned to keep green space around the County Ground during discussions about the stadium redevelopment, and played a major role in the Streets For Living campaign."

Derique Montaut knew Les from his regular attendance at council meetings.

The Labour ward councillor for the central area recognised his commitment.

He said: "Even if it was a minor meeting he would be there with the same enthusiasm.

"He was a deeply committed old Labour figure and the town is poorer for his passing.

"There have not been many people like Les and he will be sorely missed."

Karen Leakey worked with Les until the end of last month, staging a cohesion event on April 28 through the Broad Street Area Community Council.

Karen said: "It has been a privilege and honour to have worked with Les and he has inspired me to continue with his work."

Les Horn

I have been asked to write a few words on behalf of the Broad Street Area Community Council concerning our long time Chairman and friend Les Horn who sadly passed away last week.

Les was a champion of the common person, very loyal and protective to his friends and especially to his beloved family, who were constantly at the heart of his life.

Having spent his formative years growing up in a mining and textile area near Huddersfield, his childhood was never easy and the miners strike of 1926 that involved his Father, taught him at a very young age the harshness and inequalities that exist in life and showing him how people can look out for each other and share what they have got to benefit others. These experiences moved him to spend his own life championing the rights of other people.

In his memoirs, Les wrote that: "I was born into a way of life of sharing and giving help when one can without looking for reward, I have found that one gets more pleasure from giving than taking and if many others would share this practice the world would be a much better place to live"

Over the last 60 years many in Swindon have benefited from his strength of character and doggedness, never giving up on a problem big or small or turning his back on someone in need, his door was always open at work and home.

If Les didn’t have the answer you could bet that he knew someone who did and he was blessed with a special gift of ‘persuading’ people to take the right action.

Never afraid to say what he thought was right, or afraid to say sorry if he was wrong, the Community Council and the area and people it covered benefited by an immeasurable amount when he retired from a lifetime of Union work within the Council, leaving him free to give his full commitment to the area he had lived in since moving here from Yorkshire during the 1940’s.

There can be no doubt that Yorkshire’s loss was certainly Swindon’s gain and anybody who ever met Les, and it was many, will ever be able to forget him. He was a truly remarkable, influential and irreplaceable man, his memory will live on and he will be greatly missed by all at the Community Council and everyone else that knew him.

Very Sad News

Some very sad news for our community - Les Horn passed away in the early hours of this morning.
Les will sadly be missed by everyone and has left a big hole.

Will post a tribute to Les at a later date.

Amazing people of Broadgreen

Grace Walker aged 89 years of Salisbury Street held a Giant Tea Party on Friday in aid of the Blue Cross Animal Shelter in Burford.

Grace is a big cat lover and felt this was a cause close to her heart. Grace spent many hours finding donations and writing letters. A raffle was held, with fun and games for children, tea and cakes were also served and people paid a donation. Grace also sold many items – most with an animal theme. The weather stayed good and the Town Crier, as well as the Neighbourhood Police Team and many residents turned up.

By the end of the day Grace raised over £400.00 – amazing.

Bristol Rovers Groundshare

MEETING WITH SANDY GREY STFC RE BRISTOL ROVERS GROUND SHARE THURSDAY 17 MAY 2007

PRESENT Sandy Grey - STFC, Councillors - Darker, Wright and Montaut, Kevin Leakey - Secretary BSACC, Michael Rimes - Committee BSACC.

MINUTES

SG: Have talked to a supporters group and they are 80% in favour of a ground share happening BW: He has dealt with the Trust STFC and they are mostly against a ground share happening.

KL: Community Council do not wish to see this happen. Have failed to so far find anyone, fans or not, who thinks a ground share with Bristol Rovers would be a good thing. This is from people not only in the vicinity of the County Ground, but also across the town. The only positive thing a number of people had to say was it could help STFC financially as they are in trouble.

People are concerned that there will be traffic and parking problems happening every week. People tend work around Swindon’s home matches- if they go out, they may not be able to park when they get back so they either do not go out, or they stay out until after the football has finished having to do this every week is a lot to ask. With Bristol Rovers behaviour problems of recent years, residents are extremely worried about their safety and the prospect of damage to their properties.

SG: Will be good for businesses in the town, as Bristol crowd will spend extra money. KL: Our concerns are how residents will be affected, not how much money a business will be able to make. Residents life will be disrupted every week from football, it is also very noisy especially for people living directly around the stadium. While we all have to accept that disruption will happen on Swindon’s home games, it is not acceptable to have to put up with it every week.

SG: Are looking to bus in around 1000 fans and expect crowds of 2500 to 4000 at each match Rovers have home crowds of around 4000 to 6000 maximum. Swindon has crowds of around 7000 so it will be a lot less fans in town for Bristol matches.

SG: Do understand that families will come by car-will encourage them to use park and ride KL: STFC do not do this for Swindon fans now, why would Bristol fans use the facility.

SG: Police budget to be paid for by Bristol, not only in the ground but the whole policing bill – Swindon and Wiltshire residents should not have to pay for this.

If Bristol Rovers go up a division then crowds are likely to be much bigger than the 2500 to 4000 talked about how many is this likely to be?

SG: Still think that even if this happens, crowds will not exceed 4000.

SG: The Police are not too worried about problems. They envisage that any ‘teething’ problems will only last for the first month; -2 matches - then the novelty will wear off and crowd numbers will drop. KL: This is all speculation, no one actually has any idea how many people will come down to watch Rovers play.

SG: Bristol Rovers FC say fans that cause trouble at football are not Rovers fans. KL: Rightly or wrongly if they come to Swindon and cause trouble because Rovers are playing here, they are still connected to the club whether they are Rovers fans or not.

DM: There will be an increase in rubbish, STFC should recognise this and pick up the bill. SG: STFC already pay a large rent to the Council, as their profits increase so does the amount they pay to the Council. So they should not have to pay any extra.

DM: May be the Council should pay for the extra cleaning!!!

BW: Can accept the principle of ground sharing with other sports, but sharing with Bristol Rovers who have no allegiance with Swindon is completely different from, for example Swindon Hockey Club using the ground. This would not cause residents any of the problems that Bristol Rovers could cause.

BW: Extra revenue that comes into the town because of Rovers fans coming here is likely to have to be used to fix broken windows etc. Police cannot stop this happening; they can only do so much.

BW: STFC should be aware that should the ground share go ahead, the Broadgreen area has direct contact with their police teams who are very active in the area. Any problems that happen in the area will soon find their way to the police and residents will expect action to be taken.

Who will pay if there is trouble and damage is done to residents properties and cars etc.

SG: Any problems that go on outside the ground are not the clubs responsibility; they cannot be expected to pay for this SD agreed with SG that this is not STFC’s responsibility. KL: Pointed out that although it is the case that residents have to begrudgingly accept this when STFC play, it is completely unfair that residents should have to pick up any costs because another football club are sharing the County Ground, STFC will be making money and residents will pay the price.

DM: May be club could pick up some of the costs if damage occurs.

MR: The only way this could work is if the whole crowd is bussed directly to the stadium and bussed out again after the match without anybody ever leaving the ground, then nobody could cause trouble or damage or parking problems, which would never be feasible.

DM: This happens on the continent, but many people ignore it.