I ATTENDED the exhibition about the Eastern Villages recently.

As with every new large development next to an existing town, there are going to be concerns whether the infrastructure already in place will be able to cope with the increase in people, roads, sewage and schools.

I worry that Swindon is becoming surrounded with new developments in each cardinal point and the town’s image will be one of a massive building site. Add to this the soon to be lowering of Fleming Way, with all its attendant traffic issues, and Swindon will be viewed as a place to avoid for much of the next decade.

It seems to me this development to the east is a golden opportunity for the council to do something lasting and positive for the town.

I have long held the view that Coate Water Country Park could be better than it is. I would like to see the adjacent farm made into a city farm as well as the agricultural museum open to the public. If the Richard Jefferies museum could be incorporated into this as well as a proper visitors centre, the town would have a venue that residents would be proud of enough to take relatives when they come to stay. With developers on the park’s doorstep, I do hope the council will not miss the opportunities that will arise for them to contribute to such improvements.

If one looks at a map of the area it is littered with country parks with one noticeable exception – in the east. I do hope the council can encourage those planning to build in the east to contribute to the establishment of such a facility in their development.

It wouldn’t take too much vision to link up all the country parks with large green corridors, so creating a green halo around the town. That would be a legacy that any council should be proud of.

Bob Pixton, Abney Moor, Swindon