It’s a good bet that if you’re reading this, you’ve got some very clear views on what would make your bit of Swindon a better place to live.

Often it’s the simplest things that can irritate the most, like the drain that’s always blocked, the graffiti that isn’t cleared away, or the dog mess in the local park. Or maybe things would be improved by changes.

Fixing things like that can make a real difference to how people feel about their neighbourhood, but sometimes they can be the most difficult thing for the council to get right.

It’s not always easy for us to understand what really matters to people in the places where they live, which is why we want to take the conversations between the council and local residents to a new and more local level.

My hope is that Connecting People, Connecting Places will change the nature of the relationship between the council, its partners, and the people of Swindon for the better. We’re only at the very start of the process but the early signs are very encouraging.

It’s been very interesting to see the different priorities that are already emerging in the different clusters, following discussions with local people and community representatives.

The whole purpose of the programme is to get away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach, and the fact that we’re already seeing variations in what people want depending on the area of the Borough they live in illustrates the point.

The elected chairs of each cluster are able to organise the way the things work in their area depending on what suits everyone best – the clusters won’t all operate in the same way, which is as it should be.

To start things off, here’s my take on Connecting People, Connecting Places and what it means for Swindon.

Councillor Brian Mattock, Cabinet Member for Connecting People, Connecting Places

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