Blunsdon is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about north of the centre of Swindon, with the A419 forming its southern boundary. Its main settlement is the village of Broad Blunsdon, with Lower Blunsdon nearby; the hamlet of Broadbush is now contiguous with Broad Blunsdon. Blunsdon is the eastern half of the former Blunsdon St Andrew civil parish. In April 2017 the parish was divided, with the western half becoming St Andrews parish.
Blunsdon's Abbey Stadium is the home of Swindon Greyhounds, broadcast world-wide three times per week and a stalwart of off course betting shops in the U.K. all the year round, plus speedway team the Swindon Robins. The Robins compete in the Elite League, with matches regularly televised live on Sky Sports. However, this was briefly under threat in 2006 due to plans by developers to demolish the stadium and replace it with houses with a proposal to build a smaller greyhound racing stadium elsewhere, but these were modified to a propose a new stadium on the existing site for both sports. These plans were at first recommended for refusal by the Council Officers for various reasons, the developers agreed to take the plans away for adjustment and in May 2008 planning inspectors approved the new plans, which included 450 houses and office space. The village has a football team, Blunsdon FC, which has youth development squads as well as a senior men's side playing in the Wiltshire League.
Local government
Blunsdon parish covers Broad Blunsdon and the area west of the A419. In the southeast, the boundary with St Andrews leaves the A419 and follows the A4311 Cricklade Road, so that the Groundwell industrial estate is in Blunsdon parish. Until April 2017, the whole area was the civil parish of Blunsdon St Andrew. The parish lies within the Borough of Swindon.
Village shop
After the last privately owned shop in the village closed in 2002, a village public meeting convened and agreed to open a new community shop, which was opened in 2003. Located in the car park of the village hall, the shop was originally based inside a secondhand site office cabin, but in 2009 this was replaced by a brand new structure. Run mainly by volunteers, in 2010 the shop won third place for 'Best Village Shop' at the Wiltshire Life Magazine Awards
A bypass was built between the autumn of 2006 and spring 2009. This has reunited Broad Blunsdon village with the portion that was southwest of the former A419.
