Heritage garden opened as Honda leaves Swindon

The community garden sits on part of the Honda factory site

Car manufacturer Honda has officially opened a new community garden built as a farewell to Swindon.

The company closed its large plant in the town last summer after 35 years at the site and will finish pulling out of the area next month.

The Honda Heritage Garden includes trees planted in memory of two workers who died in service.

Honda's UK manufacturing director Jason Smith said the garden was a way to "honour" the company's time in Swindon.

"It feels great, one of our main aspirations was to create a lasting legacy for Honda employees and also the local community, and I think we've achieved that with flying colours," he said.

The garden will be open to the public

The garden was opened by Katsuhisa Okuda, CO Honda Motor Europe (left), Jason Smith, Honda UK director, and the Mayor of Swindon Abdul Amin (right)

The garden features a play park, areas devoted to nature and learning and models of vehicles that celebrate the history of Honda.

"It's been incredibly challenging for everyone," Mr Smith said of the past couple of years since the closure was announced.

"When we made the announcement [about the closure] it was incredibly sad for everyone at the time but I think we've made the best of the situation.

Part of the play area includes a train, a nod to the fact that the Honda site was previously used for train manufacturing

"I think we've created a lasting legacy for the community, we've supported all our employees - hopefully to find new employment and anecdotal information suggests that 94% of those have found something for their desired outcomes, be that a job, retirement or setting up their own business.

"This is part of that legacy here today, to honour that time here in Swindon."

Mr Smith said he would be leaving Honda in July, having worked for the company for 30 years.

Car production stopped at the Honda site last summer