Six-month update on town centre regeneration plans to be shared

Leader of Swindon Borough Council, Councillor Jim Robbins, will provide members of the Council’s Build a Better Swindon Policy and Development Committee with a six-month update on plans to regenerate key sites within the town centre.

It comes after the Council launched its Vision for the Heart of Swindon in a hugely successful event in the House of Lords in March.

The vision aims to attract new investment to make the town centre a more attractive and vibrant destination, with a diversified range of land uses.

At its meeting next Thursday (11 Sep), councillors will be told of the progress the Council has made with key partners Network Rail and Business West on a scheme to turn 100 acres of brownfield land next to the town’s railway station into a new high-quality commercial district, creating thousands of new jobs and hundreds of new homes.

So far under the scheme, which is known as Knowledge Central, £350,000 in funding has been secured by the Council to design a new northern entrance to the train station and technical studies to underpin the development.

And with discussions ongoing with prospective anchor tenants and funders, the committee will hear how Swindon station will be a priority project for Network Rail’s new rail development company, ‘Platform4’, with the Council aiming to accelerate the pace of the scheme over the next six months.

An update will also be provided on the vacant Kimmerfields site next to Zurich’s Unity Place offices adjacent to Fleming Way. Earmarked for housing, councillors will be told that the Council has ended discussions with a prospective developer of the site due to a lack of progress, but that a design code for a high-quality regeneration scheme is being prepared with a view to securing a new developer.

Also on Kimmerfields, the former bus station will be demolished over the coming months in readiness for delivery of a new town centre entertainment venue.

Discussions are taking place with landowners and investors on other key sites in the town centre and, with the £33m Fleming Way improvements already acting as a catalyst for investment in the area such as FI Real Estate’s £8.5m refurbishment of its Grade A offices at the Tri-Centre, council officers will be aiming to secure further investment, actively supporting the owner of the former Debenhams store to secure a suitable occupier for the building.

Elsewhere in the town centre, the Council is exploring re-establishing a Business Improvement District (BID) and has begun work with partners and landlords to deliver enhancements to the Fleet Street area.

Over the next six months the Council will be delivering public realm improvements, installing festoon lighting and introducing public art interventions with the ultimate aim of turning Fleet Street and Bridge Street into an artisan and independent district. 

To help kick-start this work, the Council will be working closely with the Arts Council-funded Swindon Culture Collective CIC to introduce cultural activities into the streets.

Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “Transforming the town centre is one of our major priorities as a council and the Heart of Swindon vision clearly sets out how we intend to deliver it.

“I’ve been really encouraged with the momentum we have managed to generate since we launched the vison back in March.

“We’ve got partners fully behind our plans to regenerate the train station, which will create jobs and homes, we’ll be kick-starting the stalled Kimmerfields scheme and we are engaging with landlords and creative partners to breathe new life into the neglected areas of Fleet Street and Bridge Street.

“And I also can’t wait to see the old dingy bus station demolished because, for too long, it has sent out the wrong message to residents, shoppers and visitors alike. It’s been a positive start, but there is still lots of work to do.”