Skate park planned for top of Whalebridge Car Park

As part of Swindon Borough Council’s ambition to improve the town centre, the local authority has submitted a new planning application to convert the top two floors of Whalebridge Car Park in Islington Street (SN1 1TN) into a roller skating facility.

Operated by Swindon Skate Social, the facility would be used as a pilot to prove the viability of this concept in the area and help inform other leisure and creative concepts in similar locations.

While this will be a unique offering in Swindon, similar schemes have been successful elsewhere including in Bristol where they converted a former Debenhams store into ‘Shredenhams’, a space dedicated to skateboarding, as a meanwhile use.

Whalebridge is currently underused by visitors to the town centre so the opportunity is being sought to make it a more vibrant and bustling location that can benefit the local community.

Improving the town centre is at the centre of the Council’s Heart of Swindon vision, which aims to stimulate investment in order to transform the area over the next decade.

In the vision, the Council is calling on local land and property owners to bring forward new uses for their own underutilised assets, with the Local Authority leading the way with this work.

Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “We know the town centre needs a lot of love and it’s something local people want us to improve, which is why we are determined to do what we can to make that happen.

“Town centres are changing and we want to see a mix of housing, leisure, hospitality and retail in Swindon as outlined in our Heart of Swindon vision.

“If we want our town centre to thrive and increase the amount of time people spend in the town centre, we need to look at innovative ways to achieve this, which is what this proposal for Whalebridge car park is all about.”

Councillor Kevin Small, Cabinet Member for Finance, added: “These changes to Whalebridge car park will demonstrate how these types of activities can transform underused spaces into vibrant uses for the community.

“Should this be a success, it will be a shining example of how other landowners can improve their assets and use their buildings to bring life and vibrancy to the town.

“We’re also looking at what can be done at our other car parks and, if this skate offering is a success, we’ll aim to bring other facilities to other locations in the town centre.”

Gareth Davies, Owner of Swindon Skate Social, said: “It’s a great idea. We’ve been looking for a safe place to skate for a while, we’ve got one regular booking but it took me two and a half years to find it.

“We’ve grown out of that, this is a safe environment, it’s outdoors, it’s fresh air and it’s a great community builder. We’re all friends through skating and we’re getting bigger.

“It’ll bring more people into the town centre, businesses will benefit from us being here, going to the restaurants and shops.

“It’s not just a Swindon event, I’ve been speaking to people across the country and they’re very interested already about this project. It’s a great bonus for Swindon.”

Planning applications have been submitted to the Council’s planning department and, if approved, work could start in the Summer.