Regenerating the heart of Swindon
The town has a booming economy, strong business community and its above average growth is a real success story. However, over recent years commercial prosperity has not been matched with town centre development leaving it run down and unattractive to visitors.
The good news is that this is changing through an ambitious regeneration framework which is being led by The New Swindon Company (TNSC), working on behalf of Swindon Borough Council, the South West regional Development Agency and the Homes and Communities Agency. Since 2002, these groups have been working together to drive forward the physical, social and cultural regeneration of the area.
A £1billion regeneration scheme will transform Swindon’s town centre from a tired example of post war planning to a cosmopolitan place to work, learn, live and have fun in. The scheme will see one of the largest ever town centre transformations in the South West, and will provide Swindon with retail, cultural and educational facilities to match the town’s economic success.
Despite the economic downturn - which has caused crisis among many regeneration and development programmes in the UK during 2008 - the last 12 months have seen some big steps forward in Swindon’s regeneration plans and people are beginning to get a vision for what the Swindon of the future could look like.
Halfway through last year, the town reached its first milestone with the delivery of Wharf Green, an outdoor area with improved public facilities and an open space for community use.
Wharf Green includes new and improved public realm - paving, street furniture, lighting and public facility refurbishment, things that will be of real benefit to local people – and has been made possible by Growth Points Funding. The area is now cleaner, more useable and has a much safer feel about it and is attracting more and more people every day.
Another huge step forward for Swindon in 2008 was been the signing of two agreements which will bring more than half a billion pounds of public and private investment to Swindon, to deliver the urban regeneration framework.
Modus Properties signed a Development Agreement which will bring £215 million of private and public sector investment into the town centre. The company has committed to deliver Regent Place, a retail led scheme that will comprise 32,500 sq m of high quality retail, residential and leisure developments.
In addition to this, Muse Developments signed on the dotted line and committed to delivering Union Square. This £350 million scheme comprises a 17.5 acre site that will ultimately become one of the largest town centre mixed-use regeneration projects in the South West. The goal is to create an 18-hour urban hub where people want to be. Workers, shoppers and families will be able to enjoy a large public piazza, 25,000 sq metres of ancillary retail and leisure space, a new hotel, a redesigned bus interchange, high quality modern offices, new residential property and public open spaces.
These developments truly represent the beginning of a new era for Swindon. The current economic climate may be casting a gloomy spell and resulting in many regeneration schemes around the UK stalling but here, urban regeneration is going ahead full speed, and the town is making real progress re-affirming the fact that the long-term future of Swindon looks secure.
The New Swindon Company is committed to making Swindon a great place to live and a town in which business can thrive. Already, Swindon is beginning to draw in the crowds, and it looks set to stay this way.
