The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 44: Aug/Sept 2019 | Page 5

BUSINESS NEWS
PIECING TOGETHER THE
SWINDON JIGSAW
Improvements could contribute to the Council’s
2030 vision for Swindon town centre.
Plans to revitalise Swindon’s Fleming Way
by creating a new bus interchange will be
considered by the Government for a slice of
£675m funding. Swindon Borough Council’s
application for £25m to the Future High
Streets Fund is among the bids to have made
it through to the next round of assessment.
To assist with the application, the Council
will now receive a grant of up to £150,000 to
complete the business case and prepare the
scheme to commence in 2020. The proposal
to transform Fleming Way and the bus station
was shortlisted by the Government partly
due to its consideration of how to tackle the
challenge of the changing High Street. If
funding is approved, improvements would
include a green spine, new public space and
the removal of the Fleming Way underpass.
Improved pedestrian and cycle routes
will also form an important part of the
scheme which would build on the recent
work at nearby Wellington Street, creating an
attractive route from the railway station into
the town centre.
All national and local bus services would
be incorporated along Fleming Way and the
new road layout would complete the link
between the Eastern and Western Flyer
cycle routes. The new bus facility, which is an
integral part of the mixed use Kimmerfields
regeneration site, would free up the area
which houses the current bus station
increasing the size of the site by 20 per cent
and increasing the value of the development.
It also supports the vision for the town
centre, which states that ‘By 2030, Swindon
town centre will be the beating heart of the
local community. A place to set up home and
business, where people stay longer, spend
more and keep coming back’.
Councillor Dale Heenan, Swindon Borough
Council’s Cabinet Member for the Town
Centre, said, “This is a big achievement, but it
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is important to manage expectations because
there is still work to do before Swindon
receives a government cheque for £25m and
we can finally transform Fleming way and
our aging 1960s bus station.
“We are working hard to create an environ-
ment where business, and the Government,
invest in Swindon. Our town centre is a large
complex jigsaw where, piece by piece, project
by project, we are slowly making progress.
“Both the new Zurich offices and the
North Star ski slope will be open in just a few
years’ time. Last month the Heritage Action
Zone was launched with Historic England,
and I have made two key commitments,
which are visible progress on restoring
the Mechanics by 2024, and improving the
five-minute walk between the Outlet, Town
Centre and North Star. The refurbishment of
Wellington Street opposite the train station
A computer generated image of the proposed ‘new look’ Fleming Way in Swindon.
sustainable uses for its heritage sites. The
new centre is part of the Royal Agricultural
University (RAU). When opened in 2020 it will
offer an exciting place to learn and develop
the skills needed to work in heritage; a
“Fleming way and our tired, aging bus station are an important
piece of the puzzle that will help local residents, and businesses,
see the picture. We must get this right.”
has finished, and the owners of the Brunel
Centre will publish their exciting plans for
Swindon later this month.
“Fleming way and our tired, aging bus
station are an important piece of the puzzle
that will help local residents, and businesses,
see the picture. We must get this right.”
In other positive news for the town, work
to turn Swindon’s historic railway works into
a Cultural Heritage Institute is now underway.
The Cultural Heritage Institute (CHI) has
moved a significant step closer after work
started to create a new learning centre in
the town’s former Great Western Railway
Carriage Works. The scheme is an example
of the Council’s commitment to finding
growing business sector which contributes
billions to the UK economy through
consultancy, regeneration and tourism.
The conversion of the Swindon Borough
Council-owned Carriage Works will see a
standalone structure inserted into Unit 11
of the West Shed, creating seminar rooms,
a library, offices and lecture space over two
floors. The new academic offer will contribute
to the Council’s ambition to increase the
supply of higher education options for
Swindon residents. It will help fill a national
skills gap in archaeology and heritage, and a
demand from businesses in the South West
of England for CPD courses such as heritage
management.
The Council completed a first phase of
redevelopment last year to provide new
flexible office space for small businesses
– a facility now known as WorkShed. The
works planned for the Cultural Heritage
Institute form part of a second phase of
redevelopment that will also create additional
office space and ancillary uses.
Councillor Dale Heenan, added, “I am
pleased we have found such a great partner
in the Royal Agricultural University and the
Carriage Works will allow them to deliver
heritage-themed academic and practical
courses.
“RAU is thinking about Swindon
differently and I hope residents, students and
businesses will too. This really is exciting for
Swindon, the University and future students.”
Director of the Cultural Heritage Institute,
Dr Geraint Coles, said, “At the RAU we are
very excited by the tremendous opportunities
offered by our new centre in Swindon.
“The Cultural Heritage Institute will be
an exciting place to learn and grow. We
teach from experience and work closely with
practitioners to offer courses which meet
industry needs.”
Chase Owen
Racing
21/01/2019
10:26 5
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE
2019