The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire July 2014 Edition | Page 16

FORWARD SWINDON

THE CHANGING FACE OF SWINDON TOWN CENTRE
Forward Swindon operates on behalf of Swindon Borough Council and delivers a range of projects
for the benefit of those who live and work in Swindon. Founded in 2010, Forward Swindon is
responsible for regeneration, economic development and business investment in Swindon.
One of the major projects that Forward
Swindon is working on and forms part of
Swindon’s Masterplan is the Kimmerfields
project: a multi-million pound development
of a new business district in the heart of the
town centre, and which involves some major
infrastructure changes At present Fleming
Way splits the town centre in to two.
Although nowadays the dual carriageway
is used less, it still has a huge impact on the
heart of Swindon- dividing up important
parts of the town.
The main route for people walking from the
train station, bus station and their places
of work (Zurich’s Tricentre complex, for
example), to the shops in Swindon town
centre, is through a subway that goes
under the road. This subway puts people
off coming into town at lunchtimes and
evenings which loses the town and retailers
revenue. As part of the regeneration of the
town centre, the plan is to get rid of the
subway completely and make changes to
Fleming Way to improve the environment
for everyone.
In about 2 year’s time Fleming Way will

be closed to all traffic except buses, and
the road will be narrowed and lowered to
the same level as the pedestrian area. It will
become a pleasant, landscaped avenue that
will allow people to walk easily between the
retail and business areas. Fleming Way will
become a “shared space”: for people, buses
and cycles. Later in the regeneration, a new
bus exchange will replace H^\