Swindon secures £19.5m for town centre regeneration projects

By Nicky Godding

4 March 2021

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Swindon has been allocated £19.5 million of funding for town centre regeneration projects.The town was selected as one of 101 places to put forward submissions as part of the first cohort of bids and the independent Swindon Town Deal Board, made up of experts from the public, private and voluntary sector, created a Town Investment Plan (TIP) last year.

It has now been announced that funding has been secured for six projects, which are:

Health Hydro refurbishments: embedding community and leisure uses in the heart of the Railway Village
Redevelopment of units of the Carriage Works: completing Phase 3 of our rejuvenation of Brunel’s former Carriage Works, redeveloping three units as well as part of the building fronting onto London Street
Create Studios at the Carriage Works: fitting out the new space to support Swindon’s digital economy and upskilling residents
Brunel Centre Market: introducing new town centre uses, complementing the High Street and bringing a new experience
Heritage Action Zone Streets and Spaces: public realm and improvements to walking and cycling routes to tie together Swindon’s heritage-led regeneration projects and connect the Designer Outlet and North Star to the town centre
Kimmerfields Enabling Infrastructure: delivering enabling infrastructure to make land ready for new homes and offices on the next phase of Kimmerfields, adjacent to Zurich’s new flagship building

Outline business cases for the funded projects will now be pulled together by the independent Swindon Town Deal Board as part of the process to deliver each project.

Richard Newland, Chair of the Swindon Town Deal and Director of Branch and Workplace Development at Nationwide Building Society, which has its headquarters in the town, said: “I am delighted that Swindon has been successful in its application for a Town Deal. The projects that are in development will be a real boost for the town centre and a positive step forward for the wider area. I look forward to continue working with the expert Town Deal Board to bring these projects to life so the whole community can benefit.”

Councillor David Renard, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that the Government has seen the potential of these projects and this funding will be instrumental in helping Swindon to bounce back from the challenges thrown at us all by the pandemic.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.