Tag: regeneration

I’ve never had much trust in property developers and their colleagues, but with every passing bad news story about the regeneration of Swindon town centre, the words of the New Swindon Company become less believable. It’s just a couple of weeks since Mr James of the New Swindon Company was claiming that Modus were fully committed to the Regents Place development… which they’d just shelved. Two days ago, after Modus went into administration, Mr James was still as over-optimistic as ever.

Being placed into administration was one of a number of possibilities and therefore we have been looking into how we can still move forward with development at Regent Place… and we will work to get Regent Place back on track.

Now it’s reported that the development is to be scaled back to little more than a supermarket in Granville Street car park.

Maybe there’s room for food retailers to come into the town centre. If there was a big supermarket interested maybe they could go onto the Granville Street car park site. It would be something to attract people in and then there could be restaurants attached to it.

A supermarket. Stunning. And plenty of joined up thinking there as a supermarket is also proposed to occupy the old college building on Victoria Road.

There’s another aspect to this that undermines what little credibility the New Swindon Company had. It’s not so long ago that they were telling us that regeneration is a very long term thing, that couldn’t be blown of course by troubles in the economy, and that Swindon would be a destination to rival others in the south. It’s all different now. Mr James’ has scaled back the ambitions.

We are not trying to compete with Cribbs Causeway or The Oracle. We need to concentrate on making Swindon special and attracting people to the centre. We are looking at bringing more restaurants into the town centre.

Mr Young has forgotten the long term nature of the plans.

The Modus scheme was the right one for the time but we now have to look at how the market has changed and see how our regeneration fits into that…. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on what will bring people to Swindon, considering there are already two huge shopping developments at Bristol and Reading.

And now they’re thinking of another round of ‘consultation’, which will keep them and some consultants in a job whilst nothing much is happening.

This hyperbole and bluster would almost be comical if we weren’t paying dearly for this farce through our taxes.

The vanishing redevelopment of Swindon Town Centre

’Twas once the time when the masters of spin were the New Swindon Company, when it came to making out that minor changes to the town centre were stunning improvements. The leaders of Swindon Borough Council have now snatched the spinning baton and would have us believe that the redevelopment of a single department store will now transform the town centre.

It really does beggar belief that the New Swindon Company’s Mr James seems to think that announcing the replacement of a single department store somehow lessens the fact that a major development has been shelved. Regents Place is dead… long live BHS. A £215 M development shelved, but don’t worry, all’s well: one store is spending £25 M. Let’s hope that Mr James never takes up marriage guidance as a profession, as his understanding of commitment is rather unusual.

I am pleased to say that Modus are fully committed to a development in Swindon…. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say when it will get back on track as this depends on when the economy moves out of recession and the property industry regains its equilibrium.

It’s not surprising that many commenters do not believe that Mr James’ Modus bride will ever make it to the development altar.

Yet some of our councillors appear to have even less of a grasp of reality than Mr James. First, as always, there’s Mr Bluh, who sees movement where there’s only stagnation.

I do believe this scheme will go ahead, the momentum the town’s regeneration has created isn’t going to be easily stopped.

Momentum? Where? Unless the momentum Mr Bluh has in mind is downwards, like that of a lead balloon, there is little in evidence. Perhaps he’s still rather over excited after spending the weekend having fun at our expense, but all we’ve got of regeneration so far is one giant television, installed a year ago — which for most of that time has shown little more than news and weather bulletins — and a large number of boarded up demolition sites. The only obvious momentum is the continual spin from politicians about the stalled regeneration. Another spinner is Mr Barnett. He seems to be easily impressed.

It’s going to tidy up an already tired looking building. It’s great news for Swindon. All sides have come on board to provide the town with useful shops in a good looking building.

The plan for BHS’s store is to replace a large windowed concrete and glass building with a large windowed stone-clad concrete and glass building. Stone-cladding have never been so exciting.

A year ago, I suggested that, with some town centre sites that had already been demolished being amongst last scheduled for redevelopment, it would be good if they could be put to some use, rather than just surrounded with hoardings.

Some of the parts that have been demolished are, in the grand plan, the last that will be redeveloped, the old police station for example. As these sites would, even without the economic problems, be vacant for several years, you’d think something better could be done with them than just put hoardings round them. Just grassing them over to give a bit of green space for a while would be a big improvement.

The councillor with responsibility for such things at the time, Mr Young, agreed and said the process had already started.

Couldn’t agree more Komadori (sic). I have actually already kicked off a conversation to see if this can happen – either used to add additional parking to make it easier for people to get in to the Town, particularly during the construction phases when access may be more challenging and we need to do all we can to support the traders, or as green spaces for the interim.

I raised the issue again with the New Swindon Company in December, and was told that they were in discussion with Swindon Borough Council on some sites they could guarantee would be vacant for three years, with the intention that they could be used as a mini adventure park for children.

After over a year of talking, you’d think there might now be some action on this. By action I mean some construction, not yet more talking as proposed by Mr Martin.

The fact is that a lot of this land is going to be sitting there doing nothing for a number of years to come, so why not do something with it.

And it’s taken you a year to notice that?

At the moment we are working with the New Swindon Company to negotiate with landowners, in the areas where we don’t own the land, to get an agreement in principle.

As Mr Young said he had got things started a year ago, just how much discussion does it need?

We will then be putting it forward for consultation. We want to hear what ideas people have.

Fine, but why wait until now when this has been given consideration for over a year already?

I really hope to get it initiated this year. First we have to look at consultation with the owners, then with the public. We are probably looking at some time in the autumn for that.

Initiated this year? That be political spin for no action until next year.

With the economic recession already slowing Swindon town centre’s regeneration to a snail’s pace, this dithering by Swindon Borough Council beggars belief. With only £140,000 for the scheme, they could well spend more money on talking than on actually doing anything.

I’ve visited two exhibitions today showing visions for Swindon. First was the young amateurs. The ‘Visions for Swindon’ exhibition by Swindon College School of Arts included several imaginative designs. Being from young students, some lacked practicality, but the more realistic ones still showed original ideas that if turned into reality would be unique.

Then it was on to the professionals. The New Swindon Company’s exhibition of their designs for tidying up Canal Walk. Now, I’m all in favour of things green, but the proposal for a green wall is completely out-of-place A solid wall of greenery in a place where it’s surrounded by steel, glass and concrete walls looks ridiculous. It would look rather less silly if they spread it around a bit, so that there was some greenery on all the surrounding walls too. According to one of the company’s representatives at the exhibition, it will be first in the country. I guess she’s never seen an ivy covered wall, nor read her company’s own bumf which says there’s already one in London.

Then there’s the water features. The water jets in the display have already been dropped, I was told. The other water feature in the design, stylised puddles, or ‘Natural Stone Rainwater Water Features’ as the designers call them, were clearly giving the representatives a few problems: they were very keen to emphasise that they wouldn’t be a safety risk.

With the hyperbole being spouted to support these proposals making repeated reference to the Wilts & Berks Canal, it’s odd that they propose to relocate the Golden Lion statue. A statue that marks the site of the Golden Lion Bridge over the canal is rather pointless elsewhere.

Adding to the hyperbole, as has become traditional for all matters related to town centre regeneration, is one of our local councillors. This time, it’s Mr Young’s turn to be in twaddle mode.

We think greenery helps bring the town centre back to life and makes it a much more pleasant place to be and make people come into the town even if it’s just to see it.

I agree that it’ll make the town centre more pleasant, but if people are going somewhere just to see greenery, I suspect they’ll choose the countryside where there’s rather more of it.

McDonald’s felt that before Wharf Green was done, it was dragging the area down.

Hmm… guess they didn’t like the competition.

It’s very important to us to set a high standard with public realm improvements, and we want to hear what local people have to say.

Aah, the deceit of faux consultation! With work on Canal Walk due to start in July, the time for influencing the design is well passed. The New Swindon Company’s hubris is equally over-the-top.

The design concept aims to provide a vibrant, accessible street scene, encouraging visitors and shoppers to come to Swindon town centre as an exciting destination in its own right as well as for the shopping.

It’ll take rather more than a few trees, a hedge, new paving stones and stylised puddles to do that.

By renewing Canal Walk we aim to… provide a unique identity and quality environment… making Swindon an exciting place to visit.

A few trees an puddles amongst the paving stones as a source of excitement… developers must lead a dull life.

The designs for Canal Walk are the effort of no less than four consultancy companies. The New Swindon Company would’ve been better off hiring the college students.

komadori was amongst an un-select few that met the chief executive and two directors of the New Swindon Company yesterday at their first Local Forum. I’ve posted my recollection of what was said at length elsewhere. Overall, they gave the impression of being sincere in their wish to listen to the local community (even if their comment on how much they value the dialogue is riddled with empty management-speak). They even noted a couple of suggestions made as being good things to do, though these were related to their website rather than the more substantive matters of the regeneration planning itself.

What was most apparent from the meeting — apart from how protracted the regeneration would now be — was that New Swindon Company is an organisation with responsibility but little power. Anything requiring action on the ground seemed to be either in the remit of the developers or Swindon Borough Council.

It was very nice — and informative — to talk, but to make these fora really worthwhile requires Swindon Borough Council and the developers to engage in the discussion too.

A lot can happen in ten years. Economies can rise and fall, companies can appear and pass from existence. Today’s much publicised deal between just about every property bureaucracy in the region (the South West Regional Development Agency, English Partnerships, Swindon Borough Council and the New Swindon Company) and Muse Developments for the Union Square development is definitely very good news in the current economic climate. But with a ten year timescale, a lot could change — including the plans themselves — and the white hoardings that adorn much of the north-east side of the town centre will be with us for a long time yet. And it’s a pity that in the announcements the developers had to be so predictable.

It is an economically important town and as such should have a vibrant legible town centre with walkable streets, providing new opportunities for business and local people.

Vibrant, the developers’ favourite bit of meaningless jargon.

It’s received plenty of press coverage, but there’s an ingredient missing from the Development Agreement announced on Wednesday amidst a flurry of press releases. Dates. Modus Properties may well have committed to spending £215M on the Regent Place development but, without an indication of when that might be — and Mr Bluh was at pains to say that it wouldn’t be soon — it all looks like a rather empty publicity stunt.

From the title alone, those with an interest in such things will realise that this is a post about re-desecration regeneration of Swindon. Yet another development has been described using the developers’ favourite term “vibrant”. This time it’s the few remaining open spaces within the former railway works that’s now, apparently, renamed “Churchward Village”. Thomas Homes are redeveloping the area occupied by the railway works traverser, which has been labelled “Smith’s Quarter”. In their own words,

Thomas Homes is bringing new life to the former locomotive works of the Great Western Railway as part of an extensive regeneration project to include an urban residential development of apartments and houses, leisure facilities, restaurants, hotel accommodation and office suites which will provide a vibrant community in the heart of Swindon.

I’m not sure what a “vibrant community” is. According to my dictionary, “vibrant” means “vibrating, thrilling with (action, etc.); resonant.” A vibrating community sounds to me like one in need of medical attention. Perhaps they’ll be shaking after a visit to the “vibrant” redeveloped town centre… though somehow I doubt it. A big television and a shopping centre with new canopies are hardly likely to have them overcome with emotion.

It’s also difficult to see just what in this new development is going to contribute to the vitality of the town. It’s just more flats, 245 of them. With flats leading the fall in property prices they’re unlikely to be “integral to the regeneration of Swindon” as the developer’s consultants claim. Mr Brotherton of Thomas Homes makes some equally unrealistic claims.

Churchward Village is a superb development in a great location surrounded by listed buildings. It is also something completely different for Swindon, bringing character close to the town centre… it’s bringing something new to Swindon.

Let’s hope Mr Bretherton has a better grasp of construction and economics than he does of design and novelty. Yet more flats, and fairly bland looking flats at that, will neither be something new nor bring character to Swindon.

Mr Beaumont-Jones, director of the Brunel Centre, must live in a state of permanent excitement, amazed by the wonder of every dull, mundane thing he sees. Why else would someone describe the replacement of the Brunel Centre’s old, distinctive but filthy canopies with standard canopies, as seen in hundreds of town centres, in such overblown terms.

I think shoppers are going to be impressed. It’s going to transform the town centre.

It will certainly improve the appearance of the centre, but not to the extent Mr Beaumont-Jones would have us believe. The planning application shows something distinctly conventional. Even the artist’s impression — not known for understating the beauty of proposed buildings — shows, by day, an unremarkable building. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the one chosen to illustrate the Adver’s report was the more impressive night-time view.

There’s been a lot of talk, from the council, the development quango and the developers, of transforming Swindon town centre. If this is an example then, when the credit-crunch-delayed transformation finally happens, the people of Swindon are going to be very disappointed.

The Adver seems to be trying to out-do Mr Bluh’s extreme optimism. In his words,

It would be very easy to sit here and be full of doom and gloom about the year to come. But I think we have got grounds to be optimistic. We are on a long journey and it doesn’t matter how much flood water there is we will keep on that road. We are focussed on business as normal but we have to be realistic about the challenges that will face us.

To me that reads as though he believes regeneration will continue but not at the same pace as was originally hoped. To the Adver, it translates as ‘full steam ahead’. You don’t need to have listened to much political spin to know that when a politician talks about a ‘long journey’, the journey will be longer than they originally predicted. With the forthcoming signs of progress being yet more demolition — this time at the former Swindon College site — rather than construction, Mr Bluh’s ‘optimism’ is little cause for excitement.