Tag: TNSC

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.

Another announcement from the New Swindon Company… and another beyond-belief artist’s impression, this one for the Promenade development. Street lights have never twinkled so prettily. But for the moment, all we’re getting is a feasibility study, which, given that large parts of the area have already been cleared, seems a little late.

I also see from the announcement that there’s another partnership to add to my list.

• Swindon Cultural Partnership (Swindon Borough Council, the New Swindon Company, local companies and assorted arts quangos)

The answer, apparently, is quite a lot. A quick trawl through the web came up with the list below.

• Swindon Local Area Agreement (Swindon Borough Council, the Government Office for the South West, Swindon Strategic Partnership and other quangos)
• Swindon Strategic Partnership (Swindon Borough Council, parish councils and voluntary groups, with observers from the South West Regional Development Agency and the Government Office for the South West)
• Swindon Strategic Economic Partnership (Swindon Borough Council, the South West Regional Development Agency, the New Swindon Company, Swindon Learning Partnership, other quangos and local companies.)
• New Swindon Company (urban regeneration company owned by Swindon Borough Council, the South West Regional Development Agency and English Partnerships)
• Great Western Community Forest (an unincorporated association of Swindon Borough Council, other local councils and the Forestry Commission)
• inSwindon (town centre management company, set-up by Swindon Borough Council with town-centre companies on the board)
• Swindon Learning Partnership (seemingly not a partnership at all, just an office of Swindon Borough Council but with over 120 ‘members’)

Now, I’m sure some of these do worthwhile work but, looking at that list, it does seem rather incestuous, with partnerships forming further partnerships, all with the added cost of yet another bureaucracy. A bit of digging on these organisations’ websites reveals that they are all a consequence of one or other central government ‘initiative’, wherein getting hold of some extra money for Swindon from central government (or stopping central government taking money away) is dependent on setting up a new quango.

If national government thinks that a way to improve local participation in democracy is to add multiple layers of bureaucracy, then its understanding of democracy is clearly very wrong indeed.

I’ve been reading through the comments and council responses on the preferred options draft of the Swindon Central Area Action Plan, which was considered at at last Thursday’s council meeting. The same document also contains the submission draft of the Action Plan, which is open for consultation until 4.30 pm on 11th February 2008 — so much for the promised communication on how my comments would be considered… I’m still waiting for the council’s forward planning group to write.

The last objection from the New Swindon Company (on page 42) shows how much they care about the local communities just beyond the ‘core of the central area’.

The key players should include The New Swindon Company. The proposal to invite tenders for the improvement of public realm beyond the core of the central area seems to be short sighted. There is limited funding available for the improvement of the public realm, and the development of the Wharf Green scheme has shown that the improvement of the public realm to a high standard can be an expensive practice.

Thanks for sharing!

I find the level of enthusiasm exhibited by Swindon Borough Council’s leader Mr Bluh and the New Swindon Company’s chief executive Mr James in their video interview with SwindonWeb quite remarkable, commendable… and cringe-inducing.

The big screen will be a major attraction for Swindon, the only one in the south of England…. You get that feeling when things are right, and this feels right for this location.

Hmm… Mr Bluh may have that feeling but the feeling I get is distinctly different. I just cannot believe that a big BBC screen in Wharf Green will be a popular meeting point for visitors to Swindon, as Mr James seems to think. An attraction maybe, but a meeting point?

[We’ve got to] make a place that people can meet and sit down and say, well lets meet at Wharf Green, by the big screen, because we understand there’s something going on there.

One other thought. Is SwindonWeb’s Ms Heber-Smith not subject to health and safety laws? I see that she alone is not wearing a high-visibility jacket in the interview on what is a construction site.

If the chief executive of the New Swindon Company is to be believed, Swindon being the home of one of nine BBC Big Screens will have a miraculous effect on the town’s standing.

Hosting the only screen in the South will propel Swindon’s image to a national level. This new development will start to create that lively bustle that has been absent for so long.

Really? I wasn’t aware of the locations of the eight existing screens. (Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Rotherham and Derby, according to the press release — it seems the New Swindon Company cannot count.) I don’t recall any of those towns having their image propelled anywhere by the presence of am oversized TV. And in what way does people gawping at a big screen create ‘bustle’? Some of the other claims are just as far-fetched.

Wharf Green will also provide Swindon with a focal point for 2012 lead up activities, and events, that are planned once London takes over the mantle of Olympic City

I thought the intention was to use the Olympics to encourage people to participate in sport. It seems the aim in Swindon will be to create a community of full-on couch potatoes.

In 2001, a report to Swindon Borough Council concluded that an area near the town centre called North Star should be developed as a university campus as part of Swindon’s regeneration programme. The Swindon Urban Regeneration Company was set-up the following year, with the University of Bath having a seat on it’s board. The plan was for the site to accomodate 1,000 students along with accomodation. Then a change of heart led to the University of Bath wanting a more traditional campus, and a site near one of Swindon’s main leisure areas, Coate Water, was selected. There was much local opposition, as the plans (paid for through major housing development on the site) would encroach on the currently open landscape. As a consequence of a change in government policy (towards more workplace learning) and of the housing developers wanting too much of the site, the university has changed it’s mind, again. Now Swindon College is offering to share their campus at North Star with the University of Bath. So we are back where we were six years ago.