Regeneration will move forward in 2010 (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Regeneration will move forward in 2010
11:30am Thursday 31st December 2009 in News
REGENERATION in Swindon will move forward in 2010 – and we will finally see the demolition of the old Swindon College building.
This is according to council leader Rod Bluh, who said progress will be made in 2010, despite increased constraints on the council’s budget.
He said multi-million pound projects to spruce up the town centre will be unveiled and work on the route from Swindon’s railway station into the centre will begin.
But Coun Bluh admitted that all eyes will be on Swindon’s most famous eyesore – the old Swindon College site at Regent Circus, which has been vacant since 2006.
He said: “I know people are waiting to see what will happen with the old college building and I am as eager as anyone else to see that move forward, but we have to make sure it is done right.
“I am confident that we are getting much closer to that point. The scheme that is being presented to us is acceptable.
“The residential element is out and the hotel is out. There has been a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes to get this right.”
A planning application for the site, which will now centre around a cinema and supermarket, is expected to be put forward by developers Ashfield Land early in 2010.
Coun Bluh said it will not be the only sign of regeneration in the town centre.
He said: “We will have the public realm work in Canal Walk completed, with the water feature and we also have the work on Regent Street starting.
“I really feel it is going to make a big difference to how people view the town centre.”
Coun Bluh confirmed that the Jubilee Clock, which once stood at the junction of Canal Walk and Regent Street, will find a new home at Swindon railway station.
He said: “That will be very exciting.
“We are aware that we need to improve the image of the town that people get when they walk out of the railway station.
“That will be another important project for 2010.”
Despite the collapse of the scheme to redevelop the Granville Street car park, Coun Bluh said Swindon was still bucking the national trend in launching high-profile regeneration schemes.
He said: “We have the Union Square development going ahead, the town centre improvements already started, the BHS scheme secured and the work on the college expected to start in the summer. To secure anyone of those deals in the current climate would be seen as an achievement.
“As a national newspaper reporter told me, he used to shrug his shoulders when Swindon was mentioned, whereas now his ears prick up.”
Comments(52)
thutch
says...
11:54am Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm
says...
11:56am Thu 31 Dec 09
Casual Observer
says...
11:57am Thu 31 Dec 09
" Coun Bluh confirmed that the Jubilee Clock, which once stood at the junction of Canal Walk and Regent Street, will find a new home at Swindon railway station.
He said: “That will be very exciting. "
Gosh, I can't wait
Nostim
says...
11:57am Thu 31 Dec 09
Absolute rubbish Mr Bluh
umpcah
says...
12:08pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Casual Observer wrote:Thousands will flock to see it on the first day. Coachloads arriving, photographers, ice cream sellers, hotdog vans, etc. I shall give it a miss for the first week and if you dislike crowds I advise you to do the same !
I hope Rod Bluh is right this time, though he appears to be easily pleased.. " Coun Bluh confirmed that the Jubilee Clock, which once stood at the junction of Canal Walk and Regent Street, will find a new home at Swindon railway station. He said: “That will be very exciting. " Gosh, I can't wait
Casual Observer
says...
12:09pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm wrote:Bob you criticise me for posting negatively about you but do you anything positive to say about anything?
Railman, perhaps he misunderstood, as the reporter from European News TV said when filming in the Swindon use to be known as a thriving town, now it known to be a ghost town. Perhaps that's why the other reporter's ears **** up, when another scheme aborts.
Swindon is not a ghost town... it's... er.. evolving
brizzzley
says...
12:15pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Casual Observer wrote:I have never seen the bobosurus post positively about anything (unless of course he is promoting himself, his pub or UKIP)!
Bobfm wrote:Bob you criticise me for posting negatively about you but do you anything positive to say about anything?
Railman, perhaps he misunderstood, as the reporter from European News TV said when filming in the Swindon use to be known as a thriving town, now it known to be a ghost town. Perhaps that's why the other reporter's ears **** up, when another scheme aborts.
Swindon is not a ghost town... it's... er.. evolving
Bobfm
says...
12:20pm Thu 31 Dec 09
I note once again brizzley follows a lead without reading it first.
Bobfm
says...
12:40pm Thu 31 Dec 09
stfcphil
says...
12:44pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bin There
says...
12:44pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bin There
says...
12:45pm Thu 31 Dec 09
brizzzley wrote:I suspect the only bulges are a result of your nappies, in need of changing
Carry on noting booby, I expect you have a bulging file on me with all the notes you take about my posts!
Bobfm
says...
12:52pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bin There
says...
1:02pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm wrote:Oh well. I suppose I'd better have a cup of tea, to prepare myself then ;-)
Bin There, that's it you're on the hit list now.
Casual Observer
says...
1:12pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm wrote:Go on Bob, I dare you.. say something positive about Swindon. After all, it's where you choose to live.
CO not nice to see your reading skills still deficient. I did not describe Swindon as a Ghost town the French reporter did.
I note once again brizzley follows a lead without reading it first.
I honestly can't recall you ever saying anything positive about it.
Bobfm
says...
1:25pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Something Positive now lets see.
1. Well equipped town centre.
2. Successful football team.
3. State of the Art conference and concert venue.
4. World class road network.
Is that enough to be going on with.
who dat?
says...
2:21pm Thu 31 Dec 09
2010 105.5 FM roadshow to be held on old College site- Rod wets himself
with excitement!
who dat?
says...
2:46pm Thu 31 Dec 09
interests of democracy , ALL SBC members and employees wil get free tickets apart from those members of building control who enjoyed themselves too much at the R1 bash at Lydiard!!
PeeveD
says...
2:54pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm wrote:If you live in South Marston NOT Swindon what the hell gives you the right to continually comment about OUR town.... ????
As most of my fellow villagers say, we do not live in Swindon we live in South Marston. Something Positive now lets see. 1. Well equipped town centre. 2. Successful football team. 3. State of the Art conference and concert venue. 4. World class road network. Is that enough to be going on with.
Keep the Beak Out surely ?!!!!!
The Engager
says...
2:55pm Thu 31 Dec 09
railman16650 wrote:No there isn't !
“As a national newspaper reporter told me, he used to shrug his shoulders when Swindon was mentioned, whereas now his ears **** up.”........... There's just NO answer to that !
..........but then again there could be several takes of varying dimensions on his comment !
Does his ears **** up because he is now interested in Swindon ?
and if so , WHAT ?
Like I said, several takes on what !
Tis easy to work out !
brizzzley
says...
3:10pm Thu 31 Dec 09
PeeveD wrote:How Dare You PeeveD - Surely you must know that Bob is an expert on absolutely every conceivable topic and he must be allowed to stick his beak into everything. Especially if he can offer a pro-bob-pub-smoking-
Bobfm wrote:If you live in South Marston NOT Swindon what the hell gives you the right to continually comment about OUR town.... ????
As most of my fellow villagers say, we do not live in Swindon we live in South Marston. Something Positive now lets see. 1. Well equipped town centre. 2. Successful football team. 3. State of the Art conference and concert venue. 4. World class road network. Is that enough to be going on with.
Keep the Beak Out surely ?!!!!!
ukip slant!
trustnopolitician
says...
3:36pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Incompetent is the most friendly description of them in particular those who profess to be in charge of regeneration.
swindon_mini
says...
5:35pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bobfm
says...
5:50pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Bin There
says...
6:01pm Thu 31 Dec 09
"Go on Bob, I dare you.. say something positive about Swindon. After all, it's where you choose to live.
I honestly can't recall you ever saying anything positive about it."
`
I am a born and bred Swindonian.
The best I could say about Swindon is "it WAS a great town"
SBC and developers are determined to eradicate it's heritage and destroy any parts that are even remotely pleasant with crappy housing plots. The only excuse they have, is to blame central government.
SBC are at best useless, and at worse, a huge drain of council taxes.
How the top councillors justify being paid extortionate salaries is beyond me.
Donkey
says...
6:13pm Thu 31 Dec 09
What have this lot actually done since taking over ... okay, in a few hours time of considering that, just try to think of one idea, aborted or not, which they may have benefitted the town with? No, failed on that as well? They are the very best at failure and general mismanagement of day to day running of the necessary ... they have really no answer than to blame ... 'this Labour Government', have they?
Swindon town centre used to be self-sufficient, but since Macs was closed, Anstiss burnt down, the Classic flea pit ceased to exist, Gaumont went into bingo, Courts and Normans became names from history, the Welsh flower seller was kicked out from the middle of town, the soap suds water feature was scrapped, and then Woolies crashed ... I could go on, but we had a bit of everything, not just a pavement cafe culture brought to us by those who destroyed simple shopping in town, though with no Harry's Cut Price Store, we do have a Pound Shop and a 99p Shop in place of it.
There is nothing that the Council can do to promote an attractive town centre ... it has had it, innovation and regeneration are not in harmony here and one wonders if the Cabinet ever venture past Princess Street.
Bobfm
says...
6:26pm Thu 31 Dec 09
itsamess
says...
12:08am Fri 1 Jan 10
The Engager
says...
1:33am Fri 1 Jan 10
If some of you were neighbours, you would be taken to court and served ASBO's by now for anti-social behaviour !
pack it in and move on !
who dat?
says...
1:04pm Fri 1 Jan 10
There is no team - all that exists these days is someone to keep the power switched on - after all ,there is sweet FA to read apart from the
intelligent posts from Bob and the very predictable responses !
Happy New Year , Brizzley,Donkey et al , make the most of your soon to be forgotten government!
Bobfm
says...
1:32pm Fri 1 Jan 10
Under this Government there are nearly 1100 non Government quangos. They had a staggering spend in 2007 of 1.1 trillion pounds. Many grossly exceeding their budgets, exceeding the combined budgets by £500 million pounds.
They employed 715'000 people.
This information once again courtesy of the Tax Payers Alliance.
itsamess
says...
2:03pm Fri 1 Jan 10
itsamess
says...
2:04pm Fri 1 Jan 10
Captain Sensible
says...
2:21pm Fri 1 Jan 10
Captain Sensible
says...
2:45pm Fri 1 Jan 10
What high profile regeneration schemes? Where exactly? This Bluh bloke must live in a dreamworld, does he count digging up the town centre and turning it into a representation of the Somme to relay a few paving slabs as 'regeneration'? Nothing else has happened in our town, even if the old college is demolished this year all we will have is a derelict plot for years to come, its a dead beat dead end town, full of slum housing crammed with immigrants, an appaling town 'centre' full of charity shops, pound shops and pawnbrokers, surrounded by vast swaths of ill thought out legoland housing estates poorly served by roads and public transport. Thats what successive labour and conservative councils have given us and I cant see it ever changing.
Visionary, vibrant, bouyant my ar*e!
Casual Observer
says...
7:56pm Fri 1 Jan 10
Ha ha, an oxymoron if ever there was one.
itsamess
says...
9:50pm Fri 1 Jan 10
Wow--you mean we have all these exciting things around Swindon.
Bobfm
says...
9:51am Sat 2 Jan 10
I claim no vast knowledge, I merely research. It's within every ones grasp now and rarely costs a penny with the internet, instead of the constant criticism others should try it.
And could please refrain from describing the pub as 'crappy' Arkells spend vast sums each year on maintaining their pubs, unlike the main pubco's. Feel free to carry on your vindictive campaign against me, but please leave Arkells alone, they have supported this town, including it's football team for decades and are the oldest business in the town.
Janais is back
says...
10:14am Sat 2 Jan 10
This should include main access roads and ample free / cheap parking.
The alternative is to construct piece meal thereby never ridding Swindon of the deserved small minded tag.
Included in those fresh plans should be a compulsory purchase of the Mechanics Institute to transform it into the Town's museum and also construct a purposeful Theatre so that the Oasis can revert to what it was designed for - a water shoot.
Like it or not, independant vehicular transport is what people throughout the UK demand - not expensive rigid public transport (unless it is like the London Underground).
For proof just see how well the retail parks did in comparison with the laughable Town centre this Christmas.
Finance I hear you mutter - well start saving by clawing back £32K used to give a handful of school teachers a holiday in Australia.
Go on Grizzley - get to grips with that or is it too radical for you to comprehend?
code word was GROW-FAST - you just can't make it up can you!
Bobfm
says...
1:13pm Sat 2 Jan 10
ickleme
says...
2:10pm Sat 2 Jan 10
i myself am of the opinion that, yes Swindon used to be quite nice town, and can see why my parents decided to move here 13 years ago, but i can now also see why they have since left! the council are inefficient, we as ratepayers get next to nothing for our money, as like most councils up and down this country the council seems to have forgotten who it is that they are supposed to serve.
And well the regeneration efforts resemble something im sure a 5 year old could come up with, in fact I will go out on a limb and suggest that a 5 year old could do better!
I mean what is the point of replacing the slabs on the floor and doing nothing about the ugly buildings around?
Brizzly
says...
5:36pm Sat 2 Jan 10
Bobfm wrote:Stop stalking me you horrible little man.
Janais, it's now grizzly (no E) please try to keep up. :)
.
Have you had your son explain floating IP addresses to you yet? How is the construction of the pier to your url via the vpn getting on?
Bobfm
says...
6:26pm Sat 2 Jan 10
So why not send me an email and I will send you back the Mac address of your machine.
Brizzly
says...
7:22pm Sat 2 Jan 10
Bobfm wrote:Hahaha - you really are a donkey aren't you. Booby you should quit now, you are not ahead but just quit now. You clearly have no clue about this subject matter!
Unless you have unlimited computers brizzly tracking is relatively easy, even I can do it on my Motel system.
So why not send me an email and I will send you back the Mac address of your machine.
.
The mac address of my various machines are behind at least three firewalls you cannot get to that information. Even if you did have the mac address of one of my machines, what specially do tell would you do with it? That said I am willing to humour you post your email address and let the fun begin!
.
Come on you plonker get on the pier to the url via the vpn to your son for some help!!!
Brizzly
says...
7:36pm Sat 2 Jan 10
Brizzly wrote:The second paragraph should read mac addresses of my various machines.
Bobfm wrote:Hahaha - you really are a donkey aren't you. Booby you should quit now, you are not ahead but just quit now. You clearly have no clue about this subject matter!
Unless you have unlimited computers brizzly tracking is relatively easy, even I can do it on my Motel system.
So why not send me an email and I will send you back the Mac address of your machine.
.
The mac address of my various machines are behind at least three firewalls you cannot get to that information. Even if you did have the mac address of one of my machines, what specially do tell would you do with it? That said I am willing to humour you post your email address and let the fun begin!
.
Come on you plonker get on the pier to the url via the vpn to your son for some help!!!
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By the way booby whilst you are at it, what exactly would you do with a mac address if you did have it? Please humour the other readers and I!
itsamess
says...
12:34am Sun 3 Jan 10
Brizzly
says...
9:19am Sun 3 Jan 10
itsamess wrote:mess - it is a public forum. The forum is for everyone to use. I will continue to use it as I see fit for as long as I want to. If you don't like it, look away.
So many posts are being trashed by what has become very childish behaviour. Sadly from people who do have the ability to contribute or collate good information that could help others understand the issues debated we are having to deal with this petty diatribe. Insult the morons who so say run the country or our town and help if and when you can to provide information on how to deal with these problems.
Bobfm
says...
10:40am Sun 3 Jan 10
Brizzly
says...
10:46am Sun 3 Jan 10
Bobfm wrote:booo killjoy!
itsamess, I have stated on another thread that I will no longer respond to certain posters.
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I'm willing to bet that this lasts just a few days until the bobosurus can't contain himself any longer and will have an out burst. I predict the out burst will contain some of the following: references to a certain pub; a certain extremist political group; banal web links hastily researched; duff statements regarding IT; technical expertise of a certain son!!
.
I can't wait!!!
Disco20
says...
2:24pm Mon 4 Jan 10
Bob may be a "plonker" in the opinion of others and I must admit I rarely agree wholeheartedly with his statements but as with everyone here, the right to express ones opinion remains. Just have the dignity and maturity to respect that view and respond sensibly.
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Personal insults do not assist you in your agrument and just make you seem immature and petty.
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On topic: Swindon has the ability to become thriving and a successful town. All we require is a local council that has the down to earth sensibility to make it so. Not think about housing and a way to ensure that they receive the same or higher grant from central government in April this year by spending their alotted cash on wasteful projects.
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Develop the sports facilities as promised some 4 years ago.
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Allow and even encourage construction companies in the borough to build shopping centres which outsiders which to visit.
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Paving slabs and unreliable clocks do nothing for the town.
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You'd think that with the Mickey Mouse brigade turning up this year, they would wish to make the town centre a welcoming place. At the moment I cannot see anyone wanting to bring along a film crew!
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Another point i would wish to make is the fact that all street traders are being removed from the town centre.
This is, i believe, a bad move. the only other place for them would be the tented market, which at best is a shambles. The traders seem to try very hard to start up a business, and fair play to them. However, i cannot see what would attract someone to visit the it...
Twang53
says...
3:17pm Mon 11 Jan 10
Wowee baby fan my flies! Now I know we can't lose.
railman16650 says...
11:43am Thu 31 Dec 09