IT’S a big week for Switch on to Swindon, with our summer ambassador event tomorrow evening, a Place Board meeting on Thursday morning and we’ll also be at the town centre showcase event on Thursday and Friday.

BMW Dick Lovett is hosting our ambassador event and it’s a sell out, with 330 people registered to attend. This continued support for the campaign is really encouraging and it will be a packed evening with guest speakers, mini seminars, and the unveiling of our first ‘in a great place’ ambassador stories.

I will be giving ambassadors a review of the first six months of the campaign and a look ahead to what we want to achieve with an increasing focus on taking the Swindon message outside of the borough boundaries. A full review of the event to come in next week’s column.

At the Place Board meeting on Thursday we are going to talk about what Switch on to Swindon can do to build confidence and momentum in the town’s regenerations plans. In particular how we can improve the look and feel of the town’s gateway routes and the railway station.

It is not our role to deliver regeneration projects but we can explore how we can contribute to some of the immediate challenges around how we are presenting Swindon in the best way possible in the short to medium term pending the big projects coming out of the ground.

Those big projects will be on show as Swindon Borough Council’s plans for regenerating the town centre go on display in the Central Library from 20-23 July, giving people a look at the future of the town as well as updates on projects which are currently underway.

Developments such as Aspen House, North Star and the Carriage Works form part of the Council’s £500 million programme of investment into Swindon’s town centre.

Displays of the plans will be in place on the ground floor of the Central Library from Thursday 20 July to Sunday 23 July during the library’s normal opening hours. On the Thursday and Friday, members of the public will also be given the opportunity to speak to experts about the plans and learn more about development opportunities.

A detailed model of the town centre will be on display to help visualise what the future of the town may look like.

We have seen big investments in the town centre at Regents Circus, The Brunel Centre and the Parade. Couple this with the ambitious projects that are in the regeneration plans will ensure Swindon town centre has a bright future.

I, like most of us, understand that multi-million pound regeneration projects take a long time to get off the ground but I do feel there hasn’t been enough communication or engagement about progress. So, I welcome the showcase and know that this is just the first step in a concerted effort to engage more people in the development of the town centre.

One of the things we ask all our ambassadors to do is to get informed about things, find out about what is going on in Swindon and what is planned so that you can champion the place effectively and, when appropriate, challenge things. So, get along to the Central Library and see what is going on for yourselves.