THE rebuilding of Swindon’s town centre is continuing, and I am delighted to say that the obsolete Wyvern Car Park is slowly disappearing before our eyes.

Like the bus station car park, it will soon belong to history.

At the same time, work has started on the final piece of phase one of the town centre Kimmerfields development.

We will see a new, health centre take shape, next to the Whalebridge Car Park and alongside the Kimmerfield Court flats for older residents.

It is good to see that the site once occupied by the police station will have a new use that will bring benefit to the residents of Swindon by providing a wider range of services than can be delivered from the older building in Carfax Street.

Some favour the “big bang” approach to regeneration that has happened in other towns.

But, in my view, there is one huge disadvantage in this.

It means that a whole town centre would age at once, and renewing it would become a big, complex and expensive challenge.

We have followed an incremental approach here in Swindon and there is much about which we can be pleased.

Over the past few years, we have seen the demolition of old, obsolete and unattractive buildings such as Aspen House, the Register Office’s former home, as well as the 1960s part of the old college.

I appreciate that it is always better to see new buildings rising rather than old ones coming down, but it is certainly a start.

Alongside this, we are seeing good private sector investment to reuse some of the older buildings in the town.

The Victorian College building near Regent Circus will retain its historic façade, but developers will be providing a range of modern flats inside it.

Just opposite the Brunel car parks, developers are converting an empty office block into new flats that will provide some welcome additional accommodation for people in the town.

These new homes will also provide extra customers for the town centre, which is good for shops, cafes, and jobs.

Not only are we seeing investment in the town centre but, over the Christmas period, we saw the latest part of the improvements to the railway with Network Rail completing its work to raise the Greenbridge Bridge.

This was vital work as it is part of the electrification of the lines to London, Bristol, and Cardiff.

If you have time, it is worth watching the time-lapse video of the work. Click on the picture above.