The changing nature of the nation’s high street is something most towns and cities across the country are grappling with as we look to recover from the pandemic.

I think everyone in the borough would agree that the town centre needs to adapt as we see more and more national chains and department stores closing. Only last week House of Fraser announced it was closing its Swindon store becoming the latest major clothing outlet to react to the boom in internet and out-of-town shopping.

As the town centre diversifies its offer, we’re likely to see more plans come forward to create new homes, which will boost the local economy and create demand for more shops and facilities. In recent months we’ve seen the private sector invest in new hospitality venues at Regent Circus and this is in keeping with a move for town centre centres to become experiential hubs, where people go to socialise and meet friends rather than solely shop.

There are positive signs in this regard with a growth in the number of independent shops and you may have seen in the paper recently that a plan is being developed through the Towns Fund Board to bring a regular market to Wharf Green.

Clearly though, more needs to be done to stimulate investment in the town centre and although the council has a key role to play, it will require the combined efforts of major landowners and private investors to bring the lasting, positive change we all want to see.

I often hear and read comments which suggest that the council should act to bring in better shops, but the fact is most of the land and buildings in the retail core of the town centre are under private ownership and we have no direct control over their future.

Because of that, most of the rents in the town centre are set by private landlords and we cannot influence the level of business rates because they are set by central government which uses the revenue to pay for public services.

But what we can do is use our assets, powers and influence to unlock changes in other areas of the town centre which will help to stimulate investment and act as a catalyst for widespread improvements.

This will involve investing in the public realm, our land and buildings and co-ordinating the efforts of partners across the private, public and voluntary sectors.

We have been hugely successful in bidding for funding from the Government to help with this and the Council is leading over £100m of investment in town centre projects over the next four years, including the £33m redevelopment of Fleming Way.

We’re also working with partners in the Towns Fund Board to deliver six key town centre regeneration schemes worth £19.5m in total, including a project that will help unlock £350m of investment in new homes and offices at Kimmerfields.

We have plans in place to rejuvenate the newly-created Heritage Action Zone by investing in the much-loved Health Hydro and continuing our work to bring Brunel’s former Carriage Works back into use for new businesses, higher education and the wonderful success story that is Create Studios. By improving this hugely important part of our heritage and the public spaces around it, we will create connections between the historic railway village and the town centre.

The snowball effect of this investment in the town centre, alongside that of the private sector in amenities, homes and offices, will only help to increase land values and make Swindon a much more attractive proposition for outside investors.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty,” Winston Churchill once said.

Securing the town centre’s position as a place people choose to live, work and visit will take time and take a collective effort.

Find out more at www.swindon.gov.uk/towncentreregeneration