Shots have been fired over the state of Swindon town centre.
At the last full meeting of Swindon Borough Council before the local elections May 4, Labour put forward a motion which they said would set a new direction for the town centre for the next two or three decades.
Deputy group leader Emma Bushell introduced the motion which would have mandated the leader of the council “to prepare a report for cabinet setting out the best way for the council to carry out a meaningful consultation with residents and businesses in the town to determine what people want to see from Swindon town centre in the post-pandemic environment.”
Coun Bushell said: “People tell me they don’t want to go to the town centre. They say they have no reason to go there, or that they don’t feel safe. They say they are embarrassed to take visitors to the town centre.
“The centre has suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic and changing patterns of shopping, of working from home so there are fewer people using cafes and shops in their lunch hours. But it has also been neglected. It looks like it is going through managed decline.”
Coun Bushell added: “We have lots of ideas of what can be done, but we don’t have a monopoly on them. And we want a proper conversation with businesses and residents about what they want to see in their town centre. We want to make a significant change to revive it for the future.”
But the Conservative administration’s member for strategic infrastructure and planning Gary Sumner said such an exercise was not necessary.
He said: “I’m proud of how our town centre is adapting to the challenges facing it and the town in general.”
He pointed to the redevelopment of the Kimmerfields area with the new Zurich building at its heart as an example.
“This council’s strategic plans and place shaping in the centre are already the catalyst for an unprecedented renaissance in development in the town, both in re-purposing existing buildings as homes and seeing existing offices upgraded and brought back as Grade A offices," said Coun Sumner.
“The former Falcon House and the Tricentre are clear examples of projects under way.
“The £100m of investment we have secured for our town includes the Fleming Way regeneration which will deliver a high quality of public realm with convenient access to bus services (both local and regional), as well as connectivity between the centre and railway station.
“Taxis, pedestrians and cyclists will appreciate the new route through our town, as well as a new green lung encouraging biodiversity.
Coun Sumner said the revision of the local plan would allow people to express their wishes for how the town centre develops.
He said: “The Local Plan review will use surveys to have conversations with residents and businesses about what they would like to see and more importantly be willing to support in the town centre.”
Council leader David Renard said: “Labour councillors are again talking down the town and the town centre.
“We are doing things, we are changing things after many years when nothing happened. We have the first brand new office building in the town centre in the Zurich building for decades.
“But the retail area has to change. It has to shrink. Major national chains have been closing down. Retail, like it was, is not coming back.”
With The Conservatives holding a majority in the chamber Coun Bushell accepted the motion would not be agreed, but said: “This will happen. When we take control in May we will be doing this.”
The motion was defeated.
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