Could Fleming Way open the floodgates to Swindon town centre's future prosperity?
A ribbon-cutting ceremony and bus tour ahead of the official opening at the end of of the month
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The £33m hope for the future of Fleming Way - and everything it represents for the town centre in decades to come
By Barrie Hudson
Shortly after noon today, having solemnly observed a two-minute silence to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, a party of dignitaries including Mayor of Swindon Cllr Fay Howard, South Swindon MP and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, councillors, officials and bus company representatives boarded two buses and a coach.
Over the next 20 minutes or so they were given a tour of the Fleming Way scheme which has been an unavoidable feature of the town centre since 2022 and loomed large in Swindon Borough Council’s consciousness for several years before that. This was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony near one of the bright new bus shelters which are a feature of the project.
When Fleming Way reopens properly at the end of the month, it will be almost three years since buses last ran on the old and rather dilapidated version of the major thoroughfare and gateway to the town centre.
The £33m investment in the Fleming Way local transport hub will deliver a brand-new bus interchange to replace the current aging bus station, new cycle lanes and vastly improved public realm.
It also has a crucial role in the council’s vision for the Heart of Swindon, an ambitious plan to revitalise and transform the town centre. According to the initial business case for the scheme, it would increase Swindon’s economic productivity by £28.7m over the first 20 years.
The Mayor said in her speech today: “This is wonderful isn’t it! It’s light. it’s airy, you feel safe, it’s green. It’s going to feel so much better for all Swindon residents who use the buses - and I am among them.
“I thank everybody who has put their heart and soul into making this as light and airy and safe as it is, and everything the Swindon residents need.”
Cllr Chris Watts, the borough council's Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, was full of praise for everybody involved in the project and in overcoming the challenges it presented.
He said: "What a fantastic job they've all done, not just our team but also all the partners who have worked with the team and got this project over the line - pretty much in budget and in good time as well.
"It's been an immense amount of work which I'm so proud of, and the town should be proud of it as well."
Cllr Watts stressed that Fleming Way was more than a mere road: "This is a fulcrum, it's a transport hub, it's not just a bus boulevard, it's buses, it's walking, it's taxis, it's trains, it's bicycles as well. It brings it all into one place and it looks fantastic.
"When you have something like this it starts bringing inward investment, which is what we need in the town centre."
He added that the project was an essential part of the council's wider Heart of Swindon project whose goal is the complete revitalisation of the town centre.
An equally impressed Heidi Alexander thanked the council for inviting her to the tour and ceremony as both the local MP and Transport Secretary - and as a Swindon person.
She said: "It strikes me that I get invited all over the country to open new bits of public transport infrastructure, but as a Swindon girl born and bred it doesn't get any better than this because I've got a brand new fantastic piece of public transport infrastructure here in the heart of our town.”
Ms Alexander praised the project of as creating a fantastic new link from the station through to the shops, through the new commercial district that was being reinvented before everybody’s eyes.
She added: “It sets the bar for the quality of development that we want to see in the town centre.”
The three-year refurbishment has not been without its problems, notably the delays caused by the seeming inability of previous generations of utility firms to leave adequate information about their buried infrastructure. There have been a number of instances in which work has had to be temporarily halted after the refurbishment team excavated what they had every reason to believe was mere earth and rubble, only to discover some hitherto uncharted pipe or conduit.
Long before the scheme even left the drawing board, when it was still little more than a twinkle in the eye of the previous, Conservative-led, Swindon Borough Council, it generated controversy.
Although its advocates argued and continue to argue - convincingly if the figures for investment by outside companies and organisations are anything to go by - that the complete refurbishment would be a major catalyst for regeneration of the town centre, critics have variously described it as a white elephant and a waste of council taxpayers' money.
Which side will be able to claim victory in that debate depends on events in the coming years, but anybody who wants to see the town centre thrive once more can only hope that the advocates rather than the naysayers emerge triumphant.
However, in the interests of fairness it must be pointed out that although the cost is coming from the public purse, it is not for the most part coming from local taxes.
The bill is split among the Government’s Future High Streets Fund (£25m), the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund (£3m) and Swindon Borough Council (£5m).
The Ink News Briefing
New accessible bungalows in Walcot welcome first residents - Three new accessible bungalows in Walcot's Ashley Close have been officially opened as the first residents prepare to move in. Full Story here
Swindon Salvation Army alarmed by rising food poverty - The Salvation Army in Swindon is seeing an increase in families struggling to put food on the table during the Summer holiday period. Full Story here
Swindon students mark success with strong A-Level and T-Level results - This summer, 829 students completed their A-Level studies in Swindon, with an additional 194 students achieving qualifications through the technical T-Level route. Swindon students recorded a 95.7 per cent pass rate (grades A* to E), an increase from 95 per cent in 2024. The proportion of students achieving top grades (A* to B) also stood at a solid 40.9 per cent. Full Story here
Haydon Wick Parish Council Summer Extravaganza - Haydon Wick's biggest community celebration returns on Saturday 16 August. The 2025 Summer Extravaganza at Trent Road Playing Field will run from 2-7pm. Full story here
A corner of poetry
Ink resident poet Deborah Raikesmay reflects on US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to The Cotswolds.
The Vance Vacation
The Vance entourage swept into Stowe,
They’d stopped off at Harrods en route,
Determined to pass for British Upper Class,
Clad in corduroy and new riding boots
JD gazed at the mansions in awe and said,
‘Gee - is this a theme park or real?
‘The Donald would buy this and put in a beach, just to
Give it more family appeal.
‘And widen the roads! They are really a bitch!
Damn! ban ponies and tractors and trailers
And while you're about it, ban farmers as well
'cause your farmers are pretty much failures.
‘Flog the fields off to commerce -
Let the AgriKings run it!
Stop fannying round
Selling strawberries in punnets'
2. The Pub Lesson
In Moreton-on Marsh he ordered a beer
Then screwed up his face: 'What the fuck??
How can you folks quaff the stuff sold in here?
I'm not fussy, but this here's just muck.
Still after he'd sunk around four, maybe five
His countenance changed to a smirk
'Maybe it's not quite as bad as I thought-
It's taking my mind off The Donald and work"
3. Real Estate Shock
A house in Burford of honeyed stone
Had 'Sixteen sixty three' on its plate
JD drawled 'Weeell, it wouldn't suit me
I bet that their Wi Fi ain't great.
And why the high price when a nice, fresh new build
Wouldn't have all that crumbling plaster?
The guy that built it must've been blind .
Those timbers are quite the disaster'
4. Tea and Trading Hours
In a Bibury teashop he felt quite au fait
Having watched Downton Abbey - the lot.
'It's cream and then jam' and it's SCON and not SKOWN'
'And you must always warm up the pot'
He was horrified that most shops closed at five
And on Sundays all shops shut at four.
“Don’t you want money?” JD asked, bemused,
The shopkeeper smiled, ' Making moneys not what life is for"
5. Royal Hopes Dashed
Before he flew west, he had one last request,
“To meet Kate, Wills, Charles n' Camilla—
The Donald sure did that, so why shouldn't I
I hear Princess Kate’s quite a killer'!
What does it cost? C'mon..how many bucks?
I must press the flesh of a Royal'!!!
''No price would be high enough, Sir so forget it
They don't trade with Yanks - thought you knew it.
But all is not lost! At a much reduced cost
Hazza and Meghan'll do it'!
cdebAug25
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