Fleming Way: Swindon regeneration likely 'up to a year late'

A £33m project to regenerate Swindon town centre is likely to be delayed by at least a year, councillors say.

The Fleming Bus Boulevard scheme, which was due to be finished in late 2024.

It includes new cycle and pedestrian routes, as well as plans for a bus interchange.

Swindon Borough council leader Jim Robbins said: "In the spirit of being open and transparent, I'm going to say no - it's not likely that we are going to meet the deadline."

Chris Watts, cabinet member for the environment and transport, said it was "more likely to be the end of 2025" before the project was finished.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said one of the challenges was "uncharted utilities",

"Working down there they've found gas mains, water mains and live electricity cables which nobody, not even the utility companies, knew were there. There were three 30,000 volt cables, which were live," he said.

"You have to call the utility company and they say they'll be there in four weeks. And under law it's the council that has to pay to get the pipes moved. So these things do add cost and delay to these projects."

There is one silver lining, according to Mr Watts.

"The delay has allowed us to do a bit of redesign and better focus on sustainable travel, and we've designed the cycle route better to make it safer and to join it up with the Flyer routes."

The aim of the project is to encourage investment into the Kimmerfield business district and to connect it better to the Fleet Street and Bridge Street areas of the town centre.

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