New hoardings signal fresh start for Kimmerfields regeneration

Work to prepare a major town centre site for regeneration is well underway.

Plans to update the masterplan for the Kimmerfields development are currently being drawn up and proposals for how the site will be taken forward will be presented to Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet in the autumn.

In the meantime, new hoardings are being erected around the site and next month the former Carfax Street medical centre will be demolished as planned to free up the final significant piece of land needed to move forward with the scheme.

Last November the Council, Muse Developments and Homes England mutually agreed to terminate their development agreement for the site following the successful completion of the first phase of Kimmerfields which included a new 850-space multi-storey car park, assisted living residential accommodation, highway improvements and a major new NHS health centre which opened last year.

Over the coming weeks, the Council will be seeking expressions of interest from developers, investors and occupiers in the Kimmerfields site to help inform the plans for the development.

Cllr Garry Perkins, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “We mutually agreed to end our development agreement for Kimmerfields because we wanted to speed up the pace of development and we have a team who are working tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver a great scheme for Swindon.

“We are designing a new masterplan and the new hoardings are a symbol that change is on the horizon. Over the next few weeks two further significant milestones will also be reached with the demolition of the former Carfax medical centre and the marketing of the site to potential developers and investors.

“This will ensure we have explored all avenues so that the scheme we bring before Cabinet later this year transforms Swindon town centre and builds on our already successful economy.”