Image source, Swindon Borough Council

Image source, Swindon Borough Council

To some positive news about how Swindon town centre will look in just a few week's time.

The new transport hub on Fleming Way will include a pedestrianised route which will connect the bus and train station to the town centre.

As part of the scheme, cyclists will have dedicated lanes alongside the bus lanes which will be controlled by traffic lights, allowing pedestrians to cross safely.

More than 180 trees and 23,000 shrubs and bushes have also been planted.

Image source, Swindon Borough Council

We're out and asking people in the town centre what they think of it.

Andrew Muirhead, a Swindon resident for 25-years, says: "I'm disappointed I thought Swindon would become a city - it's lagging behind.

"I feel there should have been an awful lot more progress"

Half of the once busy Brunel Shopping Centre is now closed off to the public.

When it opened in 1973, the Brunel Centre was considered a sign of prosperity, being among the first of a new era of shopping precincts.

But 50 years on, many of the shop units are empty, with the town centre losing many of its flagship stores.

The slow exodus of businesses did lead to mooted plans in 2022 for tower blocks to take its place, but the proposal has not yet come to fruition.

Thinking back to Dan's post at 10.19 about the feeling that Swindon town centre is not safe - there are police on patrol today.

A new Public Spaces Protection Order is due to give police and community wardens the power to issue a £100 fixed penalty notice for anti-social behaviour.

Walking through the centre today, our reporters spotted two officers keeping an eye on everything.

Image source, bbc

So what is the idea for Regent Circus?

The town’s Conservatives want the council to open negotiations with the owners to move the Wyvern Theatre there.

The council, which is run by Labour, has previously said the theatre - which isn't too far from Regent Circus - "is getting to the end of its life" and has "concrete cancer and other issues".

Gary Sumner says opening the theatre there would "add more vibrancy" to the area and give a reason for the restaurants to reopen.

The Labour council leader, Jim Robbins, disagreed with the suggestion saying "it doesn't work". We'll hear more from him shortly.

Image source, Google

The issue of the Regent Circus development is one we'll be talking about here today.

It's currently up for sale just 10 years after opening. But the site, on the edge of the town centre, which was home to a supermarket and cinema, is now almost completely empty.

When Regent Circus was built on the former Swindon College site in Wiltshire, it was hoped it would beckon in a new era for the ailing town centre.

Details of who could buy the new site and when this could happen have not been confirmed.

And someone has an interesting idea of what to do with the cinema ... but what?

We're out in Swindon town centre asking people their views today.

Billy and Dot say: "There's not the big stores anymore like Debenhams, Marks and Spencers.

"We really miss Marks and Spencers."

But they're both looking forward to the new Fleming Way bus depot saying the old station is "the worst experience you could have".

Fleming Way "is a big upgrade, a lot safer I would have thought especially in the evening," they add.

Naomi Chessell added: "Over the years everything's just gone, it's very, very depressing.

"From looking back over the years from the 70s, 80s it's gone well down."

Dave Harvey
Business Correspondent, BBC West

Fifty years ago, the developers said they hoped the new Brunel shopping centre would "put a heart into Swindon".

They have used that tag line ever since.

But if this is the heart of the town, there are holes in it.

In one section of the Brunel, I counted over a dozen empty shop units.

Why? There have been plenty of rivals taking the steam out of the Brunel.

Online shopping has eaten away too, as it has in every town centre retail complex.

Experts tell me the Brunel can survive, but just with far fewer shops than the planners of the 1970s imagined.

Expect new plans proclaiming "mixed use development", and a "vibrant blend of retail, leisure and residential".

Image source, Swindon Borough Council

The junction at Fleming Way has been closed for three-and-a-half years while a new £33m transport hub is built.

Work was due to be completed last year, but is now due to be finish in August.

So far new cycle lanes have been created, along with bus shelters with wheelchair access wireless charging and digital screens, more bus connections and greenery.

It’s set to open next month, with the dilapidated bus station next door being knocked down.

Dan O'Brien
Political reporter, BBC Wiltshire

What’s being done to make Swindon town centre, not just nicer, but safer because anti-social behaviour is putting so a lot of people off.

There are glossy brochures at trade events trying to attract investment, and big transformations taking place at Fleming Way...but we start with the basics.

For too many people, Wiltshire’s biggest town centre simply does not feel safe, they feel threatened.

Those are not my words, they are the words of the Swindon Borough Councillor in charge of communities Jim Grant, as he explained to me why in the next couple of weeks new powers are coming into effect in the centre to allow the issuing of on the spot fines to tackle just that.

The new Public Spaces Protection Order will give police and community wardens the power to issue a £100 fixed penalty notice for anti-social behaviour, and coincides with a Wiltshire Police crackdown on e-scooters.

But, in a gloriously British example of legal process though, before the rules take effect, the council has to put up signage for a couple of weeks warning that any offenders could face fines.

I’m sure the street drinkers and ones hurling abuse will pay plenty of attention to those, but them’s the rules.

Welcome to our live coverage taking a closer look at the state of Swindon town centre.

At the end of last week we found out that the £50m Regent Circus complex is yet again being sold.

While most of it lies empty, despite being barely a decade old, we thought we would take a look at the wider picture.

So what are we expecting today?

Our reporters have been busy speaking to residents, business owners and local authorities about the many changes Swindon has gone through and what needs to happen next.

We'll bring you the latest on this page.