Water company blamed for redevelopment delay

A large redevelopment of central Swindon has been "considerably delayed" because of utility firms dragging their feet, according to the borough council.

Fleming Way in Swindon is undergoing a £33m revamp to create a green "bus boulevard" but the council says it is likely to finish in 2025, a year later than hoped.

It says Thames Water in particular has delayed the work schedule.

The water company has yet to comment.

Labour councillor Chris Watts said taxpayers would be left with the bill if utility firms added delays

Fleming Way was built in the 1960s as a key town centre road, cutting up Swindon's retail and office districts.

After years in the planning, Swindon secured money from central government to demolish the raised road, redeveloping it into a more attractive and appealing area prioritising buses and pedestrians.

Artist impression of the Bus Boulevard where the underpass used to be

The impact of the work stepped up this week, with the closure of a key pedestrian underpass connecting the bus and rail station to the town centre, as well as the closure of Corporation Street to traffic.

Pedestrians are now sent on a winding diversion around the building site, adding several minutes to journey times.

Diggers have started demolishing the Fleming Way underpass as the road level has been lowered

"The project is quite considerably delayed while we've waited for certain utilities to come and do their work", said Labour's Chris Watts, Swindon's councillor in charge of environment and transport.

He said the diversion is longer than hoped in order to clear enough space to avoid "giving the utility companies a reason to put in more delays".

Shoppers and commuters are now sent on a much longer diversion to get to the bus station

Although originally scheduled for completion in Autumn 2024, Mr Watts said it now looked likely to be well into 2025 because key work by Thames Water has been pushed back to at least next Spring.

"There's no compensation when they cause delays, it's a very unbalanced situation and it makes it impossible to plan when utility companies can act with impunity," he said.

Thames Water has been approached for comment and says it is looking into the matter.