• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Tuesday April 8 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

All fun and games – sports hub plan for top floors of multi-storey car park

A community sports space could be created at the top of a Swindon multi-storey car park, which its owners say is underused.

The £15 million, 850-space Whalebridge car park was unveiled just before Christmas in 2013 as part of the Kimmerfields regeneration scheme.

A quarter of spaces were reserved by local businesses for the use of their staff.

But less than 12 years on, with hybrid working a norm and footfall declining in town centres, Swindon Borough Council is wondering how to make the best use of the car park.

The council recently submitted a planning application to convert the top floors of the town centre car park into a dedicated community sports space.

If approved, the new location could feature a variety of sports, space for street food vendors, a recreational hub and more.

The council hopes the move would generate footfall and activity in the town centre in an effort to boost the local economy.

Councillor Jim Robbins, leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “We want to transform the town centre into a bustling area that people want to come and visit, but we know that won’t happen overnight.

“Whalebridge car park is underused and we want to make the most of this location in the heart of the town centre, next door to the soon-to-be-completed Fleming Way.

“While not what you would normally expect, similar proposals have been a success in other locations, including in Bristol where they’ve transformed a former Debenhams store into a skate park.

“We know there’s limited access to recreational leisure in the town centre and, along with being a new space for the local community, it can also become a hub for a variety of sports such as cricket or pickleball.

“This is an outside-the-box idea and I’m looking forward to seeing this project come forward and the benefits it can bring. Hopefully it will also encourage more landlords to look at what they can do to their own properties.”