Swadlincote Town Centre
Swadlincote is the most southerly market town in Derbyshire and at the heart of the National Forest. With its character, independent retailers, free parking and pedestrianised areas, there is an exciting and interesting feel to the area. There are opportunities for significant residential and commercial development on a number of town centre sites.
Description
New housing development has led to the rapid growth of Swadlincote in recent years and an extra 350 homes per year are anticipated through to 2026. House building is on-going with sites under construction and further extensive sites allocated in the Local Plan. The town has a primary catchment area of 45,500 people and a secondary catchment of 21,000.
Swadlincote is a centre for learning, leisure and governance with a busy bus station serving the nearby towns and City of Derby. Much of the town centre is a Conservation Area with a celebrated history. Attractions include Swadlincote Snowsports Centre and the unique Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, which includes the Magic Attic local history archive.
Past meets present in the central shopping area, with modern pedestrianised streets and heritage architecture dating predominantly from the first three decades of the 20th Century. There are more than 200 business premises in the core of the town centre. As with most modern town centres these include a mix of services – estate agents, banks, hairdressers – and retail businesses, both independent shops and high street names, plus a thriving street market.
The town centre, supported by an ambitious Vision document has been sensitively expanded to encompass larger modern units and to improve the convenience offer, including a new Morrisons and extended Sainsbury’s supermarket. More recently, the 112,000 sqft ‘Pipeworks’ mixed use scheme has attracted numerous national retailers, together with an Odeon cinema, Prezzo Italian restaurant and other food and drink outlets.
A multi-million pound programme of public realm and landscaping works has been undertaken, including repaving the historic centre. The Swadlincote Townscape Heritage scheme enhanced numerous historic building facades on the main streets. Most recently, works have been undertaken to refurbish The Delph market square and regenerate the Bank House/Sabine’s Yard site between Midland Road and Belmont Street, providing additional car parking and a pocket park.
Investment Opportunities
The Swadlincote Town Centre Vision identifies a number of potential investment opportunities, including vacant sites immediately available and redevelopment proposals that would enable land to be released for other uses. There is potential for retail, leisure, office and residential uses. Despite recent investment there remains an undersupply of food and drink outlets, comparison shopping and overnight visitor accommodation in the town centre.
A significant proportion of the town centre is held in public ownership, in particular by South Derbyshire District Council. The public bodies are committed to rationalising these property assets in a manner which will improve services whilst enhancing the town centre.
