Residents who have been in the city centre lately will be noticing rapid changes taking place. In the space behind the new bus station, more than half of Grosvenor House has now been demolished. Hoarding surrounds most of that area and the former space occupied by the old bus station and Bruton Way car park.

Across the former Market Parade, 19 apartments, containing a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms, surround a new retail outlet which is expected to open in early November and will contain a Tesco store, which is relocating from the ground floor of Grosvenor House. This will enable the demolition of the remainder of Grosvenor House, and that will allow the extension of the building programme which has already commenced in that area.

A computer graphic impression of the completed development

In only 18 months, the Forum will be complete, with its new hotel, office space, gym, car park and other commercial establishments. If you are interested in seeing what it’s going to look like, there is a display inside the former ‘Soap Box’ shop in Kings Square, which has a computer graphic impression of a fly-through of the completed development.

Meanwhile, the work to improve the road entrance to the railway station has been completed and plans are moving forward with Great Western Railway and Network Rail to start work on the long-awaited improvements to the underpass connecting Great Western Road to the city centre.

Around Kings Square, the owners of the Chambers pub, which has been boarded up since the start of the pandemic, are looking to end their lease, which means that it will not re-open in its existing guise. There is interest in taking on the premises, so we are hopeful that it will reopen under new management soon.

Finally, the University’s work in converting the former Debenham’s building into their new city centre campus is rapidly proceeding. Originally it was hoped that the work would be completed in time for the academic year commencing September 2023, but construction and material delays mean that students are now expected to use the facility from early 2024. In time, there may be as many as 4,500 students studying there – a great benefit to our city centre.