City continues to benefit from Administration policies

More good news over the last two days with further investment in the City from top-notch retailers.

Yesterday, the La Senza lingerie chain announced that it is to give the city centre a big vote of confidence by announcing it is setting up shop here. Today, Laura Ashley said it is to open a home furnishings store in the Pontarddulais Retail Park.

Naturally, it would have been preferable if Laura Ashley had decided to set up in the City Centre, but there is no escaping the fact that things are looking better than for some time for Swansea.

As the Chairman of the Swansea Business Improvement District, Peter Birch, said:

"It's brilliant news.

"Every week there's somebody announcing they are coming to Swansea."Companies are seeing investment is being poured into Swansea.

"We have a Business Improvement District here which is a first in Wales.

"People can recognise that it's the place they want to be."

He said companies which had pulled out of the city centre could live to regret their decision.

"They might find the error of their ways and realise Swansea is a much sought-after place to come."

What a contrast with the barren years of Labour control.

Labour flushed away

The only thing going down the pan around here is the Labour Party's spinning around Swansea website. All the evidence is that not only are they listening at the wrong doors but they are having difficulties reading.

When they claim that this Evening Post article on the state of the City's toilets shows that the Administration are not getting the basics right, they overlooked one small fact. Council-operated toilets were not looked at as part of the Halo Wipes' investigation.

In fact Swansea Council has award winning public toilet provision including the 2006 Loo of the Year Awards for Caer Street, Oystermouth, Quadrant, and Rhossili. Of course that inconvenient fact does not stop Labour who use every excuse to rub down Swansea now that they no longer run it.

Labour election circus full of clowns

The Labour election circus came to Swansea yesterday leading the First Minister to try to claim sole credit for all the investment coming into the City at the moment.

Labour have form on this of course. When things go wrong then local Councils are the easy scapegoats. When Labour election pledges such as those on school buildings do not materialise then it is everybody's fault but theirs. They are a good news government, only interested in associating themselves with success and failing to take responsibility for their failures.

I am not going to deny that the Welsh Assembly Government has played its part in helping Swansea get back on its feet, but we do need to note that it was the failures of a Labour Council that got us there in the first place. Rhodri Morgan's Government and his Transport Minister have also failed to provide the investment that Swansea needs to build on our success. In particular they have consistently failed to give us a proper share of Transport Grant, delaying unreasonably the re-building of the bus station.

So when Rhodri Morgan says that the City's success is built on his government's investment he is only telling half the story. The Swansea Administration has played a large part in that success too, creating an atmosphere in which investors want to come back here once more. The Administration's decision to re-open the Leisure Centre, the can-do attitude in the City Centre and the new confidence we are creating in the City have all played a part.

It is not a Labour-run Assembly that is helping to transform the fortunes of the city, it is a partnership being led by the Council, putting right Labour's mess. If anything the Assembly Government is holding us back.

More good news for City Centre

Yet more good news in tonight's Evening Post underlining our previous post about the Administration's success in turning the City Centre around.

Lush, which specialises in hand-made soaps and cosmetics, is set to open a store in Whitewalls, opposite the popular Primark store, in what was once a nail bar.

It is not just us who believe that the turning point has been passed. Peter Birch, the vice-chairman and secretary of the Swansea Business Improvement District and chairman of the Swansea Independent Traders Association, said: "Confidence is building in the city. It is a great feeling knowing that companies want to come here. Not too long ago companies were leaving the city centre. It's great that things are changing."The city centre will certainly have more to offer than the out-of- town parks."

Whilst Denise Road, chairwoman of JT Morgan, said the latest news of fresh investment from a major national chain showed the city was on the up.

What a contrast with the mess that Labour made of the city centre.

Administration is making a difference

I know how upset the Spinning Around Swansea lot get when we neglect this blogsite but unfortunately for them we decide when we post and when we do not.

Nevertheless it is worth breaking our unscheduled vacation to report on further investment in the City Centre that vindicates once more the strategy being pursued by the Swansea Administration and underlines the growing confidence in the City by investors.

The investment by Marks and Spencer in its City Centre store is one manifestation of this. As the Post says the planned multi-million pound transformation is being seen as a huge vote of confidence in the city centre as a retail hotspot. And then on top of this news we read that around 250 developers have contacted the Council to express and interest in working on bringing the City Centre strategy to reality. These are real developers not the fictional ones Labour told us wanted to rebuild our Leisure Centre but nobody could find any evidence of.

Peter Birch, vice-chairman and secretary of the Swansea Business Improvement District and chairman of the Swansea Independent Traders Association sums up where we are as a City:

"More is happening in Swansea now than has ever happened in my time here since 1980. There is more money being invested here than in a lot of towns and cities in Britain.

"The city stagnated for so long, but now people are concentrating on the centre again. There was a time when developers were looking at out-of-town areas, but that has stopped and they now want to be involved with the centre and to see that thriving again.

"This council has made a brave decision to get the leisure centre reopened and it is reaping the rewards from that and its vision for Swansea. I am really pleased for the city and the traders who have hung on in here through the hard times. Things are really looking up now and I am happy to be part of that."

Partnership is working

Whilst the Spinning around Swansea website rather predictably scoffs from the sidelines it is worth reflecting that the 1200 Amazon distribution jobs coming to Swansea have not just come out of mid air.

The partnership working between the Council, the Assembly Government and local businesses have played a significant role. The growing confidence in the Swansea Bay area has helped tremendously in attracting this investment. As Swansea Council's own strategy for transforming the area comes into play we can expect more announcements soon.

Guest Contributor

Todays guest contributor is the editor of the South Wales Evening Post. Writing in last night's paper, he said:

The council leader stood in front of a room full of property developers. Behind him, alluring images of his city, as imagined by artists, shone out. "This is our time," he said. "This is Swansea's time. This is the developers' time."As bids to flog off chunks of public real estate to private developers go, this was a pretty brazen effort. And no apologies should be made for it.

We all know that Swansea has been ridiculed in the past as the city of artists' impressions. The suggestion has been made - too often to be dismissed as coincidence - that developers' visions have foundered on the rocks of planners' intransigence and councillors' parochialism.

So, what is different about the Swansea Strategic Plan launched by Chris Holley at the Dragon Hotel this week? Quite a few things. Take the venue, for a start.

Once, The Dragon was at the heart of the city. That profile has been restored. Outside, The Kingsway is being transformed for a new transport system. Some people dismiss this as a waste of time and money. I think it is essential to turn Swansea into a proper city.

Walk down Princess Way and you pass Thurleigh Estates' redevelopment of David Evans, and the Longford Group's Excelsior hotel and apartments building.

On the shoreline side of Oystermouth Road - to be turned into a "European-style boulevard" in the strategic plan - Earthquake are building Meridian Quay on the marina, Persimmon Homes are at Swansea Point, and a number of companies are working on different projects in SA1.

My point is the developers are already here and delivering results. So, while I understand why Swansea Tourism boss Geoff Haden was yesterday calling for "the biggest incentives possible" to lure developers, I believe there is already a momentum behind the city's regeneration to justify Councillor Holley's optimism about this being Swansea's time.

So perhaps we can dispense with the usual cynicism over this week's launch, which identified some of the city's current weaknesses, and offered them up as golden development opportunities.

The strategic plan for the city centre is part of a jigsaw that includes other strategies for the bay and the river corridor. Together, they show how Swansea could finally begin to exploit its glorious setting. We have a chance here to unite bay and city in a way that Cardiff, for example, cannot match.

Moving forward

Although the Insider Outers continue to talk down the City Centre, plans to enhance and develop it continue. In particular, their predicted demise of the new bus station project looks to be premature. The Administration will do everything it can to use the money available to it to deliver this scheme as soon as possible.

We believe that the Evening Post's editorial is also significant. They recognise that yesterday's announcement was not reheated pottage. but a genuine step forward:

The challenge, which the latest framework addresses, is to build upon that success and maintain that momentum. At the heart of the vision is a scheme to link the city centre with Swansea's fantastic waterfront, while at the same time providing desperately needed improvements to that centre.

The framework has correctly identified some of the City's most glaring weaknesses and turned them into development opportunities. This is not the time to let the cynics dominate the debate.

With dozens of property developers lining up to get involved, the future has never looked so bright for Swansea.

Progress unlimited

The Inside Outers may well scoff but the City Centre Strategy launched this morning is far more than another off-the-shelf document. In fact it is the sort of document they have been asking us to produce for some time.

The importance of this strategy is that it is based on realistic aspirations following consultation with developers. It also draws on the new confidence in the City being shown by investors.

Having got the first City Centre shopping development for two decades off the ground we are anticipating more announcements in the next few months that will demonstrate the how effective our approach is.

City reaps benefits of growing confidence

That an ice rink is still on the cards for Swansea is a tribute to the new air of confidence that investors now have in the City. Developers are expected to bring firm proposals to the council within two months.

Talks aimed at bringing a rink to the city are still at an early stage 12 months on, but Planet Ice, the company behind the proposals, is still keen to come to the city.

As we have said previously, people everywhere are starting to recognise that Swansea is a place to do business once more. They see the building work going on and they want to have a piece of the action. What a contrast to the barren years under New Labour.

Moving forward

There is yet more evidence in tonight's Evening Post of the way that the Swansea Administration is working with others to change the City for the better.

This story about a £3.5 million scheme to makeover the roads linking The Kingsway and Oxford Street is just one example:

Contractors are currently upgrading Upper Union Street, Portland Street and Park Street. The work includes resurfacing of roads and pavements with similar materials as that used for the refurbishment of The Kingsway. It is expected to be completed by the end of March and be followed by the £3.5 million city centre core retail scheme.

The Assembly- funded scheme is aimed at making the city centre a more vibrant and dynamic place to visit. It will include new street furniture, public art and replacing of roads and pavements.

As Chris Holley says "Enhancing the appearance of the city centre will supplement ongoing projects such as the regeneration of the former David Evans site and will encourage more people to visit Swansea. This will be a boost for local traders and for the local economy."

Rather predictably the Inside Outers seek to denigrate the launch of a new economic strategy, however its importance lies in the way that we are building on what has already been achieved and in the partnerships that we have been continuing to nurture. The Techniums and the Institute of Life Sciences are important Assembly Government and University initiatives that offer the potential of high value jobs and investment to Swansea.

Before they go claiming credit again the Inside Outers might also wish to note that the ILS was conceived and started on our watch but is no more an Administration project than it is Labour's.

Growing confidence

Despite the inevitable scepticism of the Inside Outers, tonight's letter from the previously unknown Community Councillor Gillian Evans does convey an essential truth. When you talk to business people and visitors to Swansea who have no axe to grind, they all have the same story to tell, the City is on the move again.

Councillor Evans says: 'What came across to all present was a general feeling of confidence. This was reflected in discussions with various business leaders who all felt that after years of stagnation under Labour (remember their long-harboured but over-ambitious plans for Castle Quays), the present administration is turning the fortunes of Swansea around.There is a positive buzz about Swansea and its future.' That is the opinion of many other people.

As expected one of Labour's stooges has posted his own comment on the Evening Post site querying her view but all he succeeds in doing is to highlight how things are different. Labour got the Liberty stadium underway but they left it to us to put in a proper business plan and to finish off the job where they had cut corners. SA1 Waterfront is of course an Assembly Government initiative, which we are progresssing in partnership with them, whilst Salubrious Place Phase Two was left to us to bring to completion, a not insignificant achievement.

What 'Malcolm of Morriston' does not comment on is the fact that the present Administration has got the first City Centre shopping development for over two decades underway, that new investment is coming into Swansea to bring existing buildings into full use and despite the difficulties of the implementing the new traffic system, most people acknowledge that it has made a huge difference to City Centre traffic problems. In addition a whole range of new investment opportunities are opening up and a lot of interest being shown in them. A major contrast to the stagnation of the Labour years.

Isn't it about time Labour stopped running Swansea down? Oh, and perhaps they could get a more reliable source as to what goes on in Administration Group meetings as well.

Policy into practise

We note that Labour continue to mock the new road system being installed in Swansea City Centre, but are they really in touch with what voters are thinking?

In this article in yesterday's Evening Post a Kingsway trader is quoted as saying that "The council has done an excellent job of improving the look of the Kingsway and the surrounding area. The flow of traffic has also improved." This appears to be a common view and is one reflected amongst taxi drivers, a normally reliable barometer of public opinion. Labour are living in the past.

The brothers and sisters are also scathing about the time being taken to get the city centre strategy right. Quite why they feel that they have to repeat the cost of this strategy is beyond us. After all it was the previous Labour Administration who commissioned it and it is the Labour Assembly Government who is helping to pay for it.

We have had decades of Labour failure to get things moving in the City Centre, now at last there is some action. Important as the policy framework is, we are not going to sit around waiting for it to be completed. The future prosperity of Swansea is more important than that. Not that we would expect Labour to understand. This Administration has succeeded in getting investors interested again. All Labour can do is sneer from the sidelines.

The Wonderful World of Labour

We all know that the New Labour contingent of the PLC Coalition inhabit a different world to the rest of us; a world where things exist because they say they do. (Or do not exist - like the non-existent scrutiny chair offer letter that Plaid somehow managed to reply to).

The latest example is the way the Inside Leg spinners refuse to accept the truth that money for the city centre roadworks came from the New Labour Assembly Government; and that the grant was approved by a New Labour Minister, and Swansea AM, Andrew Davies. If they don't like the scheme, they should take it up with him.

Hope for City

Tonight's Evening Post editorial has backed up what we have been saying for some time: Swansea City is on the up.

New investment is coming into the City, whilst existing operators are re-positioning their product to take advantage of potential opportunities. Tescos too is preparing new plans for its Oystermouth Road store.

As the Post points out the long awaited development of the former David Evans store is also underway. It will bring new names to the City Centre.

When you add in the boost to the local economy that the new casino will bring, then we can see that the Administration's policies are starting to bear fruit and that the disaster we inherited from Labour is being left far behind.

City Centre moving forward

Although we have been saying it for some time, it is nice to have independent and external developers confirming that Swansea City Centre is moving forward again.

Developers behind the £9 million rejuvenation of Pearl House are quoted in today's Evening Post as saying that Swansea is on the up. They have given the city a vote of confidence and are convinced that the city centre's fortunes are about to be transformed.

Director, Martyn Guess, said: "The reason we bought it is that we could see the potential of Swansea. I have been coming here for 10 years and I thought something was going to happen.

"With what is happening in the docks, along with all the residential and other developments, the whole place is being regenerated."

Mr Guess believes the new-look Kingsway and the redevelopment of the former David Evans store would lift that part of the city.

He said: "With all the road works that have been going on, it has been like armageddon down there. But it will be good. That is why we bought the property, the new David Evans and the new retailers will definitely enhance the area. I think making Princess Way narrower will also make it a more intimate shopping area."

It is nice to see that others appreciate the way that the Administration has picked up the pieces of Labour's disastrous mismanagement of the City Centre.

A vision for the future

We do not mind admitting that it took some time to get to grips with the mess that Labour left us in the City Centre. Things do not move quickly in the world of retail development and it has been difficult re-establishing Swansea's reputation as a place to do business. We still have some way to go on that.

Although the Evening Post concentrated on plans to link up the Quadrant and St. David's Centre, the strategy which we have just published contains an important blueprint for the future. What is just as important is that at Council tonight there was all-party support for that vision.

Things are starting to look up for Swansea. New developments are coming on line, whilst developers are showing an interest in the City once more. Although Labour keep alleging that we are a one-trick Adminstration with regards to the Leisure Centre they may find, when it comes to facing the voters in 2008, we actually have quite a number of accomplishments under our belt and that a reviving City Centre is one of them.

Moment of truth for Minister

Work on re-building the Quadrant bus station has always relied on Assembly transport grant from the moment that the previous Labour Administration conceived the idea. It should be no surprise to anybody, least of all local AM and Transport Minister, Andrew Davies, that the moment has now come to put the Assembly Government's cash where his mouth is.

This is a major plank in the regeneration of the City Centre. Enough money has gone into other, mostly Labour, areas such as Rhondda Cynon Taf. As a Swansea AM, Andrew Davies needs to ensure that his home city starts to get its fair share. It would be about time.