Where Next for the Waterfront - 25 January 2019 - Village Hotel

The start of the new year seemed the best time to look at future challenges facing SA1 Waterfront and how factors would either help or hinder future growth. 

Adam Smith, General manager at Village Hotel (Swansea) chaired the session and set the scene nicely with a recap of various issues and what the next steps might entail. Among these was a choice as to whether SA1 should be a stand-alone business district or part of a wider consortium of interest.

Russell Greenslade, chief executive of Swansea BID  took us through the benefits of a Business Improvement District and the opportunities for future growth. He also highlighted the respective costs of a membership organisation and how these balanced with potential benefits. Russell fielded a wide range of questions and it's clear that there will need to be a lot more discussion on the subject. Nonetheless, the general feeling was that SA1 has a close affinity with the city centre and that city planners should recognise that fact.

Barry Liles OBE, Pro Vice Chancellor Skills & Lifelong Learning at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) took the session through an journey of innovation, ambition and achievement that left many in the room trying to catch up. He provided a succession of examples to support a recurring theme was that there should no boundaries to constrict interactions that link academic excellence with commercial advancement.  The number of students setting up their own enterprises and and university catchment represented a means of fostering and maintaining local regional growth.

Matt Bowyer of Swansea Council had stepped in a short notice to discuss planned traffic changes at SA1. The proposal is to restrict traffic exiting from Kings Road onto Fabian Way/Quay Parade to buses only. This was causing concerns to businesses who regarded the Langdon Road exit as insufficient. There was an understandable amount of robust discussion in which Matt was able to explain in some detail how traffic light movements are determined. Even so,  there remained disquiet over the proposals. 

Since that time, feedback has resulted in a re-think. See this Update for details.

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There are no slides available from this session at present.