An ambitious plan to revitalise the centre of a rapidly-expanding town while bringing in hundreds of millions of pounds was viewed with scepticism.

But the £30 million investment into Sittingbourne town centre is beginning to pay off with a new leisure quarter and shopping outlet seeing a rise in footfall and rates. Joe Crossley reports…

Almost a decade ago plans to regenerate the heart of Sittingbourne were drawn up to make the town a “successful, welcoming destination”.

Now, with a 24/7 gym due to fill the final vacant units of Bourne Place, the leisure quarter of the Spirit of Sittingbourne scheme will be complete.

It joins The Light – an eight-screen cinema and leisure complex – restaurants Nando’s and Sentado Lounge, a Travelodge hotel and a 308-space multi-storey car park.

The scheme also included the transformation of the old Princes Street depot into what was originally known as its “Big Box” site, now home to a Costa Coffee drive-thru, Home Bargains and The Food Warehouse.

It was all part of a Swale council’s bid to attract up to 400,000 visitors to the town a year, contribute £326 million to the local economy over a decade and generate more than 700 jobs.

But despite these promises, there were fears the multi-million project would fail, with some calling for the redevelopment of the High Street instead.

Mike Cosgrove was part of the Tory-led council that oversaw the establishment of the Spirit of Sittingbourne consortium – a group of developers – which submitted the first plans in November 2014.

Under Conservative leader Andrew Bowles, he was the cabinet member in charge of regeneration.

Mr Cosgrove acknowledged the scepticism during the planning stages but believes it is now delivering.

“It was very difficult for most people to think, could new retail and development be done here,” he explained.

“In terms of retail Sittingbourne had been running down for a long time.

“But people liked what it used to be and therefore the idea of actually creating something new, and something very different, was a bit over the top for a lot of people.

“People were saying this is pie in the sky and that it will never happen.

“However, we wanted to increase the retail footprint in the town and make it more attractive for people to stay in the area rather than going to Maidstone, Chatham or Canterbury.

“So we had to continue to actually believe in the scheme even when we came up against planning problems such as with Network Rail, which had to go ask every station in England if they had any objections to our plans to change a part of the old train station car park.”

And that was not the only hiccup.

Pizza Express and Creams were due to open branches in Bourne Place but pulled out in February 2021 in a double blow.

The second phase of the project was also scrapped in January 2020 by the then-incoming coalition-led council.

The next stage had included plans for a new civic centre off Central Avenue that would replace Swale council’s offices in East Street – which would have had homes built in its stead.

The new council also wanted to determine its own projects for the Spring Street, Fountain Street and Cockleshell Walk car parks, which had been earmarked for 200 homes.

However, 50 flats will be built on the latter car park after planning permission was granted by the authority in May.

But once the leisure quarter in Bourne Place began to take shape, opinions about the scheme began to shift as Mr Cosgrove explained.

“The multi-storey car park was in a sense proof that something was done and was almost the easiest part,” he said.

“The hotel was really good because whilst Sittingbourne has hotels we didn’t have a hotel right in the centre and now that is very helpful for industry and business in the area.

“And then the multi-screen cinema is just fantastic with the retail units alongside it as well.

“So with that core, which actually stood alone and didn't cost an exorbitant amount of money, gradually people around Sittingbourne saw that the scheme was of value.

“You can see and you can look at the actual end product and it plays a key part in actually helping growth and development across Sittingbourne and also Swale.”

The Spirit of Sittingbourne project, which was deemed partially completed in May 2020 thanks to the opening of The Light complex, has started to pay dividends financially.

In business rates alone it has seen the council rake in more than £1.5 million since 2018/2019.

Every year, except 2020/2021 due to the Covid lockdowns, there has been an increase in the rates.

In 2018/2019, the council raised more than £134,000. After the pandemic – 2021/2022 – it raised more than £319,000.

Then 2023/2024 saw the largest amount – with more than £426,000 going to the council.

While the council only keeps around 20%, these annually-increasing figures suggest the investment in the scheme is financially viable and is starting to thrive.

KentOnline asked the council in an FOI request how much the new developments were worth to the town but the authority does not hold that information.

However, the latest footfall data shows more people are visiting the town centre – although this data only runs up to March 2022.

In 2021, there was a 43% rise in footfall since pre-pandemic levels in the town centre – more than 58,000.

While the data does suggest the scheme has been a success in boosting trade, some caveats should be noted.

“…the new development has not brought us any benefits. The council hasn’t improved the High Street and hasn’t done enough for us…”

Due to the nature of the data collection – which uses mobile phone signals to track movement in the town centre – it does not show whether these people were visitors to the town or people living in Sittingbourne.

Another drawback to the data is that it does not show what shops these people were visiting.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that High Street traders have not seen this boost and that it is the new leisure quarter which is drawing in customers.

Joanne Povey, owner of Bayleaf Cafe in Roman Square, just off the High Street, was not optimistic when I visited her vintage tearooms which have been there for 16 years.

She said: “Things have been as bad as ever. I love it here and we have brilliant loyal customers who come here, so I am not trying to bash it all.

“But the new development has not brought us any benefits. The council hasn’t improved the High Street and hasn’t done enough for us.”

James Hartridge, who co-owns Donna’s Ale House, opposite The Golden Hope Wetherspoons, says he hoped Bourne Place would “pull people” into his mircopub.

However, he says the extra footfall has not materialised.

“When people use the new complex they don’t come into the high street as they have everything they need there,” he explained.

“There is almost a barrier to get to us as well as the cut-through - Station Road - isn’t connected to the car park there.”

Mr Hartridge said the High Street had problems which were unrelated to the Spirit of Sittingbourne scheme.

He added: “Car parking hikes have killed the night-time economy and high streets are dying generally because people don’t have the money to go out all the time.”

Sara Seabridge, landlady of The Yellow Stocks micropub, says while she has not seen a rise in footfall she puts this down to her type of business rather than the complex drawing people away from the High Street.

She added: “I use the leisure quarter myself so I do see there are a lot of people up there.

“I wouldn’t say it has necessarily increased our footfall as we have a niche market so people tend to come here by finding us on Facebook or Google.

“I am sure other retailers may have seen an increase though.”

But the Spirit of Sittingbourne was not intended to rescue the High Street, which is not alone in its struggles.

Across the country and the county traditional town centres are not thriving not only because of internet shopping but also developments in the 1980s and 1990s which saw the emergence of large out-of-town supermarkets and shopping centres.

For more on what has led to the decline of High Streets across the county click here.

Mr Cosgrove added: “We didn't know the future, but the reality was that it's a very long High Street with a whole series of different ownerships.

“So in terms of redeveloping a High Street, you have the physical problems of talking to each owner or each lease holder and then looking at the state of the buildings, because a lot of them are very old and then trying to redevelop them.

“And of course, today, what people want from retail and what the retailers want from their actual units is often very different from what existing older units have to offer.

“If you could have waved the magic wand and completed the regeneration it would have been nice to do but I never thought it was practical.”

Meanwhile, Sittingbourne residents told KentOnline that the development has been a success but did point to the state of the High Street.

Michael and Anita Hayter, aged 62 and 55, were visiting The Light with their 13-year-old granddaughter Abbie Cann.

The couple moved to Milton Regis from London 18 years ago and have watched the town centre's transformation.

They agreed that when they first moved “there was nothing here” for people to do but said they now had a range of leisure options and visit Bourne Place about once a week.

Anita said: “We used to go to Maidstone or Medway if we wanted to go to the cinema so it is great to finally have somewhere in the town that we can visit.

“The High Street does need a regeneration as well as we don’t have the retail options. A Primark for example would be amazing.

“Also something for the teenagers, like my granddaughter, that doesn’t cost a lot of money for them to use. They could even put on cheap movie showings here that’ll keep them entertained for a while.”

Stephanie Amobi has lived in Great Easthall for five years and says the leisure quarter is an upgrade on what the town had to offer when she first moved to the area.

The 31-year-old added: “I am especially happy that we now have Nando’s and the bowling as before there was nothing here really.

“I couldn’t believe that we could have a really nice complex here as it didn’t feel like Sittingbourne would ever have something like it.

“It would be nice if more retail chains came next, like Zara, H&M or Primark in the High Street, however.”

Despite the initial doubts, the Spirit of Sittingbourne seems to be delivering.

What was once a large, unwelcoming car park opposite the railway station is now a bustling leisure quarter.

Footfall in the town is rising and business rates are starting to fill the council’s coffers.

Let’s hope it continues that way.