Southwater One opens for business
Telford & Wrekin Council’s flagship community building Southwater One opens for business today.
The new community building is part of the first phase of the £250m regeneration of the Southwater area of the town centre, which is nearing completion.
Southwater One includes the council’s relocated new and extended First Point service, the new state of the art Southwater Library and a Costa Coffee outlet on the ground floor.
Councillor Bill McClements, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Finance and Enterprise, said: “This has been years in the planning and months in the construction and today represents a very significant and exciting day for the whole borough.
“Southwater One will give the council and a number of partners a frontline presence in the town centre and also mean a fantastic state of the art library opening for the public to use.
"The entire space already looks fantastic and it will be perfectly complemented by the planned regeneration of the Shopping Centre.
“The whole development demonstrates that Telford is well and truly on the up and that major companies are believing in and investing in the borough, which is a direct result of our drive to attract inward investment.
“This is also evidenced by stories of expansion by companies elsewhere in the borough including Staubli, Faccenda, Pickstock and CLM.
“We are committed to creating more jobs which in turn means further growth and investment and a boost for the economy.”
The eye catching Southwater One building is a key part of the £250m Southwater development.
As well as Southwater One, from Monday the high quality public spaces around it will also be open. This includes the new lake, which features an urban beach, footpaths for lakeside strolls and a games area.
A 602 space multi-storey car park, FAIRshare Credit Union and Mimosa have already opened and the next couple of months will see an 11 screen IMAX Cineworld, Premier Inn hotel and a number of market-leading restaurants opening.
The new First Point service provides help, advice and information for a wide range of council and partner services including council tax, benefits advice, concessionary travel, housing advice, registrars, Future Focus and Family Connect.
There will also be access to the Royal British Legion, armed forces charity SSAFA, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the Red Cross and the Healthy Lifestyles Hub.
