Swanscombe Neighbourhood Renewal Initiative

Swanscombe is a relatively isolated, self contained town in Dartford with a small and established community of approximately 6,400 population (c.2,700 households). Its housing stock consists mainly of inter-war and post war terraced and semi-detached housing, most of which is owner occupied, though significant council stock remains. The area has schools, including a Community Secondary School, no banks or building societies, and limited shopping and leisure facilities.

Industrial restructuring in the last 20 years has led to Swanscombe’s considerable industrial dislocation, periods of high unemployment and industrial blight. Though unemployment has declined in recent years, Swanscombe is considered to be a low skilled, low income population.

For an existing community like Swanscombe, the huge redevelopments to take place in the next 15 years and beyond with major developments at Ebbsfleet, Eastern Quarry, and the Swanscombe Peninsula will undoubtably have an explicit impact on the area and clearly present some major threats to its sustainability. Though it is not among the worst of the deprived neighbourhoods, it is vulnerable to economic downturn and the major changes brought about by the new developments. Swanscombe is therefore at risk of entering a spiral of decline in an area otherwise characterised by increasing affluence. The key challenges here are to identify how the threats facing Swanscombe can be ameliorated, how issues already manifest in the area can be addressed, and identify the initial steps to ensuring the existing community can access new opportunities arising from the major developments.