THE long-awaited levelling of the Eldene Centre is expected to take place this autumn – once a contractor is appointed to knock down the development.

Businesses whose leases were terminated have left the centre vacant for around six months, with former shop fronts boarded up and one resident, who did not wish to be identified, claiming it had been attacked by vandals.

“It’s a mess. It’s all boarded up but vandals have been in and broken in,” he said. “They’ve said they were going to demolish it for ages but they haven’t.

“I want to know when they are going to do it.”

The tender process came to an end on July 31 and now officers at Swindon Borough Council are in the process of choosing a contractor as part of the scheduled regeneration of the centre.

A focus group, comprised of members of the Eldene Residents Association (ERA) as well as Horizons, Eldene Primary School and the council, will then work to plan the new Eldene Centre and its appearance.

In a meeting at Eldene Primary School on July 16, councillors told members of the ERA the site would be flattened by the end of September and the ground left as compacted stone before design proposals are set out for consultation in November and December.

Mike Davies, ERA secretary, said: “On Thursday 16th July There was a meeting at Eldene primary between local stakeholders and representatives of the council to discuss what should happen when Eldene centre gets knocked down. There have been assurances that the area will be left in a safe way during autumn and winter 2015. It will not be fenced off as that attracts vandalism.”

He said there was money available to carry out the work and to redevelop the site, although exact amounts would depend on the cost of any potential extra work to remove asbestos, for example.

Meanwhile, Cllr Chris Watts (Lab, Liden, Eldene & Park South) reassured residents plans were moving to finally complete the work.

He said: “The timescale I’ve got is that the contractor will be decided by the end of this month and the demolition will take place shortly after that.”

He said grants had also been applied for to add extra funding for the scheme.