PLANS for the new Swindon Museum and Art Gallery are gathering pace with a revised Heritage Lottery funding application set to be submitted in December and a new director announced in the next few weeks.

Creating a cultural quarter in the town centred on a new museum has been a recurring theme over many years, a £12.5 million funding bid was turned down last year but work has since been under way to get the idea back on track.

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust, established in 2015 to oversee the project, is set to announce the appointment of a new director in the coming weeks.

Trust chairman Robert Hiscox said: “The difference between where we are now and where we were when the last bid was turned down is momentum, we’ve got a trust, we’ve appointed a director, we’re moving forward.”

“The site of the old Wyvern Theatre car park is being levelled as we speak and the next stage is to launch the process to choose an architect.

“We’ve got a very good cause, it’s got everything going for it, now we’ve just got to do it.”

The new director will join the team on a three-year contract which is understood to be worth £70,000 a year, with the next funding round less than a year away he will have a lot of work to do.

Swindon’s cultural regeneration has captured national attention in recent months, in August the Telegraph ran an article suggesting that the town could become an unlikely addition to the British cultural itinerary if the museum was to go ahead.

Last month BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House described Swindon as having a “hidden artistic side” that could challenge the usual uncomplimentary stereotypes.

The report was referring to a collection of 20th century British art, widely regarded as one of the most important of any outside London, which is currently housed in the existing museum in Old Town.

The collection, featuring works by Lucian Freud, Lowry and Henry Moore among others, is at the heart of efforts to secure a new purpose-built museum and gallery space.

Museum curator Sophie Cummings said: “Most of this collection would justify a space in any gallery but in our current location we are only able to put ten to fifteen percent on display.

“We certainly want to show more of it, but we also want to be able to attract other touring exhibitions too.

“At the moment they don’t come anywhere near Swindon but with a brand new museum that would certainly change.”

If the planned £12.5m lottery funding bid was to be successful it would be met by a £5 million contribution from Swindon Borough Council.

Mr Hiscox hopes to secure at least an additional £5 million from other trusts, well-wishers and benefactors once the trust has secured charitable status.

Councillor Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “The council are very supportive of the bid, it’s good that a director will be in place to push the project forward.

“The plan is to submit a funding bid in December and we want to be in a position well in advance to ensure that the bid is as robust as it can be.

“I know the members of the trust are taking their positions very seriously and I have every belief they will deliver.”