LAST-DITCH talks are expected to have saved £12k for a toilet block refurbishment.

The Mechanics’ Institution Trust (MIT) feared it would lose the cash grant after talks over the lease of the town centre toilet block stalled.

But Swindon Borough Council has this week agreed to hand over a lease for the Faringdon Road park site. 

The trust hopes that it means it will be able to hold on to the £12,000 grant from environmental charity groundwork.

It wants to use the money to renovate the park’s disused toilet block into a base for its volunteers, who help to maintain the historic Faringdon Road green space.

Daniel Rose, director of the MIT, said he was pleased to have reached an agreement with the council. 

The arrangement came about following discussions between the leader of the council, officers, the parish council and South Swindon MP Robert Buckland, he said. 

The details are yet to be worked out, but it is believed that a three-year lease will be handed to the trust for the run-down toilet block – where last summer 200 drug needles were found in a day.

Mr Rose said: “In the end we all recognised the importance of dealing with a site which is having such a negative impact on the local area as well as protecting the grant funding for the project. 

“The trust now looks forward to planning the improvement works and concluding the arrangements with the council over the coming weeks and months.”

Earlier this week, the Adver reported the trust’s frustration at delays over talks to transfer the toilet block from the borough to the charity. 

Concerns over asbestos apparently found in the red-brick building were thought to have been behind the delays.

But council cabinet member Mary Martin said that the real reason for the delay was discussions over the transfer of the park from the borough to South Swindon Parish Council. 

She said: “Until those discussions have concluded no part of the GWR Park is available to offer to any third party.” 

The latest move appears to come despite that policy – with the chairman of South Swindon Parish Council admitting that the transfer of the park would not be complete “for some time”. 

Coun Chris Watts said: “The parish council will look to work in partnership with charities, trusts and volunteers when assets are transferred to ensure the best value for residents can be realised. 

“The trust is confident a new conditions survey will show the building to be viable and allow the trust to progress in the short term.”

The toilet block has previously been a magnet for anti-social behaviour. 

In July last year, the Swindon Advertiser reported that 200 drug needles had been discovered behind the disused block.

Shopkeeper Paul White complained: “I saw one person injecting themselves in the stomach out in the open, groups of people going into the toilets and doing who knows what. I really feel for the residents here.”