A PLANNING inquiry will be held over proposals to refurbish the Locarno after the developer said he was ‘fed up with waiting’ for Swindon Council to make a decision on the application.

Developer Steve Rosier applied five months ago to gain another three years in which to start a project to restore and extend the listed building, providing 115 apartments and a register office.

The application was approved in 2008, but Mr Rosier said work did not start during the legal three-year window due to the economic crisis, meaning he had to ask for a time extension.

Swindon Council’s planning department will recommend that the planning committee refuse a separate application to demolish the Locarno on the basis it would result in the complete loss of a designated heritage asset, with no sufficient justification.

But Swindon Council said the extension application was not in a fit state for officers to present to the committee for members to make a reasonable decision.

Mr Rosier has now appealed to the planning inspectorate against the non-determination of the application, with an inquiry expected in the summer.

The extension application will come before Tuesday’s committee with a recommendation for refusal, but this is simply a chance for the council to indicate what decision it would have made, rather than to make the actual decision.

In his report, case officer Tom Buxton said that although the scheme was identical to the one approved in 2008, the balance this time was tipped in favour of refusal because of the length of time it might take to bring it forward.

He wrote: “In summary, there will be a negative impact upon the character, appearance and setting of the listed buildings and the conservation area as a result of the proposed development.

“While the conclusion reached as part of the previous committee report was that some of this impact could be justified, this is no longer considered the case.

“It is the view of the appellant that the current scheme is not viable and will not be so for some time (cited by the appellant as being not until 2018) hence justification for the scale of the development is no longer recognised.”

Mr Rosier said: “I’m somewhat flabbergasted.

“I can understand the refusal of the demolition, but I don’t understand the removal of the only planning permission that’s ever been granted and the only plan they’ve got that could save the Locarno.”

Mr Rosier said he appealed because he was ‘fed up with waiting’.

He said the council had had five months, but kept asking for information that was “completely unnecessary” to determine the application.

Coun Dave Wood, who started an online petition to save the Locarno, said the recommendation to refuse demolition was good news, but the council needed to keep working with all parties to find a sympathetic use for the building.