PLANS to demolish parts of the Mechanics' Institute will be submitted to Swindon Council today.

Developer Mathew Singh has applied to tear down the north side of the landmark building and its flytower as part of his masterplan to build a hotel, offices and retail units.

And he hopes his bold move will finally prompt English Heritage into giving its feedback on the proposals.

Mr Singh claims the organisation has not engaged in any constructive dialogue on his latest plans, in spite of repeated attempts.

"I feel we have been led up the garden path over the last four years as we have got nowhere, especially with English Heritage," Mr Singh said.

"We have been given no indication from English Heritage of what we can or can't do with the building and that is what they are there for.

"We are taking the bull by the horns and shaking it. We have tried all the routes open to us to get English Heritage to work with us, but we have heard nothing. Hopefully, this application will spur them into action."

As revealed by the Adver in December, Mr Singh redrafted plans for the Mechanics' building to include a 104-bedroom hotel tower, a small independent cinema, bars, restaurants and conference facilities.

Under the new plans, which were submitted to the council earlier this year, the development would be completely open to the public and local community groups and charities would be invited to use the arts theatre and meeting rooms for a minimal charge.

Mr Singh insists that the project would be put in trust for his family and that he is not solely interested in making a quick profit and moving on.

But after four years of working with planners and architects, Mr Singh says time is of the essence to prevent the crumbling building from deteriorating any further.

In a document presented alongside his proposals for the partial demolition of the Mechanics', Mr Singh sets out a number of reasons why he feels work should start on the Grade II listed building as soon as possible.

He says that the Mechanics' has been subject to wet and dry rot over the years and describes it as a "festering ruin".

He also says that three years ago an English Heritage advisory committee supported a plan to look at partial demolition and rebuilding and that the Secretary of State for Environment approved the replacement of the flytower with a hotel back in 1990.

Mr Singh said: "Everybody has acknowledged the flytower needs to come down regardless, but the north side is in a really bad state of repair.

"We want to bring the whole of the north side of the building down.

"It would give us a clear canvas and I have been told we could develop a spectacular building as a result.

"Originally we were only looking to demolish the flytower and a small part of the north side, but the architects have said we will get a much better design if we demolish the whole north side and start from scratch.

"The north side is in a poor state and is slowly but surely falling down.

"There is no quick fix apart from refurbishing it totally.

"There was a survey done before I bought the Mechanics' and the conservative estimate just to save the building was £23m.

"Those were council figures. Then you would have to spend a similar amount on top of that to make it a reasonable standard.

"That is not practical and that is why we are pushing on with the demolition plans.

"If English Heritage reject the plans we will appeal. We will keep fighting."

English Heritage told the Adver in December that it had been in discussions with Mr Singh for a number of years but could not support the current application without further details - details Mr Singh says he has since submitted.

New move is bluff and bluster'

CAMPAIGNERS from Swindon's New Mechanics' Trust have described the latest proposal as "bluff and bluster".

Trust co-ordinator Martha Parry claimed that Mathew Singh's plan to demolish part of the Mechanics' Institute was a shock tactic.

She says that Mr Singh's comment that English Heritage are not indicating what can be done with the building is wrong, and that they responded to his scheme back in September.

"English Heritage has engaged, and it commented negatively in September as there was nothing positive to engage with.

"English Heritage has commented.

"What part of no' does Mr Singh not understand?

"It's his job as owner to come up with appropriate proposals, and English Heritage's job to say what they think of it.

"It is not English Heritage's job to tell him what to do, they can only comment on what's there. This application will probably bring the issue to a head, all because of speculative ownership which means nothing else can happen to the building."

The trust has set up a petition on the Prime Minister's Downing Street website at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SwindonMechanics/, where 261 people have signed up.

"This is how speculative owners work, but I don't think for a minute that he will get permission for this," said Ms Parry.