THE developer behind plans to rejuvenate Swindon’s empty and crumbling Old Town Hall, better known as the Locarno, has been given extra time to get his plans in order.

But Steve Rosier, who hopes to turn the building in the High Street into flats, shops and offices has been given a deadline to prove to Swindon Borough Council he has the cash to get the project off the ground.

The authority has given him until May next year to submit a planning application, and until May, 2020 to get permission to go ahead.

But he has less than a month to prove to the council that he has other elements, principally funding, in place to be allowed to use the extension to an agreement made in late 2016.

Mr Rosier said: “We’ve been set conditions to satisfy the council by November that we are able to proceed and we are busily working on ensuring that’s done.

“I don’t want to say too much at this point, but we do have to demonstrate that we have money in place. The planning application is going to cost the best part of £750,000 for a start so we have to show that we are able to move ahead with the whole thing.”

When the agreement between Mr Rosier’s company Swindon Corn Exchange Ltd and the borough council was signed in late 2016 it was hoped that planning permission would be in place in 2017 and work on the site would have started soon after. Under that timeline showhomes would have been opened to buyers in early 2019 and the whole complex would be open a year from now.

But the building - originally put up as in 1852 as the town’s corn market, then used as the Town Hall and later in the 20th Century as a roller skating rink, a cinema and then the Locarno Ballroom and concert hall - is still empty, without a roof and with grass and trees competing with graffiti sprayed over its walls.

Dale Heenan, the council’s cabinet member for the town centre, said: “The Locarno is an important part of the town’s heritage and I am determined to see some progress on the site so that it becomes a thriving hub for people in Old Town, and not the eyesore of the last 30 years. We must find a way to make this scheme happen and for visible progress to be made on site.

“Everyone has been working hard but there comes a time when you need to draw a line in the sand and we have reached that point.

He said: “I want to give Swindon Corn Exchange Limited every chance to deliver on its commitments, and I fully support providing more time, but only if some conditions are met first. This is good due diligence from the council.”