The departure of Honda from Swindon could be a major opportunity for Swindon to attract other businesses to the town.

Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for strategic planning, Gary Sumner told councillors that the car giant’s site at South Marston is under-utilised. And as long as it can be kept for industry it could be used to attract several companies to bring jobs to the area.

Coun Sumner was appearing before members of the council’s scrutiny committee who quizzed him about his department’s successes over the last year and challenges for the future.

One councillor, Emma Faramarzi, who chairs the council’s growing the economy overview and scrutiny committee said: “We recently had commercial property agent James Lockhart speak to the committee, and he said the departure of Honda could be a good thing for the town.”

Coun Sumner said: “I’ve also spoken recently to James. It is true that the site is under-utilised at the moment, and it is a strategic industrial site and it is strategically located and there are many possibilities for its future use.

“There are enormous opportunities for more diverse use of the site.”

But he warned that the site, a former airfield was still private property. He said: “It’s not on the market and it’s Honda’s property and it’s in their gift to dispose of.”

A spokesman for Honda, which is due to completely vacate the site by early 2021 would only say: “Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd continues to work closely with local and national government regarding potential options for the future usage and ownership of the site.”

When Mr Lockhart of commercial estate agents Whitmarsh Lockhart appeared before the economy committee he said the plant’s previous owners Vickers had allowed it to be marketed to other users before it left in the 1980s and before Honda took it on. He hoped the Japanese car firm would do the same thing.

He said: “It’s a brilliant site, there’s room to expand, the buildings are in good shape because Honda looks after them and it’s basically right on the motorway junction.

“There will be a lot of companies who would be looking for a site like that. It’s important that it remains available for industrial use and is not built on for housing.”

The borough council is updating its local plan, with the draft now out for public consultation.

In the draft the site is still included in a zone for industrial use and not housing.