PUBLIC ownership of the crumbling Mechanics’ Institute has moved a step closer.

Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet gave its unanimous and enthusiastic backing to Dale Heenan’s plans to prepare a compulsory purchase order for the Grade II* listed Victorian building in Emlyn Square.

It’s one of the most important buildings in Swindon’s industrial heritage, built by railway workers as a community centre and library – but has been empty for 30 years. Owned by Matthew Singh’s company Forefront Estates since 2003, it is behind hoardings and in a terrible state.

Buying it back will cost more than £1.

Coun Heenan’s report to cabinet says the council is trying to recover costs from Forefront for emergency work it did on the roof of the building some years back and the company has been “not forthcoming.”

He told his cabinet colleagues that the compulsory purchase would only take place when another organisation willing and able to restore the building and return it to use has been found,and added: “I’d like to thank my colleagues for giving me the space to address this.

"Nobody has been able to get anything done on this for 30 years, but we are now in a position to get it sorted.”

Bringing the building back into public use would find favour with Josie Lewis, who lives in Gorse Hill. She said: “I remember my mum going there a lot as a child. I definitely think is should be opened up again and definitely for public use.”

But she thinks the council should take a hard line with Mr Singh, saying: “It shouldn’t pay him more than £1, that’s what he paid for it. Or it should just take it back, because he didn’t restore it.”

Coun Heenan says it is not true the council could buy the building for just £1 and added: “Rushing into a compulsory purchase order could see the taxpayer exposed for significant sums in any forced sale and it is precisely why taking shortcuts is a bad idea.

“It is for the courts to decide the value based on the evidence. I will not speculate on a figure since it could undermine our case, but I do believe our work over the last 15 months demonstrates there is almost no value in the building.

"It would cost around £25m to bring the building back into use so you can see the scale of the problem. Ownership is a small part.

“However, I have the right people from the council, Historic England, Mechanics’ Trust and others at the table for the first time. We have an agreed way forward to achieve a restored Mechanics' and we also have the will to see it through.”

Records for Forefront Estates, which was a dormant company for a number of years until it was revived in 2018, show an assets list of £1.4m – essentially what the company thinks the Mechanics’ Institute and the land it is on is worth.