Even the idea of building a hotel on the site of a glass factory in an industrial estate has been turned down by Swindon Borough Council planners.

The very basic, if surprising, proposal put forward by European Glass to build a hotel with 120 bedrooms, function facilities and two restaurants plus car parking on the site of its closed factory in Faraday Road in Dorcan Industrial estate has been refused.

There was no other detail in the proposal - there were no drawings or indications of lay-out or details of the proposed development - the application by the glass company was purely an exercise in seeing whether the principle of building a hotel in the middle of the estate was acceptable.

It certainly wasn’t to one of the factory’s neighbours, Gibbs Surfacing Ltd, an asphalt reprocessing plant immediately south of the site.

The company wrote to planners to express its “strong objection to the application".

"The proposed site is considered unsuitable for a hotel, conferencing and restaurant development for many reasons, including its incompatibility with surrounding uses," they said.

The company said it has received planning permission for a new plant to create asphalt for road surfaces and would be using a significant piece of new machinery, which would operate 24 hours a day – this, the submission said, would conflict with noise policies for a hotel.

The council’s contaminated land officer and landscape officer had no objections, although the landscape officer said there was not enough detail in the application to make a proper judgement. The highways officer said not enough detail had been provided to suggest safe access for hotel guests, especially those not using a vehicle.

And the lead planning officer was also not convinced. In the report refusing permission, the officer said: “The proposal would result in the loss of an allocated employment site. It would be a major main town centre use outside the Swindon central area which would undermine the strategy vision for the borough and affect the vitality and viability of the town centre and the regeneration of more appropriate and sustainable sites for similar uses in a more central location.

“The proposal fails to demonstrate it would be sustainable development that would prioritise sustainable modes of transport, and there is also a lack of information regarding the impact upon highway safety for all modes of transport, capacity, site servicing, parking provision."