The death sentence for the proposed £270 million indoor snow centre to be built at the North Star site across the road from the Oasis centre was just that – one sentence.

Planning permission was given for the plans on the former Clare's factory site in November 2018, but after nearly five years which saw no activity, the demise of the plan was covered in just one sentence in the report to Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet detailing a new agreement between the council and Seven Capital, the company which had been set to build the centre.

It said: “The weakened leisure sector means that a leisure destination is unviable on the North Star site.”

How did a huge regional centre, which was described by a cabinet member at the time, Councillor Dale Heenan, as a "game changer" for Swindon’s leisure scene and economy go from being a major plank in the town’s economic development to being disposed of in just 16 words in the middle of a council paper?

The short answers seem to be Brexit, and then Covid.

Confidence was high in November 2018 when Seven Capital, better known as a builder of flats than major leisure projects, was given planning permission to build the centre.

It was to have two slopes, one 170 metres long, the other 75 metres, which which would feature real snow, plus a 12-screen cinema - the largest IMAX screen in the UK - a bowling alley and shops and cafes, bars and restaurants.

At the time the company said: “With funding in place, we hope to be on-site in May 2019 and expect the build to take a little under two years.”

But it seems that in late 2018 the developer didn’t have as much money as it thought – and one reason its spokesman gave was that investors had been made nervous by the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.

In late 2019 it became apparent the company was still short of £80m needed to begin work – but it was confident and had lined up more companies to take a tenancy in the complex.

It had already signed up businesses like KFC and Gravity Active Entertainment, which runs trampoline parks across the country as tenants, joining Hollywood Bowl, Empire Cinemas and outdoor clothing and equipment shop Ellis Brigham.

In January 2020 the company said it was close to finalising the deals it needed and work would start “within weeks” in February or March.

But that optimism evaporated almost as soon as the first, then second, and a third lockdown devastated the leisure industry.

Since the height of the Covid pandemic the plan saw no progress until yesterday when its expected demise was confirmed.