AFTER years of planning wrangles and broken promises, it has been revealed that the dilapidated former Swindon College site in the heart of the town will be torn down this year and replaced with a £100m flagship leisure complex.

The site, which has been left deserted since 2006, will finally become the town’s jewel in the crown, with developers Ashfield Land submitting their details plans within the next few weeks.

These plans include a seven-screen cinema, restaurants, bars, supermarket, shops and an 800-space car park.

Coun Phil Young, cabinet member for culture, regeneration and economic development, thinks this is a huge step in the right direction for Swindon.

He said: “We have a real reason for optimism now.

“This plan has been hampered by the recession and the developer, understandably, needed to cut costs but the council would not let this affect the quality of the scheme.

“We should never let the recession water down our quality standards.

“The developer has now drawn up their detailed plans for the site and we are anticipating these will come before the council in the very near future – we are hopefully talking weeks, not months.

“What we are likely to see is a phased approach to this development – with the retail and leisure development happening first, which is the majority of the site, and then the second stage will be a residential development. This is obviously dependent on whether or not the housing market picks up.

“The housing side of this development will not negate the rest of the site – that will go ahead regardless.

“This site has been an eyesore for the town for such a long time, but we were never going to let that hold us to ransom on what the development would be or the quality of it.”

Provided the detailed planning applications are passed, the former college site will be demolished this year and building will begin in 2011.

James Digby, director of Ashfield Land, said: “We are moving ahead 100 per cent and are currently finishing off our application.

“We are meeting with planning officers all the time and are very close to submitting a planning application.”

He also said there would be a period of public consultation on the scheme when the detailed plans were completed.