As John McEnroe was noted for saying, "you cannot be serious", and I must ask if Mathew Singh and council leader Mike Bawden are taking the mickey out of the people of Swindon, with the planning proposal for the Mechanics' Institute.

It is quite frankly unbelievable to me, being a Swindonian born and bred, that Mr Singh really wants to put a giant blue ice cube structure, reminiscent of a Fox's Glacier Mint next to one of Swindon's last remaining architectural heritages. May I suggest that he goes the whole hog, and puts a giant stuffed polar bear on the top of it.

I am not sure if Prince Charles reads the Evening Advertiser, but I am certain that if he does he will be appalled at Mr Singh's planning proposal, and his father would certainly put it in stronger terms. It is surely the equivalent of tacking a Canary Wharf skyscraper on to the side of Buckingham Palace.

More to the point, it is a shame that our council leader, Mike Bawden, can even consider asking the views of Swindon people, about such an obscene, idiotic, planning proposal.

I also feel very sorry for Martha Parry, the trustee of the Mechanics' Institute Preservation Trust after all the hard work that she has put in on behalf of the people of Swindon, to now have to put up with more nonsense, from a new owner. This long running saga is of course the fault of Swindon Borough Council who had the option to obtain the building from British Rail at the outset, and preserve it for the people of Swindon.

Recently we had Michael Wills MP voicing his opinion that the centre of Swindon should be bulldozed and flattened in order to start again. I ask him with what? Yet another concrete monolith in its place? This is indicative of the attitude these outsiders have towards my birthplace. They wish to cover everything in concrete, like the plans for the Front Garden, and then move on when the damage is done.

It is time for people that were born in the town to say enough is enough.

G A Woodward

Nelson Street