What next?

The once-proud Locarno ballroom remains an ugly blight on Old Town.

Negotiations are continuing with its owner, but Swindon Council now says it may step in and use compulsory purchase powers to take over the site.

Gilberts Hill School is empty as Swindon Council continues to consider bids from developers.

It asked for tenders in the summer, but still cannot give a date for councillors to decide its future.

Both buildings are symbols of the wasted opportunities represented by dilapidated sites in Swindon.

Like the former railway museum and the Mechanics' Institute, they are in desperate need of development so that they can once again become a central part of the community.

NEW negotiations are underway to end years of dereliction at the old Locarno ballroom and Swindon Council has warned that it will use compulsory purchase powers to buy the building if matters cannot be brought to a head.

Owner of the Old Town landmark, Gael Mackenzie, is setting out plans to convert the area around the former Corn Exchange into a restaurant, piazza and residential development.

The council is deep in discussions with his agents, DPDS consultancy, to agree how the development would work.

But nobody is able to put a timescale on when the plans might be officially submitted and it could still be years before anything changes at the dilapidated building.

And council leader Mike Bawden, who is also a ward councillor for Old Town, says he wants to put constructive pressure on Mr Mackenzie to move things along quickly.

Mr Mackenzie only owns the 150-year-old Locarno building and previous plans to transform it into a cabaret hall and entertainment venue have been blocked by councillors.

Earlier this year, an attempt to make changes to the building to pave the way for it to become a nightclub was also turned down.

Now the council, which owns the car parks in The Square outside the building and in The Planks behind it, is hoping to join forces with Mr Mackenzie to revamp the whole area.

Coun Bawden (Con) said: "We've got the Old Town area motoring very nicely at the moment, so we can't afford to miss this opportunity to finally sort this one out. Mr Mackenzie has owned it for so many years and nothing has happened, so we're now trying to see if we can agree on a joint project.

"There is good discussion taking place to complete what is becoming Old Town's missing link but the council is prepared to consider compulsory purchase orders as a last resort." He said he would like the building to remain a public facility rather than commercial enterprise but said people had to be more realistic.

"The council hasn't got the money for that and it is better to do something with it now than let it get even more rundown," he said.

Graham Smith, a director at DPDS, said he was confident of coming forward with plans that would satisfy the council, but could not say when that would be.

Its plans remain flexible, but would involve building residential units on The Planks car park, transforming the old ballroom into a restaurant, fitting residential units above it and paving over The Square to make a piazza, with outdoor eating areas.

"We appreciate these are buildings of merit in Old Town and we are very keen to bring them back into use and regenerate the whole area around them," he said.

"It's difficult to say when it could happen at this stage because it takes time to get the details right."

GILBERTS Hill School used to be alive with the sound of children.

Now it remains silent, and faces a second winter boarded up and redundant as Swindon Council continues to consider offers for its future.

The Victorian building in Dixon Street, Old Town, was closed last year and put up for sale on the open market.

The authority, which decided to shut it on the grounds of efficiency because of small pupil numbers and the high cost of keeping it open, announced it was inviting offers for the premises in July.

But four months on the authority has yet to make to make a decision on the building's future.

Council spokeswoman Claudia Dench said: "We went through the tender process and we have had offers for the building but it is too early to say anymore."

She said that the matter will be discussed by the council cabinet, but couldn't say when a decision might be made.

In May the Evening Advertiser ran a telephone poll asking readers what they wanted to see happen to the building, which closed after a long-running battle to keep the primary school open failed.

Nine options were listed, including an Islamic community centre, dance and theatre group, an after school and holiday club, student accommodation and private housing. But the suggestion which won most approval was to make the building the base for the Greenspace Project, turning it into a centre of excellence to promote sustainable living.

It is unlikely the charity will be able to compete with other interested parties in bidding for the site, which is expected to fetch at least £100,000. The most likely outcome is some form of residential block, possibly as student accommodation. Coun Stan Pajak (LibDem, Eastcott) said: "We want to see the building being used, we don't want to see it demolished. In an ideal world there would still be a school there.

"A second tender has gone in now, which is being considered. It is a residential plan which keeps the building."

Tony Hillier, former chairman of governors who led the fight against the closure of the school, said: "I'd like to see an educational or community use for the building and I would like to see the shape and the format of the building to be retained."

I would be disappointed if there is not an economic way of getting an educational or community facility there."