Public ownership of Swindon’s crumbling Mechanics’ Institute, the Grade II* (GII*) listed Victorian building in Emlyn Square, Swindon has moved a step closer with a vote on a compulsory purchase order (CPO), The Swindon Advertiser reports.
The Swindon Advertiser writes:
Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet gave its unanimous and enthusiastic backing to Dale Heenan’s plans to prepare a compulsory purchase order for the Grade II* listed Victorian building in Emlyn Square.
It’s one of the most important buildings in Swindon’s industrial heritage, built by railway workers as a community centre and library – but has been empty for 30 years. Owned by Matthew Singh’s company Forefront Estates since 2003, it is behind hoardings and in a terrible state…..
Coun Heenan’s report to cabinet says the council is trying to recover costs from Forefront for emergency work it did on the roof of the building some years back and the company has been “not forthcoming.”
He told his cabinet colleagues that the compulsory purchase would only take place when another organisation willing and able to restore the building and return it to use has been found,and added: “I’d like to thank my colleagues for giving me the space to address this.
“Nobody has been able to get anything done on this for 30 years, but we are now in a position to get it sorted.”
Bringing the building back into public use would find favour with Josie Lewis, who lives in Gorse Hill…..
But she thinks the council should take a hard line with Mr Singh, saying: “It shouldn’t pay him more than £1, that’s what he paid for it. Or it should just take it back, because he didn’t restore it.”
Coun Heenan says it is not true the council could buy the building for just £1 and added: “Rushing into a compulsory purchase order could see the taxpayer exposed for significant sums in any forced sale and is precisely why taking shortcuts is a bad idea. It is for the courts to decide the value based on the evidence…”
Records for Forefront Estates, which was a dormant company for a number of years until it was revived in 2018, show an assets list of £1.4m – essentially what the company thinks the Mechanics’ Institute and the land it is on is worth.
For more background see the IHBC NewsBlog
