Swindon Borough Council leader Cllr Jim Robbins says Swindon deserves its proposed new multi-purpose entertainment venue.
A visualisation of the proposed new venue
He has also called on everybody to help the project along by being an ambassador for Swindon rather than a detractor.
Cllr Robbins issued a lengthy statement following the announcement of the proposed venue on the site of the bus station.
He said: "At Cabinet in November, my administration is bringing forward the first stage of our plans to bring a new multi-purpose entertainment venue to Swindon, as set out in the Swindon Plan. On the same evening we’ll outline our vision of what a revitalised town centre could be. But both of these things can only become a reality for Swindon if we all pull together to deliver them.
"This week it was reported that one in four councils will require additional money to keep them afloat over the next two years and that’s a boat that Swindon Borough Council is likely to be in, although we’re doing all we can to avoid it.
"So, it may seem counter-intuitive to be talking about building a new entertainment venue and plans for town centre regeneration when times are so tough. But I passionately believe that its only by being ambitious for the town that we’ll see real change. And we all must play our part. That is why we are holding a meeting next week to engage the opposition councillors and push for cross-party support ahead of the Cabinet meeting.
"I know there is significant cynicism out there about the Council’s ability to deliver projects such as the new entertainment venue. I get it. I know there have been a number of false dawns over the years and sometimes things have taken longer than we would have liked to deliver and some, under the previous administration, just never happened at all. You’ve all seen countless CGI images of proposed regeneration.
"But I ask for your patience, support and understanding. It was our administration that managed to open the new Museum and Art Gallery. I think Swindon deserves an entertainment venue like the one we’ve described in the papers released in recent days, and we can’t afford to see the Wyvern close when it comes to the end of its life without a replacement for the town. We are already a town that has seen too many venues close.
"To deliver a new entertainment venue, we all need to be pulling in the same direction, we all need to be ambassadors - not detractors – for the town.
"My relentless focus as Leader of the Council is to persuade investors, businesses and anyone who will listen than Swindon is on the up and is a great place to invest, grow a business, build a life. I believe it – I came here 20 years ago when I fell in love with my wife and we’ve built a really happy life here. Swindon has become my home and I’m proud to be a Swindonian.
"But this entertainment venue is just one part of our ambitions for the town centre. My administration has been working across political lines to build our collective ambitions for the ‘Heart of Swindon’ which will act as a catalyst of inclusive growth in the years ahead. We can’t deliver this all on our own, we need the help of partners and private sector investment to deliver these ambitions and this must start with us all being confident and proud of Swindon.
"Inward investors love confidence – so my heart sinks a bit when I see comments on Facebook and at the bottom of news articles talking Swindon down. Yes, we have issues as a town and there are things we don’t agree on but I think what we all agree on is that we want to build a better Swindon for future generations of Swindonians.
"So, providing Cabinet agree on 13 November, we’re going to go out and talk to the organisations who run venues like Abba Voyage and other entertainment venues across the country and who are interested in running one in Swindon on the current bus station site. We looked carefully at other sites in Swindon – including Regents Circus – but have come to the conclusion that the bus station site is the most cost-effective and most likely to succeed.
"We need to work through costs, types of build, what infrastructure needs to be in place for success and different operating models. There’s a lot more work for us to do to pull this off but I’m going to work tirelessly to do so.
"I’m determined that the Council will play its part in building a better Swindon and delivering transformative change through our Heart of Swindon ambitions and I ask you to join us on that journey.
"If you want to hear more about our ambitions for the town centre we are running some Let’s Talk Swindon events in November where you can find out more."
Details of these sessions can be found here.
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