Latest on plan to find new use for huge empty Swindon unit

The proposal by Luxury Leisure, to use the old Top Shop and Top Man unit, on the corner of The Parade and Bridge Street, as an “adult gaming centre” – a 24-hour slot machine arcade - was due to be decided upon by members of Swindon Borough Council’s planning committee.

The item was withdrawn from the agenda at the last minute.

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The planning agent handling the application on behalf of Luxury Leisure, Haris Kasuji of RR Planning, in Leeds, told the Local Democracy Reporter: “The application was taken off the agenda because we didn’t know it was on the agenda for the meeting.

“It's still a live application.”

The plan is to use only the ground floor of the large three-storey unit for the round-the-clock gambling centre, and Luxury Leisure’s application promises that the gaming machines are not noisy, but even when it comes back to committee, the odds might be against the plan being approved.

South Swindon Parish Council objected to the plan saying: “The new local plan requires a health impact assessment for this type of application, we would like to see one produced.

"There exists a high concentration of these facilities in town centre, specifically on Bridge Street which could contribute to health problems.”

The council’s public health officer also objected, saying the new centre would be situated in a neighbourhood among the 20 per cent most deprived in the country, and echoed the parish council’s point on the nearby prevalence of such businesses, adding another one could increase the likelihood of health inequalities.

Those objections were given weight by the planning officer, who recommended to the committee that the proposal be refused but largely for a different reason.

The report to councillors said, unlike a new shop, which would have a constantly updated display of goods for sale which would be more attractive to customers, the gaming centre would be: “screened shop fronts or limited/unchanging window displays, leading to no, or limited, window-shopping and less customer interaction, notably in the day-time when shopping streets are at their most active.”

No date has been set for the planning committee to consider the matter again.

A scheduled meeting for January 14 is marked as ‘cancelled’ with the next meeting after that on February 11.