Plan for Swindon's new cultural quarter approved

The council said the cultural quarter could add more than £35m a year to Swindon's economy

Prospective plans for a new £80m cultural quarter at Swindon's Kimmerfields development have been approved.

The project would include a £47m theatre, an art gallery and museum, a dance studio and digital media studios.

Swindon Borough Council said it would look to secure more details over the project's funding by March 2021.

But it said building the new theatre could start in 2025 and it could open in 2028.

The authority had previously wanted to move its art gallery and museum into an expanded Wyvern Theatre at its current site in Princes Street.

But it concluded it would be better to replace the "poorly equipped" theatre with another that would lead to an "increased economic and cultural impact".

It said the Wyvern Theatre's capacity of 625 seats is "restricted" and that there was "evidenced market potential for a larger capacity of c. 1,200 seats".

Work to build a new headquarters for insurance firm Zurich at Kimmerfields has begun, with the company set to move in by 2022.

Dale Heenan, cabinet member for the town centre, culture and heritage, said the new cultural quarter would "consolidate the town centre around the business district and the Brunel Centre and The Parade"

He said that would better serve changing shopping habits, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.