Bingo-ing Mad 3 ; Horses, Councils & Big Stable Doors

The efforts (of sorts) of Swindon Borough Council to get the Regent Circus bingo hall reopened have proved much too little, much too late. After the operators Rank blamed the double taxes they have to pay under gaming laws, the Council bought the building with no thought as to what would happen to it in the short to medium term before the redevelopment of the area happens.

Announcing, like a drunk waking up to find themselves in the bath and a hazy recollection of the reason they have a new building on their books, they tried to make amends. But the regional manager of the Rank Group said no.

Plenty of comments were made by the company as to the reasons it wasn't viable to keep running the Swindon hall. However, there were no further comments made by any councillors, particularly those responsible for economic development and regeneration. Also, the New Swindon Company stayed out of the whole situation.

Swindon Centric Says ; Congratulations, SBC win the award for Most Ineffective Council Activity for week ending Saturday 19th April. Along with the win, there's a new dictionary in the post to Councillor Phil Young, (member for economic development, regeneration and for good measure development again) who admitted he has no plans for the site, so he can look up the words that are used in his job description.