Music venue campaign gathers pace

The Oasis has a standing capacity of 3000 and seating capacity of 1600

More than 2,500 people have backed an online campaign for an all-purpose music venue in Swindon.

A petition has been started on Facebook asking Swindon Borough Council to include a multi-purpose concert hall in its regeneration plans.

The borough council currently holds events at the Oasis Leisure Centre which has a standing capacity of 3,000.

"The Oasis isn't of the quality we would ideally want," said Councillor Phil Young.

Swindon is increasingly attracting high-profile acts such as Lilly Allen, Elton John, Paul Weller and Razorlight.

We're still a population of 190,000 using a sports hall to hold concerts Gordon McKay, online campaigner

"[The Oasis] has improved significantly but it's not the top notch quality that these acts want to be performing in and we are fully aware of that," added Councillor Young.

Gordon McKay, who started the online campaign, said: "I think [Radio 1's] Big Weekend showed what scale Swindon can achieve, obviously with the weight of the BBC behind them.

"I think we lack some other venues, particularly indoor venues but we're still a population of 190,000 using a sports hall to hold concerts."

Mr McKay plans to present the results of the petition to relevant councillors, local MP's and the New Swindon Company, who are responsible for the town centre regeneration, on 19 July.

Councillor Young added: "We would need to work with a commercial operator who could bring their expertise.

"It's not something that necessarily we need to be thinking of as the council having to deliver, but if the council can act as a facilitator we'll obviously do what we can to bring it to reality."