A multi-purpose centre called the Riverside Community Campus that will be “shaped by the community for the community” is to be created in the former youth development building in Malmesbury.

It is hoped the facility will open next year. The building’s numerous rooms and spaces could be used for anything from a youth café and a rehearsal/ performance space to a Wiltshire Council information centre and a neighbourhood police point.

Ultimately residents in the Malmesbury area will decide what uses they want.

Kim Power, who chairs the Shadow Community Operations Board which is putting the initiative together, said: “This is a really exciting project. It’s going to be fantastic for people in the Malmesbury area.

“A multi-purpose centre like this is something we don’t have in Malmesbury. At the moment we have a blank canvas for this building so there are many possibilities.

“We want people who live here – not just in Malmesbury but from all of the parishes in this area – to tell us what they would like to see it used for.”

Community campuses are being developed across Wiltshire and each one is being tailored to their area’s specific needs.

The first such facility was Springfield, which opened in Corsham last summer as a purpose-built campus complete with fitness centre and library.

Malmesbury already has both of those facilities so its campus will be used for other purposes.

It has been decided to convert the vacant Cotswold House next to the skate park alongside the River Avon in Gloucester Road into the Malmesbury area’s community campus.

The centre will bring a number of Wiltshire Council services closer to the community under one roof.

Organisers hope to hold a major public consultation later this year.

Any suggestions can be sent to kim@kimpower.co.uk