Leisure centre revival has planning officer backing

Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon has been closed since 2020

Plans to rebuild a derelict leisure centre – and construct 700 flats around it – have been recommended for approval at an upcoming council vote.

Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon has been closed since 2020 after its landlord Seven Capital concluded it was "not viable" because of the pandemic.

Swindon Borough councillors will vote on Seven Capital's new plans to transform the site – which would see its listed pool and dome retained – on 8 July. The proposals includes 707 flats, to be built in eight tower blocks around the leisure centre.

Planning officers recommended the plans despite more than 300 members of the public objecting, mainly due to plans to demolish a sports hall without replacing it.

Two industrial units could also be built on the cleared Clare's factory site across the road, which was once earmarked by Seven Capital for a large indoor snow centre, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Recommending the plans be approved, a council officer wrote in a report: "The consenting of the development would thus allow for the clear public benefit of assisting in bringing the much-loved Oasis swimming pool back into use and re-introducing an important and unique leisure and fitness offer to the town."

The report added the homes were "much needed" and that "adverse impacts of the development would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the identified benefit".

On 30 June, campaigners lost a bid to turn the leisure centre into an asset of community value for a second time.

It would have allowed a six-month pause to see if a community group could take it on and run it when the owner wanted to sell.