Swindon Borough Council to prioritise Oasis reopening

The site has been neglected and vandalised since it was closed

Council bosses want to have a meeting with a developer to rebuild a town's leisure centre.

Swindon Borough Councillor Jim Grant is "urgently" seeking a discussion with developer Seven Capital, which leases the Oasis Leisure Centre.

Council officers said their priority was to reopen the centre which has been closed since November 2020.

The developer is expected to put in an application soon for planning permission to rebuild the centre.

It also has a contract with the council to construct an indoor snow centre on cleared land across the road from the Oasis.

There are also plans to build houses on the derelict land across Hawksworth Way.

'Seeking a conversation'

Since the Oasis closed, the dome and pool have been listed, against the wishes of the borough council and Seven Capital.

Better, the company which was running it, said it was not able to make a profit from keeping it open.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Seven Capital has about 90 years left of a 99-year lease on the building, making the company the effective owner.

Cllr Grant said: "I'm being brought up to speed by officers on where things are on both the Oasis and the indoor snow centre and I am urgently seeking a conversation with Seven Capital.

"One of our priorities is to get the Oasis open again as soon as possible and we need to see what support we can provide, as an authority, to work with Seven Capital to help them achieve their ambitions of rebuilding the Oasis as soon as possible."

The company has said it hopes to have the new centre open by January 2026, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the original centre opening.