Oasis leisure centre future to be decided

Councillors are due to vote on whether to allow the redevelopment of an iconic leisure centre, bringing with it hundreds of flats.

The Oasis, famous for its lagoon pool under a domed roof and rumoured to have inspired the naming of the Britpop band now making its own comeback, opened in 1976 but has been permanently closed since 2020.

Developer and landlord Seven Capital wants to renovate the leisure centre and demolish its sports hall, building 700 flats in eight tower blocks and business units around it.

Swindon Borough Council's planning committee meets at the civic offices at 18:00 BST, with the plans recommended for approval.

The plans are the latest incarnation of attempts to redevelop Swindon's North Star site, with the previous plans for an indoor ski centre having been scrapped.

They feature a fully renovated dome and lagoon, a raft of new sport facilities including a gym, indoor golf, a bowling alley, and new all-weather multi-sport pitches.

But to the anger of campaigners, the sports hall would be demolished and the wider site surrounded by apartment blocks.

The land once earmarked for the ski centre will now become large business units including a vast data centre, but how did we get here?

In its heyday, the Oasis became the envy of the region for leisure centres.

Its unique lagoon pool, set out like a tropical cove with real waves and 'domebuster' flumes, was one of the first examples of a public pool designed for pleasure rather than simply fitness.

That cultural significance is why its dome-covered lagoon was declared a Grade II listed building by Historic England in 2021.

The large adjoining sports hall also played host to countless concerts over the decades.

It had been owned and run by Swindon Borough Council, but that all changed in 2012.

Faced with putting leisure centres at risk of public spending cuts, the council handed over the running of its leisure facilities including the Oasis to operator GLL.

But the council also recognised that without significant upgrade work, the Oasis was nearing the end of its life - so to secure new investment and with the hope of triggering wider regeneration, it signed up to the first of several attempts at a development deal.

Morai Capital Investments took control of the Oasis with a 99-year lease, promising not just to improve the Oasis but create a vast redevelopment including a ski centre and large concert venue around it, projected to attract four million visitors a year.

But after disagreements, a lack of progress and missed deadlines, the council eventually scrapped the development deal with Morai.

Current developer landlord Seven Capital was handed the lease instead, eventually securing planning permission for one of the country's largest indoor ski centres, an iMax cinema, concert venue and hotel complex on the surrounding site.

It faced its own delays in securing funding but the developer said in October 2019 there was "no chance that we won't be building the snow centre". That never happened.

When the Covid 19 pandemic struck, the Oasis never reopened after the second lockdown of 2020.

Operator GLL handed back its lease saying the building was no longer a viable business proposition.

The Oasis fell into a state of disrepair.

A very public Save Oasis Swindon campaign began with their patience tested with a perceived lack of progress and revised plans to replace the ageing dome with a more conventional roof.

When the Grade II listing happened, Swindon Borough Council's previous Conservative administration attempted to get it removed, worried the protected status made redevelopment plans prohibitively expensive.

But remain it did, as the lack of progress on the Oasis became a political football as Swindon switched hands from Conservative to Labour control.

In 2023 the new Labour administration's priority shifted toward securing the future of the Oasis, at the expense of the wider plans.

The administration has repeatedly claimed its approach with Seven Capital could see the famous leisure centre reopen in 2026, but given planning permission has not even been secured yet some might say that claim looks highly unlikely.

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