Will The Oasis Leisure Centre ever reopen?
Developer SevenCapital says last night's planning committee decision throws the entire future of the historic venue into question
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Will The Oasis Leisure Centre live on only as a bittersweet memory?
By Barrie Hudson
Many people in and around Swindon thought yesterday evening’s Swindon Borough Council planning committee meeting would produce a clear picture of The Oasis Leisure Centre’s future.
As things turned out those people had, as the old saying goes, another think coming, and were left wondering whether the centre had a future at all.
The words of developer SevenCapital’s Group Managing Director Damien Siviter, less than a day later, offer nothing by way of hope.
In a statement issued earlier today, he said: “The outcome from last night’s planning committee, whereby the outline plans for housing on the Oasis site were refused permission, is a major blow for the Oasis and subsequently for Swindon.
“As the key part of the overall scheme that is absolutely crucial to funding the restoration and revival of the Oasis, this is an enormous setback for the Swindon community, calling into question whether the Oasis will ever now reopen.”
For the benefit of anybody needing to be brought up to speed with what happened during the well-attended meeting at the sweltering Civic Offices in Euclid Street, the agenda included no less than four items relating to the centre, which opened 49 years ago and has been closed since the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The quartet of applications from London-based property developer SevenCapital (Swindon) Limited, the leaseholder of the Oasis, were:
- Re-ordering, demolition in part and new construction, including associated site clearance and engineering works
- The relevant Listed Building consent, as parts of the centre have had Grade II Listed status since late 2021
- An outline planning application for what are termed 'employment units' - business and similar premises, in other words
- An outline planning application for or multi-storey residential development of up to 707 apartments