A plan to reopen Swindon's iconic Oasis Leisure Centre has been given the green light at a Swindon Borough Council planning committee meeting.
However, the future of the project has yet to be clarified after Swindon Borough Council's planning committee rejected a major part of the bid.
The future of the centre, which has been closed since the pandemic, was set to be decided by councillors during the meeting at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street earlier this evening - 8 July.
The plans made up the bulk of the agenda, with planning committee members asked to consider four separate applications by London-based property developer SevenCapital (Swindon) Limited, the leaseholder:
- Re-ordering, demolition in part and new construction, including associated site clearance and engineering works
- An outline planning application for or multi-storey residential development of up to 707 apartments
- An outline planning application for what are termed 'employment units' - business and similar premises, in other words
- The relevant Listed Building consent, as parts of the centre have had Grade II Listed status since late 2021
All but the residential development were approved.
Conservative Group Leader Cllr Gary Sumner, urging refusal of this aspect of the bid, said the plans for flats included no affordable housing, made no provision for education and no provision for adequate parking.
The meeting saw many impassioned speeches both for and against the plans, and representatives of objectors including the Save Oasis Swindon campaign and Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.
Save Oasis Swindon chiefly opposed the absence of a sports hall in the proposed refurbishment.
In a letter last month to the council's planning department, campaign chair Neil Robinson quoted a council paper from 19 June saying SevenCapital estimated that £11.9m would be needed to refurbish the existing sports hall or £5.9m to £11.4m to demolish and rebuild the Sports Hall, and £20m to refurbish the existing swimming pool and link building.
Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, which is working to restore the historic canal, stressed that it in no way wished to stand in the way of progress in Swindon, but wished to ensure that in accordance with council policy, any development does not prevent the canal's restoration along its protected line.
There were some frayed tempers early in the meeting, and early on there were cries of "Shame!" when Cllr Kevin Small, Cabinet Member for Finance, said of the proposals: "This is the only option in town."
The centre has not been fully open to the public since before the 2020 Covid pandemic, and it was in November of that year that the operator at the time, GLL, trading as Better, said the Oasis was not sufficiently profitable to reopen.
The future of the centre, which has been closed since the pandemic, was set to be decided by councillors during the meeting at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street earlier this evening - 8 July.
The plans made up the bulk of the agenda, with planning committee members asked to consider four separate applications by London-based property developer SevenCapital (Swindon) Limited, the leaseholder:
- Re-ordering, demolition in part and new construction, including associated site clearance and engineering works
- An outline planning application for or multi-storey residential development of up to 707 apartments
- An outline planning application for what are termed 'employment units' - business and similar premises, in other words
- The relevant Listed Building consent, as parts of the centre have had Grade II Listed status since late 2021
All but the residential development were approved.
Conservative Group Leader Cllr Gary Sumner, urging refusal of this aspect of the bid, said the plans for flats included no affordable housing, made no provision for education and no provision for adequate parking.
The meeting saw many impassioned speeches both for and against the plans, and representatives of objectors including the Save Oasis Swindon campaign and Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.
Save Oasis Swindon chiefly opposed the absence of a sports hall in the proposed refurbishment.
In a letter last month to the council's planning department, campaign chair Neil Robinson quoted a council paper from 19 June saying SevenCapital estimated that £11.9m would be needed to refurbish the existing sports hall or £5.9m to £11.4m to demolish and rebuild the Sports Hall, and £20m to refurbish the existing swimming pool and link building.
Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, which is working to restore the historic canal, stressed that it in no way wished to stand in the way of progress in Swindon, but wished to ensure that in accordance with council policy, any development does not prevent the canal's restoration along its protected line.
There were some frayed tempers early in the meeting, and early on there were cries of "Shame!" when Cllr Kevin Small, Cabinet Member for Finance, said of the proposals: "This is the only option in town."
The centre has not been fully open to the public since before the 2020 Covid pandemic, and it was in November of that year that the operator at the time, GLL, trading as Better, said the Oasis was not sufficiently profitable to reopen.
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