New plans revealed for Oasis site

4:15pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By David Wiles

An artist's impression of the new plans An artist's impression of the new plans

SWINDON could have the UK’s longest indoor ski slope, a new multiplex cinema and another ten-pin bowling alley under radically revised plans for the £95m Oasis Leisure Centre revamp.

Moirai Capital Investments, which took over the centre in June, signed a deal with Swindon Council to refurbish the old centre and later provide other leisure facilities on the adjoining Clares factory site, including a hotel, an arena and indoor ski slope.

After a public consultation in November and discussions with architects and industry experts, the developer has revealed an updated masterplan, which is different because all facilities are linked under roofed spaces, rather than being separate buildings.

Moirai says it previously feared people might visit one facility and leave, so the integration aimed to encourage people to visit other attractions and make the scheme much more attractive for the retail and refreshment outlets.

The plans comprise the refurbished Oasis Centre, a slightly downscaled entertainments arena with seating for some 6,500, a 200-metre real snow ski slope with a separate slope for beginners and a fun snow area, a multiplex cinema, 10-pin bowling, plus a full range of restaurants, cafés, bars and leisure-related retail outlets, as well as a hotel, multi-storey parking and possibly an ice-climbing wall.

Comments(21)

msw says...
4:33pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Great for the Town, but another Cinema? really?

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darrey80 says...
4:42pm Thu 14 Mar 13

msw spot on. regent circus will town centre provide cinema so why duplicate? this should be sporting complex only.

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Tim Newroman says...
4:51pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Does seem strange that there's plans for yet another multiplex. Other than that, as with the Regent's Circus redevelopment... just get on with it!

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Amberflame says...
4:52pm Thu 14 Mar 13

"If you build it, he will come"

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adsinibiza says...
4:59pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Looks good - with or without another cinema. What I think is important is that it is linked with the town centre - i.e. an easy way to walk from the town centre to the new facility

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Tim Newroman says...
5:10pm Thu 14 Mar 13

adsinibiza wrote:
Looks good - with or without another cinema. What I think is important is that it is linked with the town centre - i.e. an easy way to walk from the town centre to the new facility
Rather than the current, delightful, underpass where 50% of people who use it get mugged, you mean?

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Always Grumpy says...
6:07pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Is the development still going ahead at Regent Circus? Why I ask is because everytime I drive past, nothing more seems to have been done to the site! How long has that re-development been going on - 5 years, 10 years?
I just hope they crack on with the oasis site a lot quicker than Regent Circus.

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semitonic says...
7:26pm Thu 14 Mar 13

You have to add around 1.5 to 2 years on any 'promised' start date before they finally find some bats or newts and then not start at all.

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anotherimigrant says...
8:20pm Thu 14 Mar 13

I would have thought the road infrastructure wasn't capable of handling it.

Plus the state of the roads is appalling and this should be done first, second and third.

Get your priority's right before you spend squillions build more folly's.

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anotherimigrant says...
8:30pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "We are providing councils with more than £3 billion between 2011 and 2015 to maintain their roads and pavements." He went on: "It is ultimately up to local highway authorities to determine how they prioritise their funding, but we want to help them get the best value for money. That is why we are funding the highways maintenance efficiency programme which helps councils work together to deliver a first-class service to their residents, at the same time as saving money."

Just found this so I suppose were all due a new road infrastructure in our lifetime...... Bet we don't get it, Swindon council don't know how to mend roads.

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Empty Car Park says...
11:23pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Tim Newroman wrote:
adsinibiza wrote:
Looks good - with or without another cinema. What I think is important is that it is linked with the town centre - i.e. an easy way to walk from the town centre to the new facility
Rather than the current, delightful, underpass where 50% of people who use it get mugged, you mean?
Really?

50% of the total number of people using the tunnel get mugged?

That's not at all true is it?

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Tim Newroman says...
7:16am Fri 15 Mar 13

Empty Car Park wrote:
Tim Newroman wrote:
adsinibiza wrote:
Looks good - with or without another cinema. What I think is important is that it is linked with the town centre - i.e. an easy way to walk from the town centre to the new facility
Rather than the current, delightful, underpass where 50% of people who use it get mugged, you mean?
Really?

50% of the total number of people using the tunnel get mugged?

That's not at all true is it?
Oh dear. Good to see that sense of humour's working out so well for you.

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Empty Car Park says...
9:59am Fri 15 Mar 13

Thanks :-)

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Tim Newroman says...
11:16am Fri 15 Mar 13

Empty Car Park wrote:
Thanks :-)
Best to just try and placate your type, we know how you can get.

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Empty Car Park says...
12:36pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Thanks

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Fartim Poster says...
12:52pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Tim Newroman says
Rather than the current, delightful, underpass where 50% of people who use it get mugged, you mean?


What a ridiculous statement

So hundreds of people get mugged there every day??

Why don't you give it a rest till you've got something sensible to say

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Tim Newroman says...
1:15pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Fartim Poster wrote:
Tim Newroman says
Rather than the current, delightful, underpass where 50% of people who use it get mugged, you mean?


What a ridiculous statement

So hundreds of people get mugged there every day??

Why don't you give it a rest till you've got something sensible to say
Nice one Jase.

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Jeremy Hilary Boob says...
1:51pm Fri 15 Mar 13

The Oasis "redevelopment" story seems to rear its head in the Adver every couple of months, no doubt when the council want to convince us that something is happening here. Every time the Adver wets itself in anticipation until the next time the story comes along.

As for this latest story, I'll remain skeptical until I actually see something happening. We've been promised things happening here that never materialise for far too long to get excited about yet another "plan".

I'll echo the comments re the cinema - another one? We've already got 19 screens here, the one in Regent's Circus would supposedly take that to 25, and yet apparently we need yet more? An art house cinema, or at least one like the Screening Rooms in Cheltenham, would at least offer something different.

So the arena has been downsized to 6500 - wow. It's still too big. Stop living in fantasyland where Swindon is somehow a big draw and get real. It's all well and good claiming Swindon is really accessible from London, Birmingham, Bristol, etc (although the Oasis itself isn't) but those places have larger populations than Swindon so will still get the gigs anyway.

In any case, the reverse is also true - Ldn, Brum and Bristol are all very accessible from Swindon. 6500 is still more than double the size of the Oasis and there are only a limited no. of acts who can sell that many tickets. Wouldn't they just whack on an extra date in one of those cities because it's cheaper than dismantling the set for a one day stop-off in Swindon?

Promoters expect people to travel a distance for a major act capable of filling a larger arenas, whereas smaller ones (which currently play the Oasis) would tend to play smaller venues but perhaps play more dates, so bigger isn't automatically better.

3500-4000 would be more than sufficient IMO. It'd get the acts the Oasis gets now but with better acoustics and a venue that doesn't reek of chlorine it would also attract more people and a few bigger names as well, but without being unrealistic.

Oh, and the access - both pedestrian and by car - needs a major overhaul before the Oasis starts attracting many more visitors.

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Tim Newroman says...
3:08pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Agree with the above. 6500 capacity is a strange number, it sits well above the size of venue the vast majority of acts tour through and yet isn't big enough for most the remaining acts.

It's significantly bigger than Hammersmith Apollo, which itself is a difficult fit for most acts and only really survives because its in London.

Promotors also won't simply start booking big acts into Swindon just because a bigger venue is built, it doesn't work that way.

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female resident says...
5:34pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Looks just then kind of thing that might work in Swindon and attract tourism. It does seem we are going have rather too many cinemas - wouldn't it be great if the one to be built in town was made into one for alternative and non-mainstream films that currently don't get shown unless there is a film festival or something.

No sign of a new way across the railway - this should be a condition of the building. I went through the horrible underpass in the middle of the day yesterday and still felt uncomfortable, there has to be something better. A bridge preferably.

As for the college site - the developers are supposed to finish signing all the paperwork with SBC by the end of the month and can then start building.

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Always Grumpy says...
7:12pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Ah, good old days, we'll soon have the same number of cinemas we had in the fifties. Mind you, they only had one screen each and we had to stand for the national anthem at the end of the performance, and then a mad dash to the nearest pub before they closed!

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