Reopening the Oasis leisure centre in 2026, 50 years on from its original opening, is still possible, according to Swindon Borough Council.

It comes as it has been revealed that once construction work starts, it will take a year for the works to be completed. 

But the submission of a planning application and getting it through the process to allow sufficient time for the work needed for the new centre is key and is the "biggest unknown" according to council leader Jim Robbins.

Cllr Robbins and the cabinet member for finance, councillor Kevin Small, were quizzed by members of Swindon Borough Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee about the progress in getting the centre back into use.

Conservative councillor Jake Chandler asked Cllr Robbins about what progress might be expected on the proposal agreed between the council and the de facto owners of the building Seven Capital.

The council has agreed, in principle to sell the building to the development company for £6m if the firm get approval for a rebuilt Oasis Centre.

Both the council and the developers have expressed a desire to have the new centre up and running in 2026, although the initially mooted date of January 1 – the 50th anniversary of the opening – is looking less likely.

Cllr Robbins said: “The development agreement will be completed in the next few weeks. The legal teams are going through it and crossing the Ts and dotting the Is.

“Then Seven Capital will finalise an agreement with the operator it chooses and then we’d hop to see the planning application in summer and we’d hop that’s done by Christmas.”

Asked if that was enough time to meet a 2026 target date Cllr Robbins said: “It should be. We’ve been told that once shovels are in the ground it’s about a year to build.”

Councillor Dan Adams asked whether the cabinet had been advised on whether that left enough time for a planning application, including housing on both the Oasis site and on the North Star site across the road originally intended for an indoor snow centre.

Cllrs Robbins and Small said they’d had advice from both the council’s officers and staff at Seven Capital.

But Cllr Robbins said: “Planning is key and it is the largest unknown in the whole process.”

The Oasis has been closed since late 2020 when the then-operator GLL, trading as Better, announced it would not be re-opened after the second COVID-19 lockdown because of the difficulty in making a profit.

The dome and pool area of the building are now Grade II listed.