THERE are fresh calls on the council and the landlord of the Oasis to reveal exactly how much it will cost to bring Swindon's iconic leisure centre back to life.

Swindon Borough Council leader David Renard told his cabinet on Monday that a possible Levelling Up grant of £8m from central government won’t be enough to get the issue sorted.

READ MORE: Council bids for £8m to help reopen Oasis

He announced the council would be hoping to land £8m to go towards the reinstatement and re-opening of the Oasis centre and “up to £10m” to go towards the Health Hydro restoration project in Railway Village.

Not everyone was entirely pleased.

Leader of the Labour opposition in the council chamber Jim Robbins said: “Levelling up seems to be a slogan without much action, so whilst we would be pleased to see some money come into the town, it doesn’t replace the hundreds of millions stripped out of the Swindon ccouncil budget by the Conservative government since they have been in power.

"We are keen to see the Oasis reopen and hope that this money can help. The leader of the council claims that this money might not be enough to bridge the viability gap, but we still haven’t seen any estimates on the refurbishment that haven’t come from Seve Capital who have a vested interest in making the repairs sounds as expensive as possible to justify the house-building they want to do on the site.

"We are also disappointed that the second phase of the Health Hydro project doesn’t include the small pool being brought back into use. It seems that the main outcome is funding a gym despite the number of other gyms available in the town.”

Speaking earlier in the week, Coun Renard said: “We have always maintained that reopening the Oasis is a priority for the Council and we have been in talks with Seven Capital to discuss ways this can be made possible.

“The listing of the dome and swimming pool has made that process extremely difficult as large parts of the original fabric need to be retained.

“Naturally, that has added considerable cost to the whole project and has made it much more complicated to add in the energy-saving measures which will make the facility more environmentally friendly.

“There are no guarantees we will be successful in our funding bid to the government, and we have to carry out a huge amount of due diligence with Seven Capital on their proposals before we can begin to take things forward. But we have to do what we can to give us a fighting chance of getting this important landmark back open for local people to enjoy.”

But Coun Renard said even if the council was successful, £8m was not enough to get the centre re-opened.

He added: “It will not fill the huge viability gap caused by the listing of the centre with its original dome.

“Costs have doubled since the listing by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England. But we have to try what we can to get the Oasis open again.”

Last year the owners of the centre Seven Capital put in an application for planning permission to knock down the existing building and put up a new one/ That has been withdrawn since the listing of the original 1976 building.

Coun Renard said the deadline for bids was extremely tight – they must be in by July – and there was no time to waste.

The council has already received £5m from the government’s Towns Fund for the Health Hydro, but hopes to bring in another sum – possibly as high as £10m – to continue with the refurbishment of an important heritage building.