THE cost of reopening the Oasis could reach £16m, Swindon Borough Council's leader has admitted.

If £8m is handed to the council by the government to help get the iconic leisure centre back into use then that money will have to be matched by landlords SevenCapital.

That’s what borough leader David Renard told members of the authority's scrutiny committee.

Questioned by Labour group leader Jim Robbins about the bid for £8m from Whitehall’s Levelling Up fund, Coun Renard said any grant would have to be matched.

And he couldn’t promise even £16m would help bring forward a plan to refurbish the centre which closed in late 2020.

SevenCapital, which has a long lease on the site, produced a proposal for a new centre on the site last year but that has been withdrawn now the original 1976 building - including the famous dome - was listed.

Coun Renard said: “We have the backing of the town's MPs for our bid for £8m from the Levelling Up fund.

“All funds granted have to be batched, and whatever we get will be matched by SevenCapital. It is the fact that the listing of the building has doubled the costs of getting the building back open again.

“It’s not going to be easy. We are working with SevenCapital to try and ensure that they can move forward with proposals to get the centre in use again.”

Coun Robbins asked whether Coun Renard was “embarrassed” at asking government for cash to get both the Oasis open and another bid for up to £10m from the same fund for refurbishment and restoration of the Health Hydro in the Railway Village.

He said: “This isn’t levelling up, this isn’t improving anything - this is just trying to get back to wear we were. This is just trying to sort of problems of this council’s own making.”

Coun Robbins said asking leisure operator GLL/Better to run the Health Hydro and  private company Morai Capital Developments and then Seven Capital to run the Oasis was meant to  be a solution to funding problems.

He added: “Now we’re reduced to going cap in hand to get money to give to these companies.”

Coun Renard defended both GLL/Better and Seven Capital,saying: “They have already spent many millions of pounds over the last few years which would have been very difficult for this council to have found.

“GLL were reluctant to take on the Health Hydro because of the challenges involved, but they did. If we get this money it will help them do what they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.”