New Didcot leisure centre budget cut

The people of Didcot were promised the sports centre nearly ten years ago as part of new housing around the town.

However, the Liberal Democrat and Green councillors who took over South Oxfordshire District Council last year have now found that the previous Conservatives administration cut the £22m budget for the project in 2019.

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Lib Dem councillor David Rouane asked for an update on key projects including the leisure centre when he became a member of the Garden Town Advisory Board.

He said: “I knew that progress had been slow, stalled even, because of problems in acquiring the land – but I don’t think anybody realised that the Tories had removed the leisure centre budget entirely.”

The 2019-20 South Oxfordshire District Council revenue and capital budget dated February 14, 2019, states: "Didcot Leisure Centre has been removed from the capital programme."

The statement reveals that, for a year, the project had no land and no budget to go ahead, but many residents in Didcot and members of the council still believed there was a budget for the construction of a leisure centre.

Lib Dem cabinet member for leisure services Maggie Filipova-Rivers said: “This is really shocking, as the people of Didcot have been waiting a long time for a new leisure facility.

"The Tories first put it in the South Oxfordshire Corporate Plan in 2012 but did not announce anything publicly when they cancelled it a year ago.”

The news of the removal of the £22 million budget for the Didcot leisure centre comes after the Vale of White Horse District Council was unable to raise the £18.8 million needed to build a leisure centre between Wantage and Grove.

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The Wantage and Grove leisure centre budget was paused in 2018 while the council waited on confirmation from the government for its funding.

Now, Didcot, Wantage and Grove are without their promised new leisure facilities.

The new Didcot centre, including a swimming pool and playing fields, had been planned as part of a new housing estate on fields north of the Ladygrove estate in north Didcot.

The whole scheme was proposed by developer Croudace, working with Reading University which owned a large part of the land.

Mr Rouane said: “Previously a leisure facility consultant was brought in to see what Didcot needed and this new leisure centre was the result of that assessment.”

Construction has now started on the new housing site, however these houses could now be without the infrastructure and facilities that were originally expected.

Mr Rouane said: “As far as anyone in Didcot knew, soon we would have a new housing development and leisure centre. We agreed to have all these new houses and we agreed to have better facilities.”

The planning application for the construction of Didcot north also included play parks, green spaces and two primary schools.

There are currently no future plans to build a leisure centre in the Ladygrove area.